USA > Pennsylvania > Luzerne County > Wilkes-Barre > A history of Lodge no. 61, F. and A. M., Wilkesbarr?, Pa. with a collection of masonic addresses > Part 45
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Four days later the subject was again under considera- tion, and Colonel Wright said :
"Let it be the policy of the Government to carry out the Crittenden resolutions, and I firmly believe that the Union is safe; but if you make this a war of slave emancipation, as God is my Judge, I believe that the Government is irretrievably gone. This is no war for slave emancipation ; it is to put down rebellion and treason; to save a great and mighty republic from overthrow and ruin."
Not long afterwards a bill was passed abolishing slavery in the District of Columbia. Colonel Wright voted against it, thereby exciting the most adverse criticism on the part of his Republican constituents. In consequence of this he ad- dressed an open letter to the voters of his district, in which he said :
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"I voted against the bill for abolishing slavery in the District of Columbia, and it is my purpose to vote against any other bill abolish- ing slavery anywhere, without the consent of the people in the State where it exists ; and in doing this I will violate no pledge that I ever assumed, either by word or implication, in the remotest degree.
"When you did me the honor to elect me to the XXXVIIth Con- gress you imposed upon me the following obligations, and I am free to say that they fully and cordially met my own approbation. They were, to aid and assist, to the extent of my power, to put down the re- bellion and crush out an unholy and wicked insurrection ; to vote to raise armies, and the necessary means to support them ; to stand by the Government in the crisis, then and now pending, and do all I could for its restoration. These were the obligations imposed upon me by both the political parties of my district, and which I have faith- fully and honorably discharged. But I did not then consent, and will not now, to become an abolitionist! It is the last position that I will assume, at least while I have reason and judgment left. To become an abolitionist would be to reverse the whole course of my public life; and to give the lie to those doctrines which I have publicly proclaimed for a period of thirty years.
"The doctrines of Wendell Phillips and his associates are as abhor- rent and monstrous as those of Jeff. Davis and his conspirators-both the open and avowed advocates of the destruction of such a Govern- ment as the world never before saw, and both deserving the same infamy. With neither of them have I any affinity, and no human being can say that I ever had. * * *
"Again, I am opposed to the appropriation of money out of the National treasury to pay for the freedom of slaves, either in the Dis- trict or any of the States where it exists. I assume that every loyal man is in favor of maintaining the National credit. If so, to meet the interest on the immense debt already incurred, and that which must be unavoidably added to it, will give us taxation to our heart's con- tent, without putting on the additional burthen of the emancipation of the slaves. Secession and abolition together have already made half the business men of the North bankrupt, and put endless exactions upon the people in the way of excises and taxes; and assuming that the war were to end in six months (as it may, unless fanaticism should make it interminable) twenty generations of peace and prosperity will not cancel it." * *
At the close of the XXXVIIth Congress in March, 1863, Colonel Wright returned to his home, and during the en-
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suing nine years he neither sought nor held any State or National office. He attended to his large law practice, and took an active interest in municipal and county affairs.
In April, 1871, he published "A Practical Treatise on Labor," a 12mo book of 405 pages. The contents of this volume originally appeared in a series of articles under the nom de plume of "Vindicator," in the Anthracite Monitor, a weekly paper published in Schuylkill county, Penn'a, and the accepted organ of the workingmen of the anthracite coal-field of Pennsylvania. The articles were written with a view to the benefit and amelioration of the laboring classes, and the work was dedicated by the author to the "laboring men of my [his] own native county of Luzerne." Follow- ing are the titles of some of the chapters of the book : " Chinese Cheap Labor and Immigration"; "Arbitration"; " The Eight-hour System"; "Strikes and Co-operative Meas- ures"; "Tariff Laws as Affecting Labor"; "National Bonds"; "The Great Coal Strike of 1870-'71." In one of the chap- ters the author wrote of himself thus :
"I have labored as hard in my present occupation as I did in by- gone years in the harvest field and other manual duties upon the farm. I felt then entitled to the same degree of respect that I have felt, in after years, in the pursuit of a learned profession. I rejoice now that it was my good fortune to have been bred to the plough. It gave me habits of industry ; it expanded my chest ; it strengthened my sinews ; it laid a solid foundation for good health in after years. Nay, it did more than all this in bringing me into immediate con- nection and association with that great body of men who do the hard work of the nation; fight its battles; amass its wealth; stamp its character among the nations of the world ; fill its treasury and give it all its power and vitality."
In April, 1873, T. B. Peterson & Brothers, of Philadel- phia, published Colonel Wright's "Historical Sketches of Plymouth, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania," a 12mo book of 419 pages, with twenty-five photographs of some of the early settlers and then residents of the town, etc. The chap-
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ters comprised in this volume, like those in the "Treatise on Labor," were originally published in a series of letters in one of the Wilkesbarré newspapers. The American His- torical Record in noticing the book when it issued from the press said (Vol. II. : p. 335) :
"In this volume we have a charming local history, or rather a lively, interesting and valuable chronicle of men and events in a flourishing Pennsylvania town. It is the work of the brain and hand of one eminently competent to perform the task well, and who, for half a century, has been familiar with many of the persons and events de- scribed. * * With a free pencil he has sketched a picture of the social habits, customs, and amusements of the early settlers, much of the material for which has been drawn from the personal inter- course of the author with the people of the town-the pioneers and their immediate descendants."
In 1872 Colonel Wright was nominated by the Demo- cratic party of the State for Congressman-at-Large, and the nomination was endorsed by the Workingmen's Convention. He ran several thousand votes ahead of his ticket, but the Republican party won the election. In 1873 he presided over the Democratic State Convention at Erie; and he served as Chairman of the Democratic State Central Com- mittee in 1875-the same year in which his fellow-towns- man Gen. Henry M. Hoyt was Chairman of the Republican State Committee. From April, 1874, to April, 1877, he was a member-at-large of the Wilkesbarré City Council.
In the Summer of 1876, while absent from home, he was nominated for the office of Representative in Congress by the Democratic party in the XIIth Congressional District (which included Luzerne county) of Pennsylvania, and in November he was elected by a majority of 1456 votes over his Republican competitor, the Hon. Hubbard B. Payne of Kingston. The XLVth Congress convened December 3d, 1877, and Colonel Wright was sworn in, and took his seat as a Representative from Pennsylvania. Mary Clemmer Ames, a well-known Washington correspondent of that day,
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in describing the personnel of the new House, wrote thus of Luzerne's Member :
"Far over on the Democratic side of the House sits another remark- able white-haired man-Hendrick B. Wright of Pennsylvania. The record marks him past seventy years of age, yet in the face he does not look fifty, while his bearing and step, as he walks across the House, is that of a man not more than thirty. His profuse hair is snow white ; so is his mustache. But his face is ruddy with abound- ing health, his form free alike from the leanness or corpulence of age, while his carriage has the freedom and alertness of a man in his prime. Yet this man presided over the convention that nominated Polk and Dallas to be President and Vice President of the United States in 1844."
In 1878 Colonel Wright was renominated, by both the Democratic and Labor parties, and was elected to represent the XIIth District in the XLVIth Congress by a majority of 2494 votes over Henry Roberts, his Republican opponent. "During these last two terms of his service in Congress his aim and object were to aid by legislation the workingmen of the country ; to accomplish which he introduced a sup- plement to the homestead law (in the passage of which in 1862 he took an active part), by which a small loan by the General Government should be made to poor and deserving men, repayable in ten years, at a small rate of interest, secured on the premises by mortgage, to enable men of small means to enter and settle upon the public lands. In the accomplishment of this measure he failed; but this abated none of his zeal or indomitable perseverence. This bill was defeated in the XLVth Congress, but Colonel Wright renewed it in the XLVIth, and it was defeated in Committee of the Whole by a majority of only three votes. He was more successful in his support of the Eight-hour Law, which was passed by more than a two- thirds vote."
Several years later, about 1884, I think, John Roach, the noted ship-builder and prominent business man of Chester,
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Penn'a, in testifying before the Committee on Education and Labor of the United States Senate, said that the only way of benefiting the condition of labor in general was to give it a chance at the land. In his opinion, if the Government would give 150 acres of land to every man who would go West and cultivate it himself, there would be an easy solu- tion of the labor question. In order to do this effectually, the Government should appropriate a certain sum for trans- porting emigrants to the West. This was substantially the same doctrine or scheme advocated most earnestly by Colonel Wright while in Congress, but which was heralded at the time throughout the land as the vaporing of an arrant demagogue ! A Representative with a special hobby finds usually little favor in Congress for his pet proposition.
During the second session of the XLVth Congress Colonel Wright introduced a resolution for the appointment of a committee of Representatives to investigate industry and trade, the causes of depression, etc. The resolution was passed, and the Colonel was appointed chairman of the committee. The plan adopted by the committee to get the views of workingmen, and to learn the opinions of prominent business men on the chief questions regarding trade and labor then before the public, was to travel about the coun- try and examine witnesses. The committee started out on its labors in July, and got through in September, 1879, having spent ten days in Chicago, four in San Francisco, and two or three in Des Moines. A gentleman who accom- panied the committee said that the depression of labor and business was not very perceptible anywhere on the route. At Chicago there were Communists, Socialists, Labor-Re- formers, Greenbackers, and unfortunate real estate specula- tors who had their various opinions on the way to improve society and bring about the millenium of the working classes-but their views would not add much to the stock of the world's wisdom. The Kansas City Journal said :
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"Colonel Wright's committee is traveling about the country examining witnesses as to the 'causes of depression,' totally oblivious to the fact that there is no depression, but a general revival of prosperity." The committee paid a short visit to Salt Lake City, and seemed to be favorably impressed with the results achieved by the Latter Day Saints. At San Francisco the principal topic of conversation was as to the effect of Chinese immigration. All the workingmen with whom the committee talked agreed that they could not hold their own against the "moon-eyed lepers." While in San Francisco the committee was serenaded, and Colonel Wright was called upon for a speech. The Alta California in re- porting the speech said :
"The venerable gentleman [Colonel Wright] is a good example of the old school, and by his ease and dignity showed that he was no stranger to public audiences. He said he had some eight years ago written an article on the Chinese question, opposing the presence of these foreigners in this country. For some years past he had been devoted in his own State to the advancement of the cause of labor. He had no ambition to fill any office, but wherever he should be his whole aim would be for the one idea-to help on the social elevation of the laboring man. Some four years ago he retired from business and political life, but when the crisis came the workingmen of that district sent for him to help them, and he was elected to Congress by a vote of 12,000 out of 15,000. Nations should stay where the Al- mighty placed them-the negroes in Africa and the Chinese in West- ern Asia. He did not favor persecuting any one, but we of the Anglo- Saxon race have the first and the best right to this land. It is ours by discovery, conquest, and all the rights of industry."
In 1880 when Joseph A. Scranton was nominated for Congress by the Republicans, and D. W. Connolly received the nomination from wings of the Democratic and Labor parties in the XIIth District, Colonel Wright's name was used by the dissatisfied elements in each of the three parties. Although he did not make an active canvass he received over 4000 votes at the election in November.
With the ending of the XLVIth Congress March 4th,
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1881, Colonel Wright closed his political life after a service of eleven years in the State and National Legislatures. With his retirement from public life he also gave up his business and professional pursuits, and retired to his coun- try residence on the banks of Harvey's Lake, about twelve miles from Wilkesbarré.
Colonel Wright was one of the organizers, and a member of the first Board of Trustees, in 1839, of The Wyoming Athenæum ; and was the first President of the Wilkesbarré Law and Library Association organized June 18th, 1850. He was one of the organizers, and for many years President, of the Wilkesbarré Water Company, and a stockholder, and for several years a director, of the Second National Bank of Wilkesbarré. He was President of the Wyoming Historical and Geological Society in 1870, 'I, and '2.
During the anti-Masonic era Colonel Wright was an op- ponent of secret societies, and an active adherent of the anti- Masonic political party. He was a member of the anti- Masonic convention of Luzerne county which met in Sep- tember, 1832, nominated candidates for county offices, and approved of William Wirt for President of the United States and Joseph Ritner for Governor of Pennsylvania; and he was made chairman of a committee to draft an address to the citizens of the county. About 1845 he must have changed his opinions concerning secret societies, for we find that in April of that year he became one of the charter mem- bers of Wyoming Lodge No. 39, I. O. O. F., Wilkesbarré ; and in August, 1846, he became a charter member of Outalissi Encampment No. 39, and its High Priest. He served as Noble Grand of the Lodge in 1846, and as Chief Patriarch of the Encampment in 1847. He was an active and loyal Odd Fellow for many years.
He was initiated into LODGE 61 April 4th, 1861; was Worshipful Master in 1873; and in 1874 and '75 was a member of the Committee on Appeals of the Grand Lodge
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of Pennsylvania. He remained an active member of the Lodge till the day of his death, and at all times manifested an earnest zeal in the welfare and prosperity of our Fra- ternity.
HENDRICK B. WRIGHT as a man and a citizen was re- spected by all, and dearly loved by those who knew him intimately. It was a commendable trait of his character that he could not bear to see a fellow-being want, and his friends were obliged to resort to many subterfuges to pre- vent his being made the dupe of imposters, as he always pre- ferred to give to the undeserving rather than chance to miss a real charity. "Charity and benevolence were the ruling features of his heart. The distribution of his holiday loaves to the city poor-a practice he continued for years ; his acts of generosity to the poor the year round; his aid to people in debt, and contributions to public charities, and various subscriptions for public purposes, all indicated the existence in him of that priceless feature of exalted manhood and the true ornament of human life."
Colonel Wright died at Wilkesbarré September 2d, 1881, and was buried in the Hollenback Cemetery three days later. In the morning of the day of the funeral there was a largely attended meeting of the members of the Luzerne Bar held at the Court House, presided over by Andrew T. McClintock, Esq. Many eulogiums upon the life and char- acter of the deceased were pronounced by the lawyers pres- ent, and formal resolutions of regard and respect were adopted. The funeral took place at five o'clock in the after- noon, and the services were conducted by the Rt. Rev. William Bacon Stevens, D. D., LL. D., Bishop of Pennsyl- vania. The pall-bearers-who had been selected by Colonel Wright some weeks before his death-were: Isaac S. Osterhout, George W. Search, Abram Nesbitt, Oliver Daven- port, William L. Conyngham, Andrew T. McClintock, Ed- ward P. Darling, and William H. Sturdevant.
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HENDRICK B. WRIGHT was married at Wilkesbarre April 2Ist, 1835, to Mary Ann Bradley Robinson, who was born at Wilkesbarré June 9th, 1818, and died there September 8th, 1871. She was the only daughter of John W. and Ann (Butler) Robinson,* and in her veins there flowed the blood
* JOHN W. ROBINSON was born in Norwich, New London county, Conn., April 5th, 1779, the eldest child of Samuel and Priscilla (Met- calf) Robinson, and great-grandson of the Rev. John Robinson, the able but eccentric pastor of the Church at Duxbury, Mass., from 1702 to 1737. The Reverend John was born at Dorchester, Mass., April 17th, 1675, and was graduated from Harvard College in 1695. His wife was Hannah Wiswall, daughter of his predecessor in the Church at Duxbury, and one of their daughters was Faith Robinson, born in 1718, who married in 1735 Jonathan Trumbull ("Brother Jonathan"), Governor of Connecticut from 1769 to 1784.
Jonathan and Faith (Robinson) Trumbull became the parents of several children who attained prominence in the world. Their son Joseph was Commissary General of Washington's army ; Jonathan, Jr., was Paymaster in Washington's army, and from 1798 to 1809 was Governor of Connecticut ; Faith married Gen. Jedidiah Huntington of the Revolutionary army ; Mary married William Williams of Con- necticut, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence ; David was Assistant Commissary, etc., in the Revolutionary army, and his son Joseph was Governor of Connecticut in 1849-'50; John was aide- de-camp to General Washington, and became the renowned painter.
The Rev. John Robinson died at Lebanon, Conn., November 14th, 1745.
Samuel Robinson (born in Lebanon, Conn., June 7th, 1752), grand- son of the Reverend John and father of John W. Robinson, removed with his family from Norwich, Conn., to Auburn, Susquehanna county, Penn'a, about 1799. His son John W. had preceded him to Pennsyl- vania about a year, as a surveyor under Col. Ezekiel Hyde in the Wyalusing region. (See note, page 426, ante.) About 1805 or '6 John W. Robinson removed to Wilkesbarré, where he entered into mercantile business. In 1813-'14 he was engaged with Charles Miner and others in an attempt to mine and market anthracite coal. In the Fall or Winter of 1817 he returned to Susquehanna county, where he continued to reside until the Fall of 1819, when he removed again to Wilkesbarré, where he resided until his death. In 1818 he was ap- pointed the first Post Master at Springville, Susquehanna county. He
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of ancestors not a few, who, in their respective generations and spheres of life, had been men of distinction and power -men whose names and deeds may be found recorded often upon the pages of American history. She was the granddaughter of Col. Zebulon Butler ; she was a descend- ant, of the fifth generation, of the Duxbury pastor, Rev. John Robinson ; she was a descendant, of the seventh gen- eration, of Maj. William Bradford, who was a brave and dar- ing officer during the Narragansett War, and was wounded at the Great Swamp fight December 19th, 1675 ; she was a descendant, of the eighth generation, of William Bradford, one of the "Mayflower" company and the second Governor of Plymouth colony-holding the office for thirty-one years ; she was a descendant, of the seventh generation, of the Rev. James Fitch, first of Saybrook, and then the first pastor of the Church at Norwich, Conn .; she was a descendant, of the eighth generation, of Maj. Gen. John Mason, leader of the Connecticut forces in the Pequot Indian War, and some- time Deputy Governor of the Colony ; and there were others !
Hendrick B. and Mary A. B. (Robinson) Wright were the parents of five sons and five daughters, as follows :
was initiated into LODGE 61 November 30th, 1822, and was admitted to the Mark Lodge, working under the charter of "61," August 6th, 1823.
John W. Robinson was married at Wilkesbarré January 12th, 1808, to Ann, daughter of Col. Zebulon and Phebe (Haight) Butler (see page 226, ante). She was born at Wilkesbarré in 1788, and died there May 11th, 1856. He died there December 16th, 1840.
They were the parents of three sons and one daughter : i .- Charles Miner, born October 7th, 1810; died April 15th, 1829. ii .- Houghton Butler, born 1812; died at Sparrow's Point, Md., December 29th, 1892. iii .- John Trumbull, born at Wilkesbarré December 30th, 1814; admitted to the Bar of Luzerne county April 4th, 1838; died at Wilkesbarré August 28th, 1848, unmarried. iv .- Mary Ann Bradley, born June 9th, 1817, who married Hendrick B. Wright.
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I. CHARLES ROBINSON WRIGHT, born March 12th, 1836; died August 26th, 1836.
II. Twins. r ELLEN HENDRICK WRIGHT, born March 12th, 1836; died September 19th, 1836.
III. JOSEPH WRIGHT, born June 16th, 1837. He was ad- mitted to the Bar of Luzerne county January 2d, 1860. At the breaking out of the War of the Rebellion there existed in Wilkesbarré a cavalry company, known as the Wyoming Light Dragoons, commanded by Capt. Henry M. Hoyt. He resigned his commission in order to assist in raising and organizing a regiment for the United States service (see page 339, ante), and Dr. William Brisbane was elected Cap- tain of the "Dragoons," and Joseph Wright First Lieutenant. This company later became Co. "C," 8th Reg't Penn'a Vols. (organized at Harrisburg, Penn'a, April 22d, 1861, with A. H. Emley of Wilkesbarré as Colonel), in the "three months' service" of the United States, and Lieutenant Wright was appointed Adjutant of the regiment. They were mustered out of service July 29th, 1861, at the expiration of their term.
During July-October, 1861, Col. Richard H. Rush, of Philadelphia, who was a graduate of West Point and had been a captain of artillery in the Regular Army, recruited and organized at Philadelphia the 70th Reg't (6th Cavalry) Penn'a Vols. for the "three years' service." The regiment was armed with lances, and was known as "Rush's Lancers." September 13th, 1861, Joseph Wright was mustered into the service as Captain of Co. "D" of this regiment. He held this commission until May 18th, 1862, when he died at Germantown, Penn'a, of typhoid fever contracted in camp in Virginia. He was buried at Wilkesbarré with military honors.
IV. ANN AUGUSTA WRIGHT, born June 18th, 1839. She is unmarried, and resides in New York city.
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V. MARY ELIZABETH WRIGHT, born February 7th, 1841. She was married February 2d, 1861, to Christopher El- dredge Hawley (born August 7th, 1833), a Mining Engineer by profession. He is a son of James S. Hawley, who was a Civil Engineer at Binghamton, N. Y., and Philadelphia, Penn'a, and grandson of Maj. Martin Hawley of Bingham- ton. Mrs. Mary E. Hawley died December 25th, 1888, and was survived by her husband, one daughter, and one son.
VI. ELLEN HENDRICK WRIGHT, born November 3d, 1842. She was married December 18th, 1872, to Mr. Thomas Graeme, a native of Virginia, but since 1881 a resident of Wilkesbarré. He is an Insurance Adjuster.
VII. CAROLINE GRIFFIN WRIGHT, born September 28th, 1844. She is unmarried, and resides in New York city.
VIII. HENDRICK BRADLEY WRIGHT, Jr., born July 16th, 1847 ; died April 14th, 1880.
IX. GEORGE RIDDLE WRIGHT, born November 21st, 1851. He was graduated from Princeton College in 1873, and then read law under the direction of his father and was admitted to the Bar of Luzerne county September 6th, 1875. He resides in Wilkesbarré, and is unmarried. He is Vice Pres- ident of the Humane Society, and President of the United Charities of Wilkesbarré. He is a member of the Society of the War of 1812, and of the Pennsylvania Society of Sons of the Revolution.
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