William Wright
1761-1840
Probate Records
(verbatim w/misspellings)
Transcribed by Michael J. Wright, 6th great-grandson
April-June, 2009
Foreword
It is my intention to research primary source documents in order to provide an authoritative accounting of William and Martha (Morgan‘s) Wright’s lives. Much of my work is in honor of my ancestors, and some of it is simply the thrill of the hunt. There seems to be much that is unknown about William and Martha. I have also discovered that there is much that has been reported incorrectly. It is not my intention to place blame for that. I just want to get it right. Genealogy is an ongoing process. It will never be complete. I will continue to update and revise my information as each picture becomes clearer. I hope that others will benefit from my work. I enjoy this!
Probate Records
These are the probate records on file at the Jackson County, Indiana courthouse. They were among thousands of other files that were not indexed or organized whatsoever. I have been very careful to transcribe the documents line by line and letter by letter verbatim as it is written in the original documents. I have been tempted to clean up the obvious misspellings and to organize data for better analytical purposes, but that would detract from the character and authenticity of the records. Besides, there are subtle clues to be gleaned from certain spellings of names and such.
Some analysis and points that present themselves…
West Lee Wright, youngest son was granted administration of William’s estate on September 4, 1840. [page 277 of probate book _]. (Elijah Wright, eldest son and Jackson County Justice of the Peace died March 6, 1835). It’s interesting to note that West Lee Wright was administrator of Elijah’s estate in 1835 as well.
William and Martha were wealthy. William and Martha gave $1,290.62 to their children on August 31, 1829 [August 31, 1829 doc.]...equivalent to $306,825.00 (unskilled wage index) today. On September 4, 1840, $8,000 in land was put up as securities for administration of the estate [page 277 of probate book _]…equivalent to 1.85 million dollars(unskilled wage index) today.
William lived in several households of his children and a grandchild prior to his death. [Morgan Wright, Samuel Wright, Arvin Wright, George & Elizabeth (Wright) Goss and William H. Wright docs.]
William was living in Jackson County at the time of his death. [Hay & Rouse doc]
William didn’t die in 1838 as it has been commonly thought. William’s grandson William H. Wright(my line) boarded him for one week as late as November 1839 [doc #16]. William’s son-in-law and youngest daughter, George and Elizabeth (Wright) Goss nursed him for nine weeks "in his last sickness" [doc #8]. Judging by an 1839/40 calendar, if the nine weeks started directly after the first week of November 1839, that would put William’s life at least to on or about January 10, 1840. That’s if William was in his last sickness and went directly to the Goss’ from Wm. H. Wright’s house.
There is another document that may indicate William lived later than April 26, 1840. This date was noted in a note receivable to William along with several other notes receivable. This particular one in document #7 reads "Do [ditto West Lee Wright] April 26, 1840 at 10 [percent]. Cr 69 same time 345.00". It’s not clear if this was a transaction date or a due date. It reads like a transaction date. If so, this would indicate William reached his 79th birthday and lived at least into late April 1840. Within the same document, there is yet another note receivable with a date of May 4, 1840. This one reads "Notes first. One on Wm. Scott & R. Jamison at 10 percent May 4th, 1840 $15.00". This too reads like a transaction date. If so, that would indicate William lived at least into May 1840. Another note receivable has a date of September 10th, 1840. It is clearly noted as a "due" date however. William died prior to Friday September 4th, 1840 as on that day West Lee Wright requested administration of the estate upon "the death of William Wright".
An interesting aspect is that with the value of the estate at $1.85 million in today’s terms, it stands to reason that the estate would begin its course sooner rather than later. Although there is no hard source, it seems plausible that William had died within a couple of months prior to the September 4th, 1840 request for administration.
So, we essentially have William conservatively living into mid January 1840. Perhaps we may have him documented into May of 1840. This would give us a conservative range between mid-January 1840 to early September 1840. These documents may indeed show that range between early May to early September 1840.
I think that some of the previous speculation of William’s death date or year came about due to William’s Rev. War service records. In the 1920s through the 1940s, others requested information from Washington, DC. Those inquiry letters are in William’s pension files at the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) in Washington, DC. I have viewed and copied these letters. In the past, many assumptions were made due to what information they garnered…or what information they didn’t garner. Just because there was no pension or pay record into 1840 does not mean that William didn’t live into 1840. The files at the NARA are notoriously incomplete and not user-friendly! Besides, there are many many thousands of pensioners and hundreds of thousands, if not millions of pension records. Records and files were not what they are today!
Many of the researchers that account for much of the information were not descendants and/or lived in Washington County or elsewhere. William and Martha sold the last of their Washington County ground November 5, 1832. William and Martha’s only remaining land was in southern Jackson County. They lived their remaining years in Jackson County. It seems that the Washington County researchers didn’t research in Jackson County. This may account for the confusion over William and Martha’s gravesite as well. …more on that later.
The "West Lee Wright bible" that is often spoken of was actually William’s bible. West Lee purchased the bible from the estate for $1.81 ¼. This also makes more sense because the bible has all of William and Martha’s children’s names and birth dates in it. [March 13, 1841 inventory, appraisal and sale of goods]
In computer land, William is sometimes referred to as having a middle initial "R". In all of these and other primary-source documents, there is no R. I have personally scrutinized these probate documents, William’s 41 pages of Rev. War documents in Washington, DC and many Washington and Jackson County, Indiana land transaction documents. There is no "R"! It was commonplace in 18th century America (or British Colonies) for just one given name and no middle name. It is tempting to site William with the "R" because it makes us feel more knowledgeable, but until I see a source document, I will resist the temptation! The problem herein lies that when there is erroneous information put out there, it gets reproduced for infinity.
West Lee Wright, administrator, dragged out the estate until February 1849. [February 14, 1849 receipts] Note that West Lee became very wealthy in the 1840s through his many dozens of land transactions and subsequent founding of the town of Medora. Even into November of 1848, West Lee was in possession of $5286 in estate funds. That’s equivalent to $1,023,449 in today’s money!
Brothers and sisters were displeased at how West Lee Wright was handling the administration of the estate. [various docs.]
On November 22, 1847 the Jackson County probate judge William Williams commanded the Jackson County Sheriff to cite and order West Lee Wright to appear before the court as to why he hasn‘t settled the estate. [November 22, 1847 Citation]
The estate was mostly settled by November, 1848. [November, 1848 docs.]
The August 31, 1829 doc. is interesting, as it appears to be Wm. and Martha’s gesture and gift of money for their children to purchase land. Land at that time went for approximately $1.00 per acre. Most pioneers of that day and location purchased a quarter-section of land…or 160 acres. That’s why the common sum of $160 in this doc. is quite peculiar. It would be interesting to search land transactions thereafter to see what came from the monetary gifts! Perhaps the differing sums could be due to a particular tract of land that each child had in mind to purchase…interesting!
