USA > Indiana > Tipton County > History of Tipton County Indiana > Part 37
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Politically, Mr. Sheil is a Democrat and was a candidate for judge of the thirty-sixth judicial circuit against Judge Elliott, of Kokomo. He is now county attorney of Tipton county. He has been successful not only in his professional affairs, but also in material things, and is a stockholder and member of the board of directors of the Citizens National Bank of Tipton, with which he has been connected since its organization. Religiously, he and his wife are members of the Catholic church. Mr. Sheil is a scholarly man, a polished writer and an able lawyer. His writings show a literary finish and a charm of expression shown by few writers. A strong and logical reasoner, a man of deep thought and a splendid conversationalist, he is a welcome n:ember of any circle he chooses to enter and because of his genial disposition . and unassuming manner he enjoys the respect and esteem of all who know him.
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THE WRIGHT FAMILY.
The name Wright originated in Germany, from a man working in wood (a carpenter), called wright, now chiefly used in compounds, as millwright, wheelwright, shipwright, etc. The descendants of this carpenter, called Wright, had to flee from Germany to save their lives when the Catholics were persecuting the Protestants. There were three brothers, John, Thomas and David Wright, who went to England. John settled on the Isle of Wight. Thomas on the Isle of Man, and David in Scotland. Their descendants emi- grated to America and settled in Culpeper county, Virginia, and other parts of the United States.
The Wright family has been prominent in England for several genera- tions, especially in Suffolk, Kent, Surrey, Warwick, and Durham. Cranham Hall, Essex, is one seat of the Wrights and Bilham House, York, another. The Irish branch of the family was established by Ireland Wright, who went with Cromwell to that kingdom.
One of the first of whom we have any record was John. Lord of Kelvedon Manor, Essex. He died in 1551. His son was Robert of the Moat House, and Lord of the Manor of Great and Little Ropers. His direct descendant was Thomas, whom we find deputy to the General Court at Wethersfield, Connecticut, in 1643, whose wife was Margaret, widow of John Elson.
An earlier "Pilgrim Father" was William, who came over in the "Fortune," 1621, with his wife, Priscilla.
In 1645 Benjamin, who had come from England, was a large land owner at Guilford, Connecticut. He was granted permission to put up a tan mill, "take water yt issueth from ye waste gate, provided it hurt not ye town mill." He had nine children, and from him descended Silas, governor of New York and United States senator, and William, governor of New Jersey and also senator.
Nicholas, who was living at Lynn, Massachusetts, in 1637, was a sur- veyor, a large land owner, and town schepen or magistrate. He also held many other offices of civil trust.
The Wrights have a noble record as governors of states. Besides Silas and William, already mentioned, there was Sir James Wright, the last royal governor of Georgia. He was born in South Carolina, 1714, and son of Benjamin, who was from Durham, England. Robert Wright was governor of Maryland, and Joseph of Indiana.
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MORGAN WRIGHT.
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Silas Wright was born at Amherst, Massachusetts, May 24, 1795. He graduated from Middleburrough College, Vermont, in 1815, was admitted to the bar in 1819, and began practice at Canton, in northern New York. The place where he settled was almost a wilderness. His farm was a small one and no laborer upon it worked harder than he did. His manner of life was of the simplest. In his professional work he was a type of a lawyer of the old school-shrewd, skillful, rigidly just, and controlled by the belief that his profession was a public trust and that judicial qualities must mingle with those of the advocate. He is said never to have sought an office and never felt at liberty to refuse one, even that of village postmaster, if he could possibly serve. He was appointed surrogate in 1820 and was elected successively to the state Senate in 1823, to the House of Representatives in 1827-29, comp- troller of the state 1829-33, United States senator 1833-44, and governor of New York, 1844-46. During his public life he had become a leader of the Democratic party in New York, Van Buren being his closest associate. When the national Democratic party in 1844 nominated and elected Polk to the presidency, instead of Van Buren, Wright and the state organization took an attitude of armed neutrality toward the new administration. Renominated for governor in 1846, Wright was defeated and the result was ascribed to the hostility of the Polk administration. The death of the defeated candidate, August 27, 1847, at Canton, gave intense bitterness to New York politics for several years, and his faction, in 1848, succeeded in defeating their national party's candidate in the presidential election.
Nathaniel Wright, an active member of Winthrop's colony, was a Lon- don merchant, who owned one-eighth of the ships that brought the colonists to America, which country he never visited. Thomas, of Wethersfield, was of the same family, and Nathaniel's half-brother, Samuel, was ancestor of the Springfield. Massachusetts, branch.
The brothers, Peter and Anthony, were progenitors of the Long Island Wrights. The deed of their land purchase in 1677 from the Indians shows that the consideration was six Indian coats, six kettles, six fathoms of wam- pum, six hoes, six hatchets, three pairs of stockings, thirty awl blades, twenty knives, three shirts, and as much peas as would amount to four pounds. A. portion of this land has been owned and occupied by the Wrights ever since.
The first Quaker meeting was held at Anthony Wright's house, and a house of worship erected on his grounds was paid for in Indian corn, pork and peas.
One of the founders of Methodism in this country was Richard Wright, who came over with Francis Asbury, in 1771.
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In 1736 Thomas Hynson Wright, a surveyor for Lord Baltimore, was one of the delegates to the Assembly at Annapolis. His son, Colonel Thomas, was delegate to the Colonial Convention of 1775, a member of the associa- tion of freemen who protested against infringements of their liberty and the first military commander of Maryland forces under Revolutionary organiza- tion.
Major Samuel Turbutt Wright, also of the Maryland family, was a hero of the Revolution, and one of the principal leaders at the battle of Long Island, where it was that the valor of Maryland's "400" shone so gloriously. The Sons of the Revolution of that state have commemorated the bravery of the heroic band by the erection of a monolith at Brooklyn.
Revolutionary rosters give the names of Lieutenant Nahum, wounded at Bunker Hill; Surgeon Elihu, of Massachusetts; Lieutenant Dudley and Lieutenant Ebenezer, of Connecticut; Captain Robert and Lieutenant Daniel, of New York; Lieutenant Anthony, of Pennsylvania ; Lieutenant Benjamin. of Maryland: Lieutenant David, of North Carolina; and Captain John, of Georgia. His son, Captain Benjamin, won laurels in the war of 1812.
Dr. Thomas, of the Long Island family, one of the most eminent sur- geons of his day, although an old man at the time of the Revolution, took part, and died in prison, his body being thrown into one of the trenches in the rear of the present City Hall, New York, known as the "Graves of the Martyrs." His body was reinterred in Trinity cemetery. Dr. Thomas was an ardent patriot and served on board the privateer "Greyhound" during King George's war, 1744-1748.
Stephen Wright and his partner, Charles Brown, built the first steam- boat, the "Clermont," for its inventor, Robert Fulton, in 1807.
Joseph Wright, styled Wright of Derby, subject, landscape and portrait painter, was born at Derby, September 3. 1734, the son of an attorney of the place, who was afterwards town clerk. During his early years he manifested an aptitude for mechanical pursuits, and also for music, but he finally re- solved to become a painter and, in 1757, he went to London and for two years studied under Thomas Hudson, the master of Reynolds. Returning to Derby, he practiced portrait painting, but feeling the need for further in- struction, he again placed himself for fifteen months under his former mas- ter. He then settled in Derby and varied his work in portraiture by the pro- duction of the subject seen under artificial light, with which his name is chiefly associated, and by landscape painting. He married in 1773 and in the end of that year he visited Italy, where he remained till 1775. While in
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Naples he witnessed an eruption of Vesuvius, which under various treatment formed the subject of many of his subsequent pictures. On his return from Italy he established himself at Bath, as a portrait painter; but, meeting with but little encouragement, he returned to Derby, where he spent the rest of his life. He was a frequent contributor to the exhibitions of the Society of Artists and to those of the Royal Academy, of which he was elected an asso- ciate in 1781 and a full member in 1784. He, however, declined the latter honor on account of a slight, which he believed that he had received, and severed his official connection with the academy, though he continued to con- tribute to the exhibitions from 1783 till 1794. He died at Derby on August 29, 1797. An exhibition of Wright's work was brought together at Derby in 1883, and twelve of his pictures were shown in the winter exhibition of the Royal Academy in 1886.
Thomas Wright was born in Ludlow, in Shropshire, April 21, 1810, and was descended from a Quaker family formerly living at Bradford, in York- shire. He was a great scholar and antiquary. He helped to found the Brit- ish Archaelogical Association.
Edward Wright, living in the seventeenth century, was a mathematician of note.
Characteristics of the family are truth and honor, rare executive ability, a strong sense of justice, firmness combined with courtesy and affability, and other traits, to which may be added patriotism. military ardor, and a self- sacrificing spirit. Always taking the environments of others into considera- tion, they were ready to lend a helping hand to those sinking morally or finan- cially, but never had a word of praise or encouragement for those who, by their environments, were able to oppress those more unfortunate. Length of years has been theirs for upright living and the Wrights have num- bered many centenarians in their ranks. It is recorded of one that when an old man-in the neighborhood of ninety-he went out one day to mow with the young men, but sat down to weep when he found that he could not keep up with the others.
OUR BRANCH OF THE FAMILY.
My great-grandfather, Zadock Wright, with other near relatives, came from England and settled in Culpeper county, Virginia. My great-grand- father lived there until his death. He was of a military turn of mind and boasted of his attainments as a cavalier. The story is handed down to us when he, all booted and spurred, made an attempt to mount a very high and
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spirited horse. Two colored servants were in attendance, one at the head of the horse, the other to adjust the stirrup. Aide-de-camp Wright gave a spring, his spurred foot struck the horse before he had proper command of the bridle, the horse sprang forward, the servants were both knocked down, the horse ran away and the "cavalier" was left sitting in the dirt.
Great-grandfather had five sons and two daughters. The eldest son was John, then Thomas, James and Lewis, then a daughter, Lucy, then William, born in 1762, then Sarah. In the year 1773 John moved near Red Sand Stone Fort on the Monongahela, in Pennsylvania. Afterward he returned to Culpeper county, Virginia, and brought his mother and all his brothers and sisters to where he had settled. Some few years later John moved to Kentucky. He did not stay there long until he moved over into the state of Ohio. At last, they all, except Lewis, moved to Ohio. William, who was the last to come, settled sixteen or eighteen miles north of Cincin- nati, in the year 1809.
Albert Wright, who is now in the United States mail service, Spring- field, Ohio, is the great-grandson of the Wright who built the canal from Bristolshire to the English Channel. England, in 1795-1803. This civil engineer, who was superintendent of the canal for a number of years after its construction, was a first cousin of Grandfather William Wright, born in 1762.
I shall give a little sketch of the life of the last one of Grandfather Wright's family, to show how the early life of the pioneers was. Margaret Wright was born April 13, 1803, in Greene county, Pennsylvania. Her father, William Wright, was of English descent and her mother, Margaret Phillips Wright, of German descent. Her father, John Phillips, was born in Germany, on the bank of the Rhine, so near the river that they could look over into France. Margaret Wright was but a small child when her father, William Wright, emigrated to Ohio, and bought a farm now in the corporate limits of Cincinnati. The journey from Pennsylvania was made principally by flatboat. The little girl always remembered the new home and the village of Cincinnati, then only a few log houses. Mr. Wright soon sold his hilly farm for one of the fine bottom land of the Miami Valley, Butler county. Here, when Margaret was only nine years old and the eldest of the daughters at home, her mother died. The home was kept for a short time and then Margaret went to live with her sister, Lucy Bradbury, in Camden, Preble county, and Elizabeth, two years younger, was taken into the home of another sister, Mary Simcox, Hamilton, Ohio. Then William Wright, who had been a soldier in the American Revolution, again volunteered his services, this time in the war of 1812. Margaret remained in Camden until
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her sister and her family moved to Michigan. She journeyed with them as far as Centerville, Indiana, where she remained with her eldest brother, John, while her sister's family made the long journey to Niles, Michigan, in a covered wagon. Soon after this Margaret married Robert Henning Brown, of Camden, Ohio, who was born December 13, 1802, in Newry, county Down, Ireland. Mr. Brown was the village storekeeper, but went on a farm to rear his family. . In 1872 he retired from the farm and lived in Camden, where he died November 14, 1883. Soon after Mrs. Brown went to Kansas to visit her children. She returned twice to stay, but her attach- ments in Kansas were too strong and each time she returned to that state. After the death of her eldest daughter, Margaret, whose home was in Preble county, she had no desire to go back to Ohio again. Her last journey was made in comfort, when she was in her ninety-second year. She was a happy, cheerful and much beloved member of the family of Judge and Mrs. William Agnew Johnston, and died in their home, No. 700 Topeka avenue, Topeka, Kansas, October 25, 1900, aged ninety-seven years six months and twelve days. Her funeral services were held in the Presbyterian church of Cam- den, Ohio, where she was an honored member for more than sixty-five years, and she was laid to rest beside her husband in the cemetery north of Camden. There were many changes affecting the lives of women during the period of Mrs. Brown's life-almost a hundred years. When little Margaret Wright grew to school age the public school was not open to her simply because she was a girl, except of summer evenings after the boys had gone home. But she was taught knitting, fine sewing, spinning and embroidery. Once, when her father lived in Pennsylvania, he had to take his family into Red Sand Stone Fort for some time. He had to go out to hunt and fight Indians, and her mother thought he ought to have warm stockings, so she sheared the wool off their little dog and knit him a pair of stockings.
Margaret was a fine horse-woman and her wedding journey was made on horseback, the groom bringing a little bay mare to Centerville for her to ride back. The "infair" dinner was served at the village inn, and one of the meats was a whole roasted pig, which held a red apple in its mouth. When Mrs. Brown went to housekeeping, the baking was done in an out-oven and the cooking on a crane over an open fire. She was proud of having the first cook- ing stove in the county, a "step stove." There were no lucifer matches and fire had to be kept over or borrowed from the neighbors. All table furnish- ings, bed furnishings and wearing apparel were woven and made in the home.
Margaret Brown was a "real daughter" of the Daughters of the Ameri- can Revolution, and was an active member in the temperance crusade in
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Ohio, out of which the Woman's Christian Temperance Union grew. She was small of stature, had black eyes and fine black hair. She was lovingly called "Aunt Peggie" or "Grandma Brown" by a host of children and grown-ups who could not claim the legal right.
The following record will enable any of the descendants to become either Sons or Daughters of the American Revolution :
United States pension rolls, 1835, page 108, Ohio: William Wright. private Pennsylvania Militia. Received pension, begun March 4, 1831, placed on roll October 12, 1833. Age, seventy-two.
Pennsylvania Archives, volume 14, page 736: William Wright appears as private soldier in Capt. William Crawford's Company pay roll.
United States Pension Roll, 1840, page 169: Pensions William Wright, living at Liberty, Butler county, Ohio. Age, seventy-nine.
Morgan Wright was born in Wayne county, Indiana, September 4, 1834, and is the eldest of the five children of William and Margaret McCoy Wright, both natives of Wayne county, whose grandparents were early set- tlers of that county, and located on Nolan's Fork. When Morgan was one year old his parents removed to Hancock county, in 1835, and settled in the forest, where he was reared to manhood and obtained some education. At eighteen years of age he began life for himself, and came to this county (Tipton) in 1852. On September 17, 1855, he was married to Celia Phil- pott, of this township (Madison), who was born in Fayette county Septem- ber 16, 1837, the. daughter of Martin Philpott, who located here in 1852. Seven children blessed this union, four of whom survive: Mary E., born November 12, 1856, died November 20, 1870. William E., born November 26, 1858, married Catherine Nuding January 2, 1881, and married Lora Steiger December 19, 1906; she died August 4, 1908, and he married Lucinda Foreman August 23, 1909, at Greentown, Indiana. John M., born Novem- ber 16, 1860, married Ella Stevens. John died June 20, 1913. George" ?. , born May 12, 1863, married Sarah Hall September 23, 1886. Josephus, } ,rn April 4, 1867, at Cedar Corner, Indiana, married Mary M. Hall June 15. 1889. Celia E., born February 15, 1870, married William DeVault Decen- ber 17, 1889. Julia A., born February 9, 1872, married Charles Clabaugh August 20, 1892, and died March 21, 1896.
Family of John M. and Ella (Stevens) Wright : Corah M., born Decem- ber 26, 1883, married Eva Worley August 23, 1902.
Family of Corah M. and Eva (Worley) Wright: Dallas L., born Feb- ruary 1, 1903; Lora M., born February 18, 1906; Florence L., born February 1I, 1908.
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Family of George B. and Sarah (Hall) Wright: Shirley L., born September 21, 1888; Alva A., born September 3, 1891, died September I, 1892; Versie M., born June 20, 1893.
Family of Celia E. (Wright) and William DeVault: Orial L., born February 17, 1891, married Florence Recobs; Jesse M., born January 24, 1894; Loran C., born April 1, 1896; Blanche M., born January 14, 1901. '
Family of Julia A. (Wright) and Charles Clabaugh: Chester, born March 14, 1896, died March 4, 1897.
Mr. Wright was without means after his marriage, but by providence and industry improved his fortunes. In 1857 he received a legacy of one thousand dollars, with which he purchased eighty acres of land in his town- ship, where he lived some years, afterward purchasing the old Philpott farm, on which he resides. He now owns two hundred and eighty acres, all in Madison township, where he now resides.
Mr. Wright is an active Democrat. He was elected county commis- sioner in 1875; sheriff in 1892; justice of the peace of Madison township; township advisory board; at present county councilman and has been for many years, and has served in all his official capacities with general favor.
He is a member of the Masonic order and is a Patron of Husbandry.
. The portrait of Morgan Wright that appears on another page was taken on the day that he was seventy-nine years, six months and twenty-nine days old.
JAMES C. GROVES.
There is no positive rule for achieving success, and yet in the life of the successful man, there are always lessons which might well be followed. T'e man who gain .. prosperity is he who can see and utilize the opportunities t. come in his path. The essential conditions of human life are ever the same, the surroundings of individuals differing but slightly, and when one man passes another on the highway of life to reach the goal of prosperity before others who perhaps started out before him, it is because he has the power to use advantages which probably encompass the whole human race. Today among the prominent citizens and successful men of Tipton stands James C. Groves. The qualities of keen discrimination, sound judgment and executive ability enter very largely into his make-up and have been con- tributing elements to the material success which has come to him.
The subject of this sketch, who is of good old Kentucky stock, was born
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in Jefferson county, Kentucky, near Louisville, on June 7, 1864, the son of James and Louisa ( Roby) Groves, both of whom were born in the old Blue Grass state. They were the parents of four children: Henry, of Beuchel, Kentucky ; Belle, deceased, who was the wife of Benjamin Burdette; Mary, deceased, the wife of John Farmer, and James C., the immediate subject of this sketch. James Groves, father of the subject, was reared in Jefferson county, Kentucky, and was the son of Isaac and Celia ( Pairpoint) Groves, the former a native of Virginia. Their deaths occurred in Jefferson county, he at the age of about seventy and she at ninety-six years of age. Their children were James, Rachael, William, Catherine, Isaac, Mary Ann, George and Abraham. The subject's father was in early life a cooper by trade, but later followed farming. His death occurred in Jefferson county, Kentucky, in 1877, his wife dying many years afterwards, at the age of eighty-two years. Both were earnest members of the Baptist church. The subject's maternal grandparents were Josiah and Eliza (Pash) Roby, who lived in Nelson county, Kentucky, all their lives, and died there at advanced ages. They were farming folk and were highly respected in the community where they lived. Their children were Jasper, Coleman, Thomas, Rufus, Louisa, Permelia, Eliza Ann and Mary.
James C. Groves lived in Jefferson county, Kentucky, until nineteen years of age, having been reared on the home farm and getting his education in the district schools of the neighborhood. Upon gaining mature years he began farming on his own account, following that vocation until March 19, 1884, when he came to Indiana, locating near Strawtown, Hamilton county, where he was employed by the month at farm work. In 1888 he came to Tipton county, and engaged in farming on his own account on a rented farm, and afterwards bought a tract of eighty acres in Madison township, Tipton county, to the operation of which he devoted his attention with splendid success until 1911, when he entered upon the discharge of the duties of clerk of the Tipton circuit court, to which office he had been elected in the fall of 1910. He brought to his official position an alert mentality and vig- orous industry, which has enabled him to keep up with the business of the office and because of his accommodating disposition and the business-like methods which he has adopted in the administration of his official duties, he has won not only the approval of the county official family, but also the commendation of all who have been in the office.
On September 16, 1888, James C. Groves married Cenia A. Morris. who was born in Madison township, Tipton county, Indiana, on June 12.
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1865, the daughter of Samuel and Mahala (Likins) Morris. Mr. and Mrs. James C. Groves have one son, Samuel D., born March 21, 1890, who is deputy county clerk. Mrs. Groves is a member of the Baptist church. Her father, who was a native of Virginia, and her mother, born in North Caro- lina, were early settlers in Tipton county, where they spent the remainder of their lives, the mother dying at the age of sixty-five years. The father is still living. They were the parents of six children, Jane, Vonie Melinda, John F., Cenia A., Sarah Margaret and Susie Ann. By a prior marriage to Miss Welshons, Mr. Morris was the father of one child, Adeline.
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