Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1889, volume 6).djvu/661

Rh relative to the selection of newspapers for the publication of the laws” were issued (Washington, 1827). He also published “Supreme Court Reports of Ohio” (Columbus, 1831-'4). This book possessed much legal authority at the time of its publication, and is still held in repute. Many of the cases are reported in a vein of peculiar facetiousness, for which Judge Wright was noted. - His son, Crafts James, soldier, b. in Troy, N.Y., 13 July, 1808; d. in Chicago, Ill., 23 July, 1883, was graduated at the U.S. military academy in 1828, but resigned on 8 Nov., 1828, studied law, was admitted to the bar of Ohio, and practised with his father. In 1840 he became assistant editor of the Cincinnati “Gazette,” and from 1847 till 1854 he was president of the “Gazette” company, after which he again practised law. He aided in organizing the first telegraph company in the west and became one of its directors, At the beginning of the civil war he entered the National army as colonel of the 8th Missouri infantry, but afterward he raised and disciplined the 13th Missouri. He served in the Tennessee campaign of 1862, and for his services received the thanks of the governor of Missouri. In March, 1862, he was in command of Clarksville. He was afterward ordered to Pittsburg Landing, where he was senior colonel, and given command of a brigade. He was also engaged in the Mississippi campaign and in the siege of Corinth, where he remained ill for many weeks until he resigned his commission on 16 Sept., 1862. For his services at Shiloh, President

nominated him for the post of brigadier-general, but he resigned before he could be confirmed by the senate. Subsequently he engaged in farming in Glendale, Ohio, but afterward lived in Chicago, where in 1876 he was made steward of the marine hospital. - His wife, M ARGARET, was active during the war in visiting hospitals and battlefields, and was identified with many benevolent works. She was at one time the only woman on the boat that carried disabled soldiers to the north, and acted as nurse to them under the direction of the senior surgeon.

WRIGHT, John Stephen, manufacturer, b. at Sheffield, Mass., 16 July, 1815 ; d. in Chicago, 111., 26 Sept., 1874. On 29 Oct., 1832, he arrived in Chicago with his father, and they at once estab- lished a store. In 1837 he built at his own expense, for $507.93, the first public-school building in Chi- cago. In 1840 he established the " Prairie Parmer," which is still in existence. In 1845 he wrote for the New York "Commercial Advertiser" numer- ous articles setting forth the advantages and pro- spective greatness of Chicago and the northwest. .In 1852 he began the manufacture of Atkins's self-raking reaper and mower. He was one of the active promoters of the Illinois Central railroad, and sent thousands of circulars at his own expense from Chicago to the Gulf, calling attention of the people to the prospective benefits of such a road through the state. He published a valuable statisti- cal work entitled " Chicago : Past, Present, and Fu- ture " (Chicago, 1870).

WRIGHT, Joseph, portrait-painter, b. in Bor- dentown, N. J., in 1756; d. in Philadelphia, Pa., in 1793. He was the son of Patience Wright, who excelled in modelling miniature heads in wax. In 1772 he went to England with his parents, and there received his art education. Subsequently he studied in Paris under the care of Benjamin Frank- lin, and on his return to this country he narrowly escaped with his life from a shipwreck. In the autumn of 1783 he painted a three-quarters-length portrait of George Washington, afterward he paint- ed another for the Count de Solms, and still later he made a miniature profile from life. He was ap- pointed by President Washington first draughts- man and die-sinker in the U. S. mint, and the first coins and medals issued by the National govern- ment were his handiwork.

WRIGHT, Joseph Albert, governor of In- diana, b. in Washington, Pa., 17 April, 1810 ; d. in Berlin, Germany, 11 May, 1867. He removed to Bloomington, Ind., with his parents, and entered the State university, where, to procure his educa- tion, he acted as janitor. He studied law, was ad- mitted to the bar in 1829, began practice in Rock- ville, Ind., and was a member of both houses of the legislature. Being elected to congress as a Democrat, he served from 4 Dec, 1843, till 3 March, 1845, and from 1849 till 1857 he was governor of Indiana. In the last-named year he was appointed minister to Prussia, holding this position until 1861. From 3 March, 1862, till 22 Jan., 1863, he served in the U. S. senate to fill the unexpired term of Jesse D. Bright, who had been expelled. He was appointed L T. S. commissioner to the Hamburg exhibition in 1863, and was then a second time minister to Prussia, serving from 1865 until his death. — His brother, George Grover, jurist, b. in Bloomington, Ind., 24 March, 1820, was gradu- ated at the University of Indiana in 1839, studied law with his brother in Rockville, and removed to Iowa in 1840, where he began practice. He was prosecuting attorney in 1847-'8, was elected to the Iowa senate in 1849, serving two terms, and was chosen chief justice of the supreme court of Iowa in 1854, serving till 1870. From 1868 till 1870 he was a professor in the law department of the Uni- versity of Iowa, and he was then elected U. S. senator as a Republican, holding his seat from 4 March, 1871, till 3 March, 1877, and serving on the committees on finance, the judiciary, claims, and the civil service. He then resumed his practice, and for the past five years has lectured before the law-school of the State university. He is presi- dent of the Polk county savings-bank. In 1860-'5 he was president of the Iowa agricultural society.

WRIGHT, Joseph Jefferson Burr, soldier," b. in Wilkesbarre, Pa., 27 April, 1800 ; d. in Carlisle, Pa., 14 May, 1878. He was educated at Wash- ington college, Pa., and received his medical degree at Jefferson medical college in 1836. He entered the U. S. army as a volunteer, became as- sistant surgeon on 25 Oct., 1833, and major and surgeon on 26 March, 1844, and served in the war with Mexico, participating in the principal battles, and being in charge of the general hospitals at Matamoras and Vera Cruz. At the close of the war he transferred the sick and wounded to New Orleans, and, after being at the U. S. military academy, served in Texas and on the frontier until 1861. He was then intrusted with organizing general hospitals in the west and arranging medical affairs on an efficient basis for field service. As medical director on the staff of Gen. George B. McClellan he was present at Rich Mountain and Carrick's Ford, W. Va., and on the transfer of that officer to the east he declined the post of medical director of the Army of the Potomac, and was appointed medical director of the Department of the Missouri on the staff of Gen. Henry W. Halleck, with headquarters in St. Louis, Mo. Owing to his advancing years, he did not participate actively in the war after 1862. He was brevetted brigadier - general, U. S. army, on 13 March, 1865, and retired from service on 31 Dec, 1876. Dr. Wright was among the first to use and recommend the sulphate of quinine, administered in large doses during the