PITTS THEOLOGY LIBRARY
ARCHIVES AND MANUSCRIPTS DEPT.

WRIGHT, JOHN, b. 1825.
John Wright collection, 1842-1889.

MANUSCRIPT NUMBER 293 

EXTENT: .5 cubic ft. (1 legal archive box)

ACCESS: Unrestricted

REPRODUCTION: All requests subject to limitations noted in departmental policies on reproduction.

COPYRIGHT: Information on copyright (literary rights) available from repository.

CITATION: John Wright collection, MSS 293, Archives and Manuscripts Dept., Pitts Theology Library, Emory University.

Biographical Note

John Wright was born in 1825 in Deersville, a small village in eastern Ohio. He was the son of William Wright, a farmer, and Mary Blair Wright, both originally from western Pennsylvania. He had a sister, Matilda Jane Wright and a brother, James. The family had been deeply involved in the Methodist Church for generations.

Beginning in 1846, John studied at Oberlin College for two years. Following college John started as a teacher before entering into the Methodist Episcopal ministry. He was issued a certificate to “exhort” as a lay preacher in 1848, licensed as a local preacher in Deersville in 1849. He held appointments in various circuits throughout Ohio.  John Wright’s date of death is unknown.

Scope and Content Note

This collection consists primarily of correspondence between John Wright and various family members (see above) and acquaintances. Included in this correspondence are topics such as slavery and abolition, the Methodist Episcopal Church, Oberlin College, politics and reform, as well as discussions of life in Iowa in the 1850’s (John’s sister Matilda married William Baxter and moved to Moscow, Iowa, which she describes in great detail). There is also a great amount of family drama, which includes James being accused of an unspecified crime (perhaps rape) by free black neighbors, Mary Wright’s death and William’s subsequent hasty remarriage, a neighbor suspected of poisoning her husband, as well as sicknesses, deaths, and family disputes.

Also included in the collection are an autobiographical sketch, a memorandum book dated 1850, receipts for purchases made, and a lock of Mary Wright’s hair. There are also several certificates and licenses issued to John Wright as both a teacher and later as a preacher.
 

CONTAINER LISTING

Last Modified: 04/01/2005