| Name |
Benjamin Wright |
| Suffix |
Sr |
| Born |
1755 |
Greene County, Pennsylvania, USA  |
| Gender |
Male |
| Died |
Dec 1829 |
Jackson County, West Virginia, USA |
| Notes |
Will probated 7 Jan 1830
John House:
As early as 1801, Benjamin Wright, an enterprising colonist from Pennsylvania, noting the excellent opportunity offered by the water power, where Mill Creek descends from the flatlands, decided to at once take advantage of the same, and erect a mill at that point. Securing a piece of land for a site, he returned to Greene County, Pennsylvania, for the necessary machinery, which was brought down the Ohio River on keelboats.
The first mill built was a horse mill. The next year, 1803, he built a sawmill. It was one of the primitive kind, with upright saw with pit man attached to the wrist of the wheel, a pattern that prevailed for fifty years. On this, the planks were sawed nearly through, and afterward split apart. Much of the little lumber, which was made to suffice the needs of the pioneer, was manufactured by ship saws. The logs were rolled on a scaffold about six feet high, and the planks cut by two men, one standing on top of the log, the other beneath. A grist mill was attached to the water power soon after. Benjamin Wright and his son-in-law, John Brown, were interested in this milling enterprise, which proved not only profitable to the proprietors, but a great blessing to the colonists, who had before to depend for their supply of meal on the rude mortar and hand mill, or take their grain by boat to Point Pleasant, Neil's Station, or other inconvenient points.
It is related that while Wright was bringing the material for his mill down from Pittsburg, accompanied by his sons-in-law, Brown, Black and White, their boat running in hailing distance of some up river town, some men standing on the bank called to know who was in the boat. The reply was "Black, White and Brown." The men on the bank then wanted to know with what the keelboat was loaded. The answer was "Millstones, grindstones, and whetstones". Both answers were strictly true, but the parties on shore, thinking they were being guyed, took offense and hurled rocks and ugly words after the boat, until it drifted out of hearing, and out of sight around a bend in the river.
The Wright mill, after having started as a horse mill, in 1801, and enlarged in 1803 to a sawmill for producing the building materials so needed, was rebuilt and added to from time to time, as necessity demanded and opportunity permitted. It was at one time, after the year 1812, either rebuilt or added to by Joshua Woodruff, a pioneer artisan of the county.
|
| Person ID |
I1561 |
WVPioneers |
| Last Modified |
27 Jul 2009 |
| Family |
Sarah Elizabeth Casto, b. 10 Mar 1769, Berkeley County, Virginia (now West Virginia), USA , d. Abt Apr 1851, Jackson County, West Virginia, USA (Age 82 years) |
| Married |
27 Jul 1784 |
Greene County, Pennsylvania, USA |
| Notes |
1840 Jackson, VA - is she the woman 60-70, living with Ruhanna & Ephraim Evans
1850 Jackson, VA , she is living with son Benjamin
"Jackson County in the Wars"
Revolutionary Soldiers
Wright, Benjamin Sr. He and his wife living in Mason county in 1820 census, both aged 45 and up, with 5 boys and 2 girls in family. Erected the first grist and sawmill at present Cottageville, long known as Wright's mill for Benjamin. He was a son of Jonathan and Sarah (Yard) Wright, of Pennsylvania. An article by Mrs Corinne Staats Fisher in the Jackson Herald states that he was a soldier of the Revolution, as, indeed, were most young men his age living on the Pennsylvania frontier at the time of the war. His son, Benjamin Wright, Jr, age 46 in 1850 census of Jackson county, was the first County Clerk of the new county in 1831. Benjamin Wright, Sr (heirs) owned 1015 1/2 acres of land in the county on Washington's and Fall Runs and Mill Creek in 1832, reference JC Land Book for 182.
This sketch taken from "Pioneers of Jackson County", by John House, it appears in the section "Lower Mill Creek"
Wright Family
Benjamin Wright, who built the mill at what is now Cottageville, came from Greene County, Pennsylvania, about 1800. He married Sarah Casto, as his first wife, and later married a Flowers. Of his children, if the river story is to be credited, he had three daughters who married respectively, a White, Black and Brown. Of others, I find:
A daughter who married Squire Evans, for whom the town was named.
Benjamin Wright, Jr, who was the first Clerk of the County Court of Jackson County. Benjamin Jr had children: Ruenna who married Hart Rader, Dr. "Bib" Wright, of Ripley and a daughter who married Ed Butcher.
Another daughter of Benjamin Wright, Sr, married Joe Bibbee. To this, another historian adds a daughter who married Robert Shively.
|
| Children |
| | 1. Daniel Wright, d. Bef 15 Nov 1827 |
| | 2. Jonathan Wright, b. Abt 1785, Greene County, Pennsylvania, USA , d. Yes, date unknown |
| | 3. Elizabeth Wright, b. 17 Jan 1787, Greene County, Pennsylvania, USA , d. 26 Jan 1859, LaPorte, Indiana (Age 72 years) |
| | 4. Joseph Yard Wright, b. 15 Nov 1788, Greene County, Pennsylvania, USA , d. 18 Feb 1850, LaPorte, Indiana (Age 61 years) |
| | 5. Mary Jane Wright, b. 8 Mar 1801, d. 18 Mar 1861, Meigs County, Ohio, USA (Age 60 years) |
| | 6. David C Wright, b. 1 Nov 1790, Greene County, Pennsylvania, USA , d. Yes, date unknown |
| | 7. Millicent Permelia Wright, b. Abt 1793, Greene County, Pennsylvania, USA , d. Yes, date unknown |
| | 8. Robinson Wright, b. 1 Jan 1796, Greene County, Pennsylvania, USA , d. 18 Dec 1869, Jackson County, West Virginia, USA (Age 73 years) |
| | 9. Benjamin Wright, Jr, b. 1803, Greene County, Pennsylvania, USA , d. 23 Oct 1875 (Age 72 years) |
| | 10. Ruhama Wright, b. CA 1806, Greene County, Pennsylvania, USA , d. Yes, date unknown |
| | 11. Sarah Wright, b. Abt 1807, d. Yes, date unknown |
| | 12. Charlotte Wright, b. Abt 1811, d. Yes, date unknown |
|
| Family ID |
F574 |
Group Sheet | Family Chart |
West Virginia Pioneers
1755 - 1829 (74 years)