John Wright.....

[SGayle]

I am searching for information on John Wright, born about 1760 in Scotland. He left Scotland about 1780-1785 to America, probably the Carolina's. John married the day he left, wife's name unknown. They had three children, Susan b abt 1785, Sherod/Sherrod b abt 1793, and Alexander Wright b abt 1799, all born in America. I do not know where in Scotland he was from. I appreciate any assistance I can get with finding out more about my ancestor.

[joette]

Hi Gayle welcome to Talkingscots.How do you know he came from Scotland? Is it anecdotal or do you have any documented proof? Again how do you know that he married the day he left Scotland?
More info so that we can help.As his wife was probably Scots too they probably followed the Scots naming pattern which will give you clues to Parents names-Eldest Son-Fathers Father
Eldest Daughter-Mothers Mother
Second Son-Mothers Father
Second Daughter-Fathers Mothers.
This is not set in stone but it held true for many Scots families well into the twentieth century.So if you have lots of brothers you end up with"Oor John" "Willies John" "James John" etc
Try Scotlandspeople site for the OPR records where you might be lucky but it all a bit of a lottery- good luck
ps I wonder if the clue is in his name maybe a son of some sort of"Wright" eg wheel-wright.

[SGayle]

Hi Joette,
Thank you for answering my inquiry. John Wright's nephew, Solomon Alexander Wright, wrote a book about the Wright family and he stated that John Wright came from Scotland. The story has circulated through the years that he married during the day and left at night on a boat across the English Chanel and boared a ship to America. As that has been 200 years ago, the story could have lost all credibility. The Sherod Wright family has been researched and written about on several levels, however no one has researched them back to Scotland. Yes, I have found that the same names are used over and over throughout the years. I suppose I was hoping someone would be able to tell me how I could find a marriage for John Wright and possibly Susan ? during that time period. I realize that may not be possible, and I am not sure how to proceed from here. I am not familiar with Scotland or the data bases that are available. To your knowledge, are there passenger lists for ships that left Scotland or England in the late 1700's? It is possible that they were wheelwrights, but the Wright's were cattle ranchers in America. Thank you again for your help.

[joette]

Hi Gayle if they lived in Texas they couldnt be anything else but Cattle Ranchers could they?
Your best bet is the Scotlands People site which is navigable from this one.Look up the Old Parish Records-you cant view the images but have to order them but if there is anything there then it will show.
Dont want to put a damper on things but if he Married in the Morning & sailed via the English Channel at night then He must have married either on board ship or in England!!!
I am sure that some records of sailing might survive but I not that far back.
You could check where in Scotland most Wrights of that time would have lived & see if there are any tales of emigrants from that.
Hopefully somebody more knowledgable than me can help.

[SGayle]

Joette,
Yes, cattle ranches or oil men LOL LOL....actually Sherod and Alexander Wright were granted a league (4427 acres) and labor (177 acres)of land from a Mexican Land Grant when Texas was still a Republic. They were one of the first families to settle in East Texas before 1840. The Mexican Government offered the land to induce people to settle Texas. Sherod served in the War of 1812 before he married Anna Clark. He died Dec 2, 1858. It is written that Sherod's father was born in Scotland.
Thanks for the suggestion to search on the Scotlands People site, I will do that and see what comes up. I realize I don't have much to go on but you never know....I am trying to search all my family back to Europe...
ps...all that land is no longer in the family...to many ancestors and it got sold and traded off through the years.

[joette]

How exciting to be part of such a turbulent time in history.I've never been to Texas but understand it is sprawling & beautiful.
If the Scottish parentage was written about that far back then its probably true.
I know Alexander is Greek butb always think of it as Scottish although here we would say Alec & not Alex like the English.
Happy searching.

[Liza]

Hi Gayle
I am researching the Wright name. It was my maiden name. My paternal grandfather was a John Wright born in Glasgow in the 1880s. I never knew him as he and my grandmother divorced when my dad was wee but in researching his ancestry, I find that there was a cluster of Wrights who came from Dunipace, near Denny in Stirlingshire. Your John Wright may well be one of them. The furthest back I have gone so far is to my grandfather's great grandfather who was a John Wright married to a Christian Douglas. If my research reveals any Wrights who emigrated to Texas, I'll let you know.
Kind regards from the Auld Country.

[SGayle]

Liza,
Thank you so much for answering my inquiry. I am so hopeful your Wright's will link to my lineage. My John Wright would have emigrated to America in the 1700's (probably late 1700's). He would have made port in the Carolina's, then to Georgia. John had three children - Sherrod b abt 1793 in Georgia, Alexander b abt 1799 in Georgia and Susan b abt 1785 in South Carolina. Sherod/Sherrod is my direct line. The three children (as adults) made their way to Texas by 1835 and settled here. Sherod married Anna Clark abt 1815/1816 in Georgia and they had nine children. I am anxiously waiting to hear from you again.
Yours from across the seas,
Gayle

[jamiebollich]

Hi Gayle. I'm also a descendant of Sherod (John -- Sherod -- John Valentine -- John Clark -- Dora (m. Virgil Carter) -- Keith Carter (my dad) -- Jamie Carter Bollich (me). Hope you've learned more about where our Wrights lived in Scotland. Do you know Clark Wright of Buna? He told me the English Channel story and said that John and bride got a ride on a fishing boat across the channel. Do you know why they felt the need to flee when they married? A lot of people are researching our Wrights these days! Best, Jamie Bollich of Beaumont

[Currie]

Hello Jamie,

Welcome to TalkingScot. Gayle hasn’t posted for quite a few years but hopefully will see yours. You could try sending a Personal Message if you don’t hear from her.

The Solomon Alexander Wright book of 1942 “My Rambles as East Texas Cowboy etc” on page one says “My great-grandfather and great-grandmother Wright came from Scotland to America and located in what is now South Carolina.” I saw somewhere that the longhand written autobiography was submitted for publication in 1937. http://www.google.com.au/search?hl=en&t ... =&gs_rfai=

If you search the IGI just for first name Sherod and again for Sherrod with region British Isles you end up with a total of about 130 results of similar names over the period around early 1600s to late 1800s. Except for about 3 Welsh and one Irish they’re all English.

A free surname search at ScotlandsPeople for Sherod and Sherrod gives a total of one match. If you do a similar search at the England/Wales FreeBMD site you’ll find the surname is much more common there.

First generation Scottish immigrants in that time period, and where both parents were Scottish, would probably be inclined to stick to traditional naming patterns for their children. But I wouldn’t bet on it. It makes you wonder where the name Sherod came from as it doesn’t seem to be very Scottish.

Just a few observations.

Best of luck,
Alan