William was the fifth of eight known children of Richard Wright Sr.(~1726-1785) and Nancy "Ann" (Evans?) Wright(~1732-~1795).

William was born March 25, 1761 in either Halifax County (present-day Patrick County) Virginia or perhaps, Orange County, North Carolina. His parents, Richard and Ann Wright bought 267a in Halifax County, Virginia bordering North Carolina on October 28, 1754. That was the precise time and location of hostilities with the French and Indian War (1754-1763). The next land records show Richard and Ann buying 320a in Rowan County, North Carolina on October 8, 1763 from longtime family friends Arthur and Margaret Parr. Interestingly, Arthur/Margaret Parr and Richard/Ann Wright were stated in the land transaction to be "of Orange County". Further research may indicate when they left Halifax County, Virginia for Orange County, North Carolina. It is presumed that they left Halifax County due to the French and Indian War hostilities.

William was from a large family of Patriots in North Carolina.

Ongoing DNA research has determined that William's paternal grandparents were Philbert and Esther (Becraft) Wright of Prince George's/Anne Arundel/Frederick County, Maryland.

At age 19, in December of 1780, William enlisted in the North Carolina Militia in Randolph Co., NC. He served in companys of "Light Horse Troops". He served three three-month tours and was engaged in several squirmishes with the Tories. In March of 2009, I extracted William's 41 pages of Revolutionary War service documents at the National Archives and Records Administration in Washington, DC.

Three of the Wright brothers married three of the Morgan sisters. William married Martha "Patsey" Morgan in ~1787...probably in Randolph Co., NC.

William and Martha were the parents of eight children;

Elijah Wright b 1-11-1788; m1 Margaret Holmes, m2 Mary "Polly" Dukes
Selah Wright b 7-20-1792; m John Cooley
Samuel Wright b 1-10-1794; m Jane Brinton
Sarah Wright b 9-1-1797; m Levi Wright
Arvin Wright b 2-10-1799; m Catherine Couter
Morgan Wright b 11-20-1801; m Jane Allen
West Lee Wright b 2-14-1803; m Nancy Wright
Elizabeth Wright b 8-29-1804; m George Goss

As evidenced by probate records on file in the Jackson County, Indiana courthouse, William's date of death falls between May to early September, 1840. The youngest son, West Lee requested administration of the estate on September 4, 1840. $8,000(1.85 million dollars today) in land was put up as securities for administration. One of the probate documents, dated March 13, 1841 shows where William's youngest child, Elizabeth (Wright) Goss was paid $125 for "boarding and feeding said Wright and halling [sic] him about and for nine weeks nursing him in his last sickness and for funeral expenses...". So, it appears that William died at his daughter, Elizabeth's home in Clark county. He lived a very long life for those times...79.

I have personally seen over 100 primary source references to William Wright. Not once has there been any indication that he had a middle name. The "R" should be considered erroneous. William's signature in the photo is from August 31, 1829. This photocopied 1829 document is "A memorandum of the property Wm. Wright gave to his children...". It was penned by William and Martha's oldest child, Elijah (Washington and Jackson counties Justice of the Peace). It is rather unique, because it is penned and signed by the oldest, Elijah and signed by the youngest son, West Lee, and also signed by William. All eight children are named, in birth order no less!

There has been confusion by some as to where William and Martha were laid to rest. Much of the information circulating today came from Washington County researchers from the 1920s and '30s. They believed that William and Martha were buried in unmarked graves in the Philbert Wright cemetery 3 miles south of Salem, IN. The Philbert Wright cemetery is located in the quarter-section originally owned by Philbert Wright, younger brother of William. Grant F. Wright(1868-1954), a Washington County historian and descendant of Philbert Wright owned that property in which the Philbert Wright cemetery is situated. William Wright owned the quarter-section due-west of Philbert. The stones at the Philbert Wright cemetery south of Salem were erroneously set in 1920 by the DAR. I have the 1920 correspondence from NARA that shows this. William and Martha had sold the last of their Washington County land in November of 1832. Their remaining land and years were in southern Jackson County...Driftwood township.

According to William's 1832 Revolutionary War pension application, William and Martha left Rowan County, North Carolina in 1800 and settled in western Virginia (which in 1803, three years later became south-central Kentucky's Wayne County) along the Tennessee border. They lived there for some nine years. On August 22, 1809, William purchased a quarter-section (160a) from the U.S. government in Washington County, Indiana. After several other land transactions, William and Martha purchased 324.4a from the government in Driftwood Twp., Jackson County, Indiana on September 16, 1822. Our Wrights have been in this area ever since.

William and his oldest son, Elijah helped to build the fort at Fort Hill in 1811.

The inscriptions for William read "Son of R & N Wright" and "A soldier of '76".

My relationship is that William was my paternal 6th great-grandfather.