Individual Details

"Among early arrivals in the Valley were some lawyers who found opportunity to practice their profession, first at Jonesboro and later at the county seats as the Valley was settled and counties were created. Some of them tilled the soil in addition to practicing at the bar, some became editors, or teachers, and some were preachers on occasion. William B. Wright, born in Georgia, graduated from Princeton when 17 years old, studied law with Georgia's Chief Justice, John H. Lumpkin and was admitted to practice in the Supreme Court of that state when 19. In 1854 he came to Paris, Texas and became a leader at that bar. Elected to the Confederate Congress he was chairman of the committee on Indian Affairs and negotiated treaties with the Choctaw and Chickasaw Indians for the Confederacy. At the end of his term he was made a Major on the staff of President Jefferson Davis, serving until the surrender. After the war ended he lived in Clarksville and practice in partnership with Judge Marshall Sims, then returned to Paris in 1873 and was elected a member of the Constitutional Convention, and had a large part in framing the Constitution which Texas now has. As a criminal lawyer he was considered one of the greatest in the South, engaged as counsel for 92 cases where murder was charged, and never lost a case. In the early 'seventies he had a series of cases such as no other attorney ever had. He secured acquittal of a man named Henderson, charged with murder of an old man named McFeeland, later cleared Pomp Duty for killing Henderson, and still later cleared Matt Harris for killing Pomp Duty. He moved to San Antonio in 1888, engaged in banking and the law, and passed away in 1895, having made a record perhaps never equalled." (The Red River Valley Then And Now, by A. W. Neville, published by North Texas Publishing Company, 1948), pages 167, 169 - 170,)

Spouse	Amanda J. Greer (1833 - 1870)
Child	Fannie Wright (1849 - 1913)
Child	Lettie Wright (1850 - 1925)
Child	Gilbert Greer Wright (1853 - 1943)
Child	Irene Wright (1855 - 1947)
Child	baby Wright (1859 - 1859)

Father	John Wright ( - )
Mother	Nancy Jenkins ( - )
Sibling	Susan Ann Wright ( - )
Sibling	Patrick Arminius Wright ( - )