Benjamin WRIGHT

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• _UID: 851EBE5FA7574D13A1C23F1CB8E7052CACAE

Family/Spouse: Hannah HOLMES. Hannah and died. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

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• Name: Joseph WRIGHT
• _UID: B3137877017B493E9E485C3D74E8B4185F8E
• Alt. Birth: Abt 1639, Possibly England Or Massachusetts; Alt. Birth
• Baptism: 5 Mar 1639, South Weald, Essex, England

Notes:

Joseph Wright, the son of Thomas Wright and probably his second wife, Margaret Butler, was born, probably in England or Massachusetts, about 1639. He was a cooper by trade. In 1662 he received from his father a homestead on the east side of High street near the burying ground. This he conveyed to the town for use as a parsonage in 1664, receiving a lot with an old schoolhouse on it, on the west side of Rose lane (Main street) in exchange. This he conveyed to Hugh Welles in 1665, and received in exchange a lot on the east side of High street, north of his first home.

Joseph Wright was chosen Constable in 1672 and 1703 and Townsman in 1690 and 1691. He also held many minor offices. He was called "Captain" in 1690, and "Corporal" in 1703. He was also a Deacon in the church.

He was buried in the Wethersfield cemetery, where his gravestone has this inscription: Here | lyeth the | body of Decon | Joseph Wright, | who departed | this life the 17th | day of December, | Anno Dom. 1714, | aged 75 years. In his will, dated February 14, 1711-12, he mentions his wife, Mercy, and living children. [Hartford Probate Records, Vol. 9, page 21.]

The first wife of Joseph Wright was Mary Stoddard, daughter of John Stoddard and Mary Foote, who was born in Wethersfield, Hartford county, Connecticut on March 12, 1643/4, and married December 10, 1663. She died there August 23, 1683. Joseph Wright married, second, in Wethersfield, March 10, 1685, Mercy Stoddard, the younger sister of his first wife, who was born in November, 1652. She survived her husband. Each of these daughters received 36 pounds at the distribution of their father's estate, March 2, 1664-5.
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A GENEALOGICAL DICTIONARY OF THE FIRST SETTLERS OF NEW ENGLAND, BEFORE 1692 - Vol. 4 - Savage, James - 1860-62:

WRIGHT, JOSEPH, Wethersfield, s. of the first Thomas of the same, freem. 1667, by fam. tradit. is said to have had two ws. By the first Mary, m. 10 Dec. 1663, wh. d. 23 Aug. 1683, aged 38, he had Mary, b. 15 Apr. 1665; Elizabeth 18 Nov. 1667; Joseph, 14 Feb. 1670; Sarah, 16 May 1674; Thomas, 18 Jan. 1677; Joseph, 14 Feb. 1679; and Jonathan, 18 June 1681. His next w. Mercy, m. 10 Mar. 1685, brot. him Benjamin; and Nathaniel, 16 Oct. 1688; and he is said to have d. early in 1715, but to have made his will three yrs. bef.

Joseph married Mary STODDARD. Mary and died. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

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• _UID: F9FEB975588C4E0A952FD144ABC25CBABD9A

Notes:

Mary Stoddard, had 7 children, Mary (m. Jacob Griswold), Elizabeth (m. John Curtis), Joseph Jr.(m. Mary Dudley), Sarah (m. Guilford (or Steven) Hand) Thomas (Deacon, m. #1 Prudence Deming; m. #2 Abigail Churchill), John (m. Mercy Boardman), Jonathan (m. Hannah Rand or Hannah Ann Hand); Deacon Joseph m.#2 Mercy Stoddard, and had at least 2 children, Benjamin (Deacon, m. Hannah Holmes) and Nathaniel (m. Ann Deming)).(*Note-Researcher Mike Wright tells me there is a dispute if Deacon Joseph Wright is actually the son of Mary Cranbroke. He was supposedly born in Kelvedon Hatch, England but there is no record of his birth there. Thus, they think he may have been born at St. Peter's in South Weald, England, Thomas' father's home parish. It is thought the reason they are in England is that Thomas sent the family back while he went off to reclaim the Wethersfield Settlement in CT from the Indians. That is if Mary did indeed die after 1639. If Mary died in 1636 in Watertown, Middlesex Co., MA, then Thomas must have married Margaret Butler in 1638 and got married in the wilderness of New England and the events were never recorded or recorded and got lost. He then sent his family back to England, where Mary had his son Joseph. It is said she died in Wethersfield, Hartford Co., CT in 1645. By all accounts, Thomas indeed marry again to twice widow Margaret Hillard Elson in 1647.)*(Note- Thomas married again to wife # 3? twice widow Margaret Hillard Elson on May 2, 1647 in Wethersfield, Hartford Co, CT. They had no children together but she had children from her first marriage to Hugh Hilliard and she did make a Will that mentions her Hillard grandchildren. When her son Benjamin Hilliard got into a legal trouble in 1648/9, Thomas stood by him in court like a father figure)

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Married:
NOTE MARRIED

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• Reference Number: 6120
• _UID: 2C7DE29401CE42DD9FFB668A4258E6859C7E
• Alt. Birth: 10 Nov 1610, Brook Hall, South Weald, Essex, England; Alt. Birth
• Baptism: 19 Nov 1610, St. Peter's Church, South Weald, Essex, England

Notes:

Emmigration 1634 aboard ship "Susan & Ellen"
Thomas was initially in Massachusetts and was then one of the first settlers in Wethersfield, Hartford county, Connecticut about 1639. (Note - The first settlement was wiped out by Indians in 1637, which killed Hugh Hillard, the first husband of Margaret (Elson) Hillard). A 3-acre homelot was recorded to him in Wethersfield on the 11th day of the 12th month in 1640.


After his wife, Mary, died about 1636 (probably in Massachusetts) Thomas married Margaret Butler by whom he probably had his son Joseph. After Mary died about 1641, Thomas married widow Margaret (Elson) Hillard. They had no hildren together but she had children from her first marriage to Hugh Hilliard and her will mentions her Hilliard grandchildren.

Thomas Wright bought a lot of land and would eventually have his own island, called "Wright Island" in the middle of the Connecticut River. The Indians called it Mannahannock ("Great Laughing Place"). A part of this island was still owned by the family in 1900. It would later be eroded away, though, and does not exist today.

Thomas Wright was a deputy to the General Court of Connecticut in 1643; served as a selectman in 1658; and was a commissioner on town-lines. His earmark for cattle was duly recorded and a fence tax recorded in 1647. He was made a freeman on May 11, 1654, and his name is in the 1659 list as a freeman at Wethersfield. He also was a constable and sat on juries in 1643, 1665, and 1666. Thomas Wright's name was also included in a 1642 list from Guilford, New Haven county, Connecticut for the assessment of the inhabitants of that town.

In his 1670 will, Thomas Wright Sr. gave his wife, Margaret, all the meat and drink in his house and, "all the linen that I have in my possession that was of her own spinning." (Stories of Wethersfield page 29)

Thomas married Margaret BUTLER on 2 May 1647 in Wethersfield, Hartford County, Connecticut. Margaret was born about 1618; died on 4 Apr 1671 in Wethersfield, Hartford County, Connecticut. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

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• Reference Number: 6095
• _UID: D507EFDEA2184D8BA1ED6833266A4D69AA61
• Alt. Birth: Abt 1618, Essex County, England; Alt. Birth

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• Reference Number: 1241
• _UID: 98A1F330D410450B81809AABECE8DC840A7D
• Baptism: 13 Sep 1577, Essex County, England

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[dickenson.ged]

Information downloaded from Don Dickenson's GedCom last updated September 10,2003.

John married Grace GLASSCOCK. Grace was born on 14 May 1579; and died. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

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• _UID: 2FAE24C7B16447EDAC4C8A2EEED68DE3F5B5