Horace V. Wright, 1838

stan@wiclarkcountyhistory.org on Fri, 16 Feb 2001

Surname: WRIGHT, VALENTINE, HUBBEL, FULLER, GOOCH, FINNIGAN, SHORT

----Source: History of Clark County, Wisconsin (1918), by Franklyn, Curtiss-Wedge

HORACE V. WRIGHT, formerly a respected farmer of Dewhurst Township, but now deceased, was born in Washington County, N. Y., Aug. 10, 1838, son of Abner and Esther (Valentine) Wright, the father being a farmer in that state. There, Horace was reared and raised until he was 126 years of age. He then enlisted in the 25th New York Battery, at Greenwich, N. Y., and served for about one year in the army, returning home in the fall. On Dec. 25, 1865, he was married to Emma Fuller, at the Baptist Church in Greenwich. She was a native of New York, and daughter of Dewitt and Elsie (Hubbel) Fuller.

After his marriage, Mr. Wright moved to a farm of 180 acres in Washington County, N. Y., where he lived for ten years, engaged in its operation. Then selling it, he came West to Rock County, Wis., where he rented an improved farm of 250 acres, on which farm he also spent ten years, at the end of that time coming to Clark County. Here he entered the employ of the Graves-Boyington Lumber Company, at Columbia, at which place he and his wife conducted a hotel for the company. There were no buildings in Columbia then, no roads to Neillsville and no bridges on Black River. Mrs. Wright came first with twenty-seven homesteaders, for whom she prepared supper in the railroad station that night. There being no siding at Columbia then, all trains were forced to stop until the logging company's supplies could be unloaded and the empty cars taken away. The farmers then sold supplies to the passengers, carrying them to the station on their backs, and receiving 5 cents a dozen for eggs and 8 cents a pound for butter. Mr. Wright remained there for about a year, and then homesteaded 160 acres in Section 4, Dewhurst Township, which, at the time, was all wild land. Then his wife and children returned to Rock County, leaving him alone.

Two years later they came back to Clark County and rejoined him. In the meantime he had built a log shack, 20 by 30 feet in size, and a log barn, and having some stock, they went to work unitedly to develop the farm. Mr. Wright died Nov. 17, 1903, after having cleared five acres and having served Dewhurst Township one year as assessor. Since then his family have built a seven-room frame house. They keep a cow and do truck gardening.

Mr. and Mrs. Wright had the following children: Louise, now Mrs. A. L. Gooch of Rock County, Wis., and the mother of four children-Otis, Elsie, Glen and Emma; Fred, who married Ina Short, resides in Dairy, N. M., and has two children--Arthur and Paul; Esther, wife of John Apfel of Clark County, and the mother of one child-Legare; Alfred, who married Ella Finnigan, resides in Fond du Lac County, Wis., and has three children-George, Ruth and Gladys and Glen, who is living at home.