Santa Clara County
Biographies
REV. JAMES RICHARDS WRIGHT
REV. JAMES RICHARDS WRIGHT. One of the noblest of the men
in whose name a town has been incorporated in Santa Clara county, and
civilization advanced through the medium of varied and promising industries, is
Rev. James Richards Wright, a pioneer of 1869, and extensively
engaged in fruit raising and ministerial work in the vicinity of Wrights for
many years. The death of this honored man in 1898, at the age of four score and
four years, by no means obliterated the memory of his harmonious character, his
intense sympathy with human misfortune, and his generous response to the
demands upon his material resources. An additional claim upon the consideration
of his western associates was his descent from Colonial aristocracy and worth,
and his blending of the stern morality and culture of the conservative east
with the exuberant faith and enthusiasm of the west.
Born in Tallmadge, Summit county,
Ohio, April 14, 1814, Mr. Wright was a son of Elizur, and grandson of another Elizur Wright,
the latter of whom was a lieutenant in the Revolutionary war, and fought with
distinguished valor at the battle of Bunker Hill. His son and namesake was born in Connecticut in 1758, his forefathers having
settled in that state after their immigration from England with the early
colonists. A man of lofty ideals and great mental capacity, he was a graduate
of Yale College, and particularly efficient as a mathematician and instructor.
With this splendid equipment he moved to Ohio while that state was still a
wilderness, and with but a few widely separated trading posts to bear him
company, took up a large tract of land in Summit county. As the settlers
arrived his opportunities for educational work increased, and unquestionably he
was the leading factor in this line of his time and place. In time he became
the founder of Tallmadge Academy, over the destiny of which he presided as
principal for many years, and the financial strength of which was due to his
liberal contributions. His political service was no less conspicuous than his
educational, and in addition to many offices of importance he represented
Summit county in the state legislature for several
terms. His death occurred in 1842, at the age of eighty-four, and as the future
disclosed, his son, the founder of Wrights, attained to the same age.
With the example of his cultured father ever before him,
James Richards Wright set a high value upon mental attainments, and
while yet a boy entertained just pride in his rapid advancement. After
graduating at Oberlin College he took a three years’ course at Elyria, Ohio,
and after being ordained as a minister of the Congregational Church was
appointed to the church of Sheffield, Ohio, remaining there for ten years.
Contemporary with his Oberlin College life Mr. Wright entered upon the
romance which brightened his life, and which resulted in his marriage with
Sarah Holmes Vincent, in Tallmadge, in 1844. Miss Vincent was born in
Boston, Mass., April 19, 1819, a daughter of Samuel and Mercy
(Willis) Vincent, born November 22, 1790, and
March 7, 1790, respectively, and the former of whom died
July 12, 1820. As a child Mrs. Wright moved with her parents
from Boston to Ohio, and after completing her education in the early schools of
Summit county, entered Oberlin College for the three
years’ course. With rare courage she shared her husband’s rising fortunes,
sympathizing with him during a ministerial career, which held privations and
sacrifices unknown to the clergy of to-day. Ten children, eight of whom were
sons, were born to this couple, the order of their birth being as follows:
Charles R., deceased; Elizur, a resident of
Fresno, Cal.; Lucy, the wife of Captain Whittelsey,
of Portland, Ore.; William Hanford, of San Francisco, Cal.;
James Frederick, deceased; Albert Tracy, deceased; Henry Ward,
engaged in the insurance business in New York City; Sumner Banks, of
Colton, Cal., manager of the Title & Abstract Company;
Frank Vincent, of San Francisco, engaged in business on Jersey Island,
Cal.; and Clara A., at home.
For many years Mr. Wright was a school director of
his precinct, and contributed both time and money to further the cause of
education in his neighborhood. His love of nature found vent in unceasing care of
his extensive fruit interests, and in general farming on a small scale. At the
present time two hundred and fifty acres of the original property remains to
the heirs, and is located near Wrights station on the line between Santa Clara
and Santa Cruz. Hand in hand with the improvement of his land went his zeal as
a minister and humanitarian, but his latter day field of religious activity was
in the Presbyterian rather than the Congregational Church. To know him was to
renew one’s faith in the inherent goodness of human nature, and in the enormous
capacity for well doing shared, but not always appreciated, by the sons of men.
Transcribed by Marie Hassard 03 April 2016.
Source: History
of the State of California & Biographical Record of Coast Counties,
California by Prof. J. M. Guinn, A. M., Pages
1070-1073. The Chapman Publishing Co.,
Chicago, 1904.
© 2016 Marie Hassard.