My Genealogy Hound

ANSEL WRIGHT, a native resident of Northampton, Mass., and Deputy Sheriff of Hampshire County, was born on November 29, 1832. He is a descendant of one of the earliest settlers of the town, Samuel Wright, who came from England in 1654, and located on land now included in Bridge Street.

Asahel Wright, the paternal grandfather of Ansel Wright, was a lifelong resident of Northampton, dying at a ripe old age in 1833. He was a well-known citizen and a veteran of the Revolution, having served bravely in various battles. His wife, Rachel Searle, of Southampton, died in 1831. Three children were born to them, namely: one son, who died when nine years of age; a daughter Anna; and a son, Ansel, Sr. Anna Wright married Deacon E. S. Phelps, who was subsequently one of the pioneer settlers of Princeton, Ill., and became quite prominent in the public and business life of the town.

Ansel Wright, Sr., who was born in Northampton in 1797, carried on a successful grocery business in company with Theodore Rust for twenty-five years. This partnership was succeeded by one entered into with his son, George F. Wright, in the same profitable business, and continued from 1848 till 1857, the firm name being A. Wright & Son. The father was Deputy Sheriff for thirty-seven years preceding his death, which occurred February 19, 1872. He married on June 1, 1825, Elizabeth Boleyn, who was born in 1803, in Enfield, Conn., of English origin, a daughter of Elijah and Electa (Pease) Boleyn, and died September 10, 1848. They were the parents of nine children. Four of these, Asahel, Asahel (second), Henry, and Harriet, died under six years of age. Elizabeth died at the age of nine years.

Of the rest, George F., who died in 1865, aged thirty-nine years, for nearly nineteen years of his life served as Deputy Sheriff, having been appointed the day he was twenty-one years old, and was also Collector of Internal Revenue from 1862 to his death. He left a daughter, who married Lewis T. Hall, of Chicago, and a son, George F., Jr., who resides with his mother in Chicago. Chauncey Wright, who graduated from Harvard College in the class of 1852, was an eminent scientist; he died in 1875, aged forty-five years, leaving valuable writings, which have been compiled and published, together with a sketch of his life, by Professor J. B. Thayer, of Cambridge. He was an instructor under Professor Agassiz, and was engaged by the government to prepare with Professor Runkle the Nautical Almanac. Frederick C. Wright enlisted as a private in the Tenth Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, was promoted within three months to the rank of Lieutenant in the Twenty-seventh Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, was wounded at the battle of Cold Harbor, June 4, 1864, and died in Washington from his injuries twenty-three days later, June 27, aged twenty-five years. His body was brought home for interment in the beautiful resting-place for the dead in Northampton.

Ansel Wright, Jr., subject of this sketch, was the fourth child and the third son of the family. In 1857 he became a member of the firm of G. F. Wright & Co., and for many years was prominent in the grocery trade of this city. He has also been an extensive dealer in ice, having continued until 1891 as owner and manager of the business commenced by his father in 1842, and which is now incorporated as the Norwood Ice Company.

On November 22, 1858, Mr. Wright was united in marriage with Sarah L. Fitts, a daughter of Robert and Lucy (Bangs) Fitts, of this town. Mrs. Wright has two sisters: Mrs. Mary Nutting, of Indianola, Ia.; and Mrs. Hannah B. Wright, widow of George F., of Chicago. Mr. and Mrs. Wright have had four children, one of whom, Sadie H., died in 1881, aged fifteen years. The others are as follows: Elizabeth B., wife of A. F. Hatch, an attorney of Chicago; Frederick W., a commercial traveller for the William Skinner Manufacturing Company, residing in New York; and Lucy F., wife of Dana Pearson, of this town, and the mother of two daughters, Dorothy and Elizabeth.

Mr. Wright is one of the active business men of this part of the county who take an earnest interest in public affairs. By the honest and efficient discharge of his duties as Deputy Sheriff (having held that office for nearly thirty years), and in other positions of responsibility, he has gained the respect and confidence of his fellow-citizens. He was Collector of Internal Revenue from 1865 till 1869, Constable of the town and city for thirty years, engineer of the fire department five years, and for twelve years coroner. He is Vice-President and one of the Trustees of the Hampshire Savings Bank, and a Director in the Hampshire Mutual Fire Insurance Company. Mr. Wright has also served for sixteen years as President and Treasurer of the Northampton Dyke Company. He has taken the thirty-second degree in Masonry, is a Knight Templar, and has been Treasurer of the Commandery and the Chapter. His brother George was also prominent in the Masonic order, being Master of Jerusalem Lodge.