WI BIO - Columbia Co - WRIGHT, Lemuel S.

Commemorative & Biographical Record of Columbia, Sauk & Adams Counties, 
Wisconsin. Chicago: Ogle, 1901, pp 305-306 

Lemuel S. WRIGHT, farmer, long a resident of Fountain Prairie, Columbia 
County, Wisconsin, was born 07 November 1825 in St. Lawrence County, New 
York, the son of Asa and Eunice WRIGHT. His people were previously of 
Vermont, and are supposed to be descendants of the Norse who entered England 
in the early centuries. Asa WRIGHT [father of Lemuel S.] died about 1830, 
and his widow [Mrs. Eunice WRIGHT, if never remarried] did thirty years later 
[by calculation, about 1860].

They [Asa and Eunice WRIGHT] were the parents of twelve children [note that 
only eleven are named]: (1) Parks, who died in Ohio; (2) Abigail, 
deceased; (3) Sarah, who is Mrs. BALDWIN; (4) Minerva, who is Mrs. ERWIN, 
and lives in Belvidere, Boone County, Illinois; (5) Phoebe, who married 
Richmond DANFORD and is deceased; (6) Asa, deceased; (7) Riley, deceased; 
(8) Abner, deceased; (9) Cornelia, deceased; (10) Lemuel [Lemuel S.], our 
subject; and (11) Lucy, who married Hiram CLARK and is now deceased.

Mr. [Lemuel S.] WRIGHT remained on his farm in New York and worked as a 
carpenter until 1850, when he came to Beaver Dam [Dodge County], Wisconsin. 
He was caught up by the gold fever in 1852, and went to California for the 
purpose of engaging in mining. The Far West did not prove an attractive 
proposition, and he soon came back to Wisconsin and settled upon a farm of 
250 acres in Fountain Prairie Township [Columbia County]. To the cultivation 
and development of this beautiful tract he has devoted his life and still 
makes his home here, though he has given up the work of cultivation to other 
hands.

Mrs. [Lemuel S.] WRIGHT was formerly Sarah Ann WATERBURY, and was a native of 
Connecticut. Three [WATERBURY] brothers came from England and settled in 
Connecticut, and one of them was her ancestor. She [Sarah Ann (WATERBURY) 
WRIGHT] was one of the following [WATERBURY] family: (1) Darrell, who died 
in Aztalan, Jefferson County, Wisconsin; (2) Rebecca, who married Sylvester 
HALL and died [as Rebecca (WATERBURY) HALL?] in Minnesota; (3) Andrew, who 
died in Lake Mills, Jefferson County, Wisconsin; (4) Maria, who married 
Jehiel STONE; (5) Levi, who died in New York; (6) Louisa, who married 
Alexander EARL and died [as Louisa (WATERBURY) EARL?] in Aztalan Jefferson 
County, Wisconsin; (7) Sarah Ann, the wife of our subject; (8) Parks, who 
died in Jefferson, Jefferson County, Wisconsin; (9) Henry, who died in 
Augusta, Eau Claire County, Wisconsin; (10) Scofield, who is a resident of 
Nashua, Chickasaw County, Iowa; (11) Electa, who married Smith REDDINGTON 
and died [as Electa (WATERBURY) REDDINGTON?] at Aztalan, Jefferson County, 
Wisconsin; (12) Elwin, who died in Minneapolis, Hennepin, County, Minnesota; 
and (13) Sarah Nevada, who married Benjamin BASHAM, and she [Sarah Nevada 
(WATERBURY) BASHAM] has her home in Mitchell Davison County, South Dakota. 
[Married names of daughters given in brackets for convenience are based on 
submitter's assumption that their names at death had not changed by reason of 
another marriage.] 

The children of Mr. and Mrs. Lemuel S. WRIGHT [Lemuel and Sarah Ann 
(WATERBURY) WRIGHT] are: (1) Charles, who married Martha KELLER, lives on 
the home farm, and has a family of seven children [named] Leslie, Charles 
Parks, Lyndon, Anna, Sidney, and Lulu; (2) Lottie, a milliner of West 
Superior [Douglas County, Wisconsin]; (3) Cora, [p 306] the wife of Charles 
RADABAUGH; and (4) Willie, who was accidentally shot when but thirteen years 
of age. Mr. and Mrs. [Lemuel S.] WRIGHT are members of the Methodist church, 
and have been devoted and faithful workers for many years. They have a fine 
farm, a comfortable home, and are well situated in every respect. He holds 
the respect of the community and is regarded as a model citizen.

Mr. [Lemuel S.] WRIGHT is still met on the streets of Fall River [Columbia 
County, Wisconsin], bearing himself jauntily and well despite the burden of 
years. He has done much in making Columbia County a garden spot, and is of 
the opinion that search through the world as you will it will be difficult to 
find a more charming farming region than the beautiful land on which he has 
pitched his home. 

Submitted by Cathy Kubly