Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1889, volume 6).djvu/663

Rh duced, among other works, "The Morning Bou- quet " and " The Inventor and the Banker " (1876) ; "Thank you, Sir!" (1877); "Concerned for his Sole " (1878) ; and " Feeding the Birds " (1880).

WRIGHT, Silas, statesman, b. in Amherst, Mass., 24 May, 1795; d. in Canton, St. Lawrence co., X. Y., 27 Aug., 1847. His early life was spent on his father's farm in Weybridge, Vt., and after graduation at Mid- dlebury college in 1815 he studied law, was admitted to the bar, and began fractice in Canton, n 1820 he was ap- pointed surrogate of St. Lawrence county, and in 1823-7 he was a member of the state senate, where he opposed the politi- cal advancement of De Witt Clinton, regarding it as dan- gerous to the Dem- ocratic party, of which he was a firm adherent throughout his life. In 1827 he made a report to the senate developing the financial policy with which he was identified throughout his life, and which he subse- quently enforced as a political measure, while he was governor of New York. In 1827 he was made brigadier-general of the state militia. He served in congress from 3 Dec, 1827, till 3 March, 1829, and there voted for the protective tariff of 1828, and for the appointment of a committee to inquire into the expediency of abolishing slavery and the slave-trade in the District of Columbia. In 1829 he was appointed comptroller of New York, which office he held until 1833, when he was chosen to the U. S. senate in place of William L. Marcy. In that body he served on the committee on finance, supported the force bill and Henry Clay's compro- mise bill of 1833, introduced the first sub-treasury hill, which became a law, defended President Jackson's removal of the deposits from the U. S. bank, and delivered a speech opposing Daniel Webster's motion to recharter that institution. He also voted against receiving a petition for the abo- lition of slavery in the District of Columbia, and in favor of excluding from the mails all " printed matter calculated to excite the prejudices of the southern states in regard to the question of sla- very." Mr. Wright opposed the distribution among the states of the surplus Federal revenues, sup- gorted the independent treasury scheme of Van luren, maintained in reference to the abolition of slavery the right of petition and the sovereignty of congress over the territories in 1838, and voted for the tariff of 1842 and for the annexation of Texas. His term extended from 11 Jan., 1833, till 1 Dec, 1844, when he resigned to become governor of New York, which post he held until 1847, dur- ing which period he opposed the calling of a con- vention to revise the state constitution, vetoed a bill to appropriate money for canal improvements, and took decided ground against the anti-rent rioters, declaring Delaware county in a state of insurrec- tion and calling out a military force. He was de- feated as candidate for re-election in 1846. When in April, 1847, the application of the Wilmot pro- viso to the territories that had been obtained from Mexico was under discussion, Mr. Wright emphat- ically declared that the arms and the money of the Union ought never to be used for the acquisi- tion of territory for the purpose of planting sla- very. In May, 1847, he wrote a letter expressing himself in favor of using the money of the Federal government to improve the harbors of the north- ern lakes. He refused several offers of cabinet offices and foreign missions. After his term as governor he retired to his farm in Canton, which he cultivated with his own hands. His mind was logical and powerful, and he was considered a clear and practical statesman. Horatio Seymour said: "Mr. Wright was a great man, an honest man; if he committed errors, they were induced by his devotion to his party. He was not selfish ; to him his party was everything — himself nothing." There is a good portrait of him by James White- house in the New York citv-hall. See " Eulogy on Silas Wright," by Henry D. Gilpin (Philadelphia, 1847) ; his " Life and Times," by Jabez D. Ham- mond (Syracuse, 1848); and his "Life," by John S. Jenkins (Utica, 1852).

WRIGHT, Thomas Lee, physician, b. in Wind- ham, Portage co., Ohio, 7 Aug., 1825. He was edu- cated at Miami university and at Ohio medical college, where he was graduated in 1846. Until 1854 he practised in Kansas City, chiefly among the Wyandotte Indians, and he afterward removed to Bellefontaine, Ohio. He lectured on the theory and practice of medicine in Ohio Wesleyan uni- versity in 1855-'6, and was a member of the Ohio medical society and president of the Logan county medical society. Dr. Wright has made the scien- tific aspects of inebriety a special study. This has led to inquiries respecting the effects of alcohol, not only immediately, but remotely, upon the nervous functions and capacities ; and finally upon minds and morals in their several departments. In 1887 he attended the International congress of inebriety held in London, and was one of its vice-presidents. He also edited the " Ohio Censor," a political jour- nal published in Bellefontaine. Dr. Wright has contributed to the transactions of the Ohio medi- cal society and medical journals, and has written " Notes on the Theory of Human Existence " (1848) and " Disquisition on the Ancient History of Medi- cine" (1860). He has published " Inebriism, a Patho- logical and Psychological Study "(Columbus, 1885).

WRIGHT, William, senator, b. in Clarkstown, Rockland co., N. Y., in 1794 ; d. in Newark, N. J., 1 Nov., 1866. He was a volunteer for the defence of Stonington,Conn., in the war of 1812. The death of his father. Dr. Will- iam Wright, com- pelled him toaban- don the hope of a collegiate edu- cation, and he learned the trade of a saddler, and followed this busi- ness in Bridge- port, Conn., for seven years. After acquiring a for- tune, he removed to Newark, N. J., in 1821, and was mayor of that town in 1840-'3. Being elected to congress as a Henry Clay Whig, he served from 4 Dec, 1843, till