WRIGHT, ERASTUS
, was born Jan. 21, 1779, at Bernardstown, Massachusetts. The family is a very ancient one for New England. Erastus left a history of the family, which he always kept written up, giving the genealogy of the family for nearly two and a half centuries, beginning with Deacon Samuel Wright, who came from England and settled at Springfield, Massachusetts, in 1641.The parents of Erastus Wright left Bernardstown, Massachusetts, and went to Derby, Vermont, in 1802, that being at the time pioneer ground. Erastus remained with his father on the farm, with no other advantages for education than the country schools afforded, until the spring of 1821, when he started west, in company with his brother, Charles. They traveled by such means as the country afforded before the days of canals and railroads, until they reached Buffalo, New York. There they embarked on a schooner for Fort Dearborn, now Chicago, Illinois. From Fort Dearborn they started on foot, making a preliminary survey of the route now occupied by the Illinois and Michigan canal, touching the Illinois river near where LaSalle now stands. They then descended the Illinois river to Fort Clark, now Peoria, and from there to Elkhart Grove, where Judge Latham resided. On their way south they stopped on Fancy creek, in what is now Sangamon county, at the house of John Dixon, who was one of the earliest settlers in this county, but who afterwards went north and laid out the town, now city, of Dixon, on Rock river. From there they came to Springfield, arriving Nov. 21, 1821. It had been selected as the county seat on the 10th of April before, but there had not then been any town laid out. A log court house had just been completed. Mr. Wright describes the town, as it first appeared to him, in these words:
"Elijah Iles had about five hundred dollars' worth of goods in a log cabin, ten by fourteen; Charles R. Matheney and Jonathan Kelly lived in log cabins not a quarter of a mile distant. The Indians--Kickapoos and Potawatamies--often came along in squads, and when others had built cabins near, called the place 'log town.'"
Mr. Wright went with Judge Latham from Springfield to Elkhart Grove and taught school there during the winter of 1821-2. He bought a claim of Levi Ellis and entered it as soon as it came into the market in 1823. From notes on the flyleaf of a New Testament, in the handwriting of Mr. Wright, he says: "I built the first frame house in what is now the city of Springfield."
In 1824 he built a park, and traded eighty acres of land in Schuyler county for an elk. Old citizens remember that Mr. Wright rode that elk, and drove it in harness, the same as a horse, although he says in a note that he was rough to ride, and not very kind in the harness. Mr. Wright spent three or four years in the lead mining region of Illinois and Wisconsin, and while there laid out the town of Mineral Point, Wisconsin, using a bed cord for his chain. He was married June 15, 1831, in Fulton county, to Jane Gardner, whose parents were from Saratoga, New York. Mr. and Mrs. Wright had three children.
ELIZA ANN, born July 2, 1833, in Springfield, was married Oct. 20, 1858, to Rev. John A. Hamilton, of the Congregational Church, and a native of Chester, Massachusetts. They have one child, JENNIE LOUISE, born August 26, 1859, at Keene, New Hampshire, at which place Mr. Hamilton spent the early part of his ministry, and was afterwards in charge of the Congregational church at. Davenport, Iowa, which he resigned to make the tour of Europe and the Holy Land, in 1873. He is now--1875--settled as pastor of the Congregational Church at Norwalk, Connecticut.
JAMES G., born March 20, 1835, in Springfield, married Sarah A. Wilbourn, of Masor. county. He died Nov. 16, 1858, at Lincoln, Ill., leaving a widow and one child, the latter has since died.
MARIA JANE, born Nov. 14, 1837, in Springfield, was married Dec. 23, 1856, to Robert P. Johnston, who was born April 30, 1828, at Halifax, Nova Scotia, and came to Springfield in 1851. Mr. and Mrs. Johnston had two children, LLOYD ERASTUS and JAMES WRIGHT. Mrs. Maria J. Johnston died very suddenly August 16, 1862, in Springfield. The sons reside with their father, who was married Feb. 22, 1865, to Isabella Muirhead, of Greenock, Scotland. They have four children, MARGARET A., ISABELLA, SUSIE and ROBERT P., Jun. R. P. Johnston was for many years a partner of P. C. Canedy, in the drug business, and is now Assistant Secretary of State of Illinois. He and his family reside in Springfield, Illinois.
Mrs. Jane G. Wright died Jan. 24, 1841, and Erastus Wright married Lucy Barrows, who died without children, April 22, 1867. Erastus Wright was married March 23, 1868, to Mrs. Lucy F. Carpenter, whose maiden name was Johnson. She was born and educated in Vermont, and married Mr. Thomas Carpenter at Lancaster, Erie county, Pennsylvania, where she buried her husband and only child, ARTHUR. She was married to Mr. Wright at Lincoln, Illinois. He died in Springfield, Illinois, Nov. 21, 1870, on the forty-ninth anniversary of his residence in that city. His widow visited Europe in 1873, and now--1874--resides in Springfield, Illinois.
Erastus Wright was one of the earliest teachers in Sangamon county, and taught for many years. For ten years he filled office of school commissioner of Sangamon county. During that time a large amount of money, derived from the sale of government land for school purposes, passed through his hands. He was one of the earlest Abolitionists, and was always fearless in advocating its doctrines. He acquired considerable wealth, and was liberal towards all benevolent objects, and every public enterprise was sure to elicit his co-operation.