Benjamin H Wright

Other Events:

• Name: Benjamin Wright

Notes:

Benjamin WRIGHT, son of James, was married in 1705 to Elisabeth HAND, of
Southampton, L. I., who, it is asserted by some authorities, was the daughter
of Joseph and Jane (WRIGHT) HAND, and thus a cousin of her husband. However, it
is elsewhere stated, on good authority, that "she was the daughter of Benjamin
and Elizabeth (WHITTIER) HAND." The date of her death is given in the Westbrook
Church Records as 1767, when she was ninety years of age. Benjamin WRIGHT died
in 1751. Their children were Benjamin, Jeremiah, Josiah, David, Prudence, Lydia
and Elisabeth. There is record of but two, Josiah and David. The former has a
large estate on Horse Hill. David had a large estate by the sea extending to
the main road between Saybrook and Killingworth and tradition says they
quarreled over the fisheries. David, who was born in 1716, died in 1760 of
smallpox, in a pest-house on Duck Island, and was buried on his own land. His
memorial is on a large rock in the grove at Grove Beach, Clinton. Among his
descendants were Jedediah and Oramel WRIGHT, of Westbrook; Edward and Doty
WRIGHT, of Clinton; and Martha WRIGHT, Mrs. Steuben LAY, of Horse Hill. William
WRIGHT, who served as governor of New Jersey, and as United States Senator from
that State, was also one of David's descendants. He had a son connected with a
foreign legation, and the latter's daughter is now the widow of Baron GEROLD,
who was at one time, Ambassador from Holland to this country and subsequently
Ambassador from Holland to Russia. She lives in Europe. Her son, the present
Baron GEROLD, now minister from Holland at Washington, is said to be very proud
of his American ancestry.

Benjamin married Elizabeth Hand in Apr 1705 in Saybrook, Middlesex County, Connecticut. Elizabeth was born on 12 Mar 1677 in East Guilford, New Haven County, Connecticut; died in 1767 in Saybrook, Middlesex County, Connecticut. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

1. P. Wright
2. L. Wright
3. E. Wright
4. J. Wright
5. Josiah Wright was born in 1708; died in 1783.
6. David Wright was born on 27 Aug 1717 in Killingworth, Middlesex County, Connecticut; died on 18 Feb 1761 in Westbrook, Middlesex County, Connecticut.
7. B. Wright

Notes:

James WRIGHT, son of Benjamin, the immigrant, was born in 1643, and died
in 1727. His wife, Hannah WALSTONE, came from England to marry him, having been selected by a mutual friend. She died in 1719. A memorial tablet citing some of
these facts is still to be found in the Clinton cemetery. As stated previously,
James and his brother, Joseph, had difficulty in the division of their father's
estate. In 1791 a committee appointed by the Colonial General Assembly brought
in their report concerning boundaries of land between James and Joseph WRIGHT,
which was accepted by the General Assembly and confirmed to be a final issue of
all controversy over land boundaries between them. In general terms the line
between Killingworth and Saybrook was made the boundary of their farms, James
holding on the Saybrook and Joseph on the Killingworth side. James is supposed
to have resided at what has been known more recently as the Abner KIRTLAND
place. The records of Oyster River Quarter show that he was a large landowner,
deeds of land aggregating several hundred acres, located in what is now the
town of Westbrook, having been given by him to various persons between 1720 and
1727. James and Hannah (WALSTONE) WRIGHT had three children, James, Benjamin
(the next in line to Alfred Mortimer) and Mercy. James married Sarah WISE, by
whom he had a son James. For his second wife he married Judith BUSHNELL, and
they had a son Samuel, from whom are descended the WRIGHTS of Pond Meadow. Two
brothers of a later generation of this branch, Joab and John, went to New
Durham, N. Y., and from one of them descended Silas WRIGHT, Governor of New
York and United States Senator from that State. Mercy WRIGHT married William
STANNARD, and one of their descendants, Daniel STANNARD, resided in Westbrook.

James married Hannah Walstone. Hannah was born about 1650 in England; died on 15 Nov 1719 in Connecticut. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events:

• Immigration: Guilford, New Haven County, Connecticut; from England

Notes:

Commemorative Biographical Record of Middlesex County Connecticut
J. H. Beers & Co., Chicago, 1903

Pages 685 ñ 688

WRIGHT. The family of this name has been established in Connecticut from its
earliest Colonial history, and the present representatives in the town of
Essex, Middlesex county ñ Alfred Mortimer WRIGHT and his two sons ñ are worthy
scions of an honored name.

Benjamin WRIGHT, the first of the name in America, came from Bolton or Swale,
in the north of England, to Guilford, Conn. early in the settlement of that
plantation. His name does not appear in the first list of planters who came
hither in 1639, but as only the names of heads of families are given he may
have been of the number. He took the oath of fidelity, as shown by the town
record, May 9, 1645. In September, that year, he was granted permission by the
authorities to put up a tan mill and to take the water "yt issueth from ye
waste gate provided it hurt not ye town mill." In 1650 a list of planters was
made out, and also a list of freemen, and his name appears in the former, but
not in the latter, probably because he was not a church member, Guilford
allowing only members of its church to be freemen, while other Colonies allowed
members of any approved New England Church. In 1659ó four years before the
survey and allotment of land on what is now Main street, Clintonó he was a
freeman and living at Kenilworth (later Killingworth, now Clinton), and his
home is supposed to have been nearly opposite the Pierce JONES place, on the
old Clinton and Westbrook road. He appears to have been a very large
landholder, in 1671 giving his land at Hammonasset, in East Guilford, to his
son-in-law, Joseph HAND, and his wife, Jane; and in the Reports of the Colonial
Assembly is found frequent mention of his landed property in Saybrook. While
living in Guilford he clashed with the authorities several times, not as a
willful lawbreaker, but as a man who stoutly defended what he knew to be his
rights. His death occurred March 28, 1677. He had children: Benjamin lived to
become a freeman, but died without heirs. Joseph and James had considerable in
the division of their father's estate. John. Jonathan married Asena HAND, and
removed to Wethersfield. Jane married Joseph HAND, of Long Island. Elizabeth
married Edward LEE (or LAY), of Guilford. Anna married John WALSTONE, and, for
her second husband, Dr. Peter DALLMAN.

Benjamin married Jane Meigs in 1640 in Guilford, New Haven County, Connecticut. Jane (daughter of Vincent Meigs and . Churchill) was born in 1617 in Hesketh, Lancaster, England; died on 25 Oct 1684 in Killingworth, Middlesex County, Connecticut. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Vincent married . Churchill. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]