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Below is a family biography included in the Biographical Review Volume of Biographical Sketches of The Leading Citizens of Hampshire County, Massachusetts published by Biographical Review Publishing Company in 1896.  These biographies are valuable for genealogy research in discovering missing ancestors or filling in the details of a family tree. Family biographies often include far more information than can be found in a census record or obituary.  Details will vary with each biography but will often include the date and place of birth, parent names including mothers' maiden name, name of wife including maiden name, her parents' names, name of children (including spouses if married), former places of residence, occupation details, military service, church and social organization affiliations, and more.  There are often ancestry details included that cannot be found in any other type of genealogical record.

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J. ARTHUR WAINWRIGHT, a rising young lawyer of Northampton and a member of the law firm of Hill & Wainwright, is a New Yorker by birth, having been born in Fairport, Monroe County, N.Y., December 17, 1859, where his father, William C. Scott, was engaged in farming. His mother was before marriage Miss Mary Ann Woodin, and he was the youngest of the seven children born of her union. She died in middle life, leaving her infant son when but a week old. His father again married, and his second wife had one child. He was about forty years of age when he died, leaving his family in humble circumstances.

His paternal grandfather, John Scott, of Monroe County, was well known in that section through his profession of civil engineer. He did a large amount of surveying in that vicinity, and was often called upon to settle disputed boundaries. His vocation seems to have been conducive to longevity, for he lived to be an octogenarian. Mr. Wainwright’s maternal grandfather, Henry Woodin, spent his early life in Orleans, N. Y., whence he afterward removed to Birmingham, Mich. Here he engaged in agricultural pursuits, which had been his occupation in New York. He served as a soldier in the War of 1812; and his father, Amos Woodin, served for six months in the Revolutionary War, during which brief time he was promoted from the ranks to the office of sergeant.

At his mother’s death J. Arthur Wainwright was adopted by a maternal aunt, Louisa Wainwright, the widow of Horatio Wainwright, who reared him from his mother’s death. She is still living in Easthampton. He attended school in Orleans, N. Y., until he was twelve years of age. On April 1, 1872, the following year, he came with his adopted mother and sister to Easthampton. He then entered Williston Seminary, from which he graduated in 1875. In the fall of that year he entered Amherst College, completing his course with honors in the class of 1879, being in the first third of the class. While in college he became a member of the Phi Beta Kappa Society. He next read law under Judge Bassett. In 1882 he graduated from the Boston University, and in June of that year he was admitted to the bar in Northampton. The succeeding year he spent in the West on the Pacific Coast and in the vicinity of Puget Sound. Returning to Northampton he engaged in the practice of his profession with David Hill, forming the present firm of Hill & Wainwright. They do a large fire insurance business, representing a half-dozen companies at their Northampton office. Some time ago they had an agency at Easthampton, which they subsequently disposed of.

Mr. Wainwright is a Democrat in his politics. He is a member of the Nonotuck Lodge, No. 61, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, in which he has passed the chairs; of the Mary Lyon Lodge, No. 62, Daughters of Rebecca; of Mount Holyoke Encampment, No. 16; of Canton Meadow City, No. 29; of Knights of Honor, Norwood Lodge, No. 3343, in which he holds the official position of D. D. G. D. He was Major on the staff of George F. Amidon of the Brigade of the East, and is now serving as Aide-de-camp on the staff of Frank M. Merrill, Department Commander of Massachusetts. Mr. Wainwright is a communicant of Edwards Congregational Church, in which he is one of the committee on notices.

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This family biography is one of the numerous biographies included in the Biographical Review Volume of Biographical Sketches of The Leading Citizens of Hampshire County, Massachusetts published in 1896. 

View additional Hampshire County, Massachusetts family biographies here: Hampshire County, Massachusetts Biographies

View a map of 1901 Hampshire County, Massachusetts here: Hampshire County Massachusetts Map

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