William Wilberforce Wrigh

Captain William Wilberforce Wright, son of Royal and Diantha (Martin) Wright, was born at Hanover, N. H., April 3, 1820. His father was a native of Hanover, born November 12, 1778. The family dates back to 1639, when Deacon Samuel Wright first settled at Springfield, Mass. He returned to Northampton, Mass., in 1655, and died there October 17, 1665. He was the father of James, of Northampton, and he is the father of Samuel, who married Rebecca Sikes, and he the father of Samuel, who married Hannah Loomis, and he the father of Nathaniel, who married Irene Sprague, of Plymouth, Mass.; died November 26, 1796; he the father of Nathaniel, who married Jemima Bartlett, and for second wife, Mary Page; died July 27, 1828. His first wife died in 1784, his second in 1813, and he the father of Royal, born of Jemima Bartlett, November 12, 1778, died at Canton, Ill., January 3, 1864. His son, William W., died June 24, 1864, at Nashville, Tenn., from wounds received at Resaca, Ga. He enlisted in One-hundred-and-twelfth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, and was elected Captain of Company F. He married Miss Anne M., daughter of John Creighton, then of Canton, Ill., a native of Ireland, September 1, 1840. This lady is residing at Chicago with her three youngest children, namely: Sophia L., born July 17, 1856; Eliza M., November 17, 1858, and John E., October 14, 1860, the latter now on the local staff of the Daily News. The elder children are Nathaniel W., born June 9, 1841; William W.. September 10, 1842; Curtis, March 6, 1844; Amelia A. (now Mrs. R. H. McKeighan, of Toulon Township), September 2, 1845; R. Creighton, February 15, 1852. Two children died here in infancy. About 1838 Mr. Creighton and family came from Cavan County, Ireland, to Chillicothe, Ohio, and the following-year took his place among the early settlers of Canton, Fulton County, Ill. Mr. Wright came with his parents to Canton, Ill., in 1832, and resided there until 1851, when the family moved to Goshen Township, and settled on the farm which he purchased, being the northeast quarter, section 13. This property is still in the family, and rented to Jackson Anderson and William Marshall, both Scotchmen. At the time of his enlistment he was deacon, trustee and Sunday-school superintendent of the Congregational church at Toulon. For years he was station agent on the underground railroad near Canton, and one of the trustiest conductors on the road; the locomotive—a roan pony, was called "Old Mog," afterwards owned by Owen Lovejoy.