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Thursday, October 08, 2015

52 ANCESTORS IN 52 WEEKS 2015 WEEK 36: JOHN WRIGHT JR OF WOBURN, MA.

Continuing on with my Wright family line for the 2015 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks, the
subject for week 36 is John Wright Jr., my 8x great grandfather. He has a bit more information
available that what I had found for his father. From William Richard Cutter:

(II) John Wright, son of John Wright. was born in 1630. He lived in Chelmsford for a time, but returned to Woburn. His will was dated May 24, 1701, proved 1704 . He married, May 10, 1661. Abigail Warren, died April 6. 1726, aged eighty-four, daughter of Arthur Warren. of Weymouth. Children: 1. John, born 1662. 2. Joseph, October 14, 1663. . Ebenezer, 1665. 4. Josiah, mentioned below. 5. Ruth, married Jonathan Butterfield: died January 11, 1754, aged eighty. 6. Priscilla. born 1671, married, March 7. 1707, Samuel Damon, of Charlestown. 7. Deborah, married, February 17, 1701-02, Nathaniel Patten, of Cambridge; died March 9, 1716, aged thirtyeight. 8. Lydia, married, November 11, 1724, Giles Roberts. 
 -p348
Genealogical and Personal Memoirs Relating to the Families of Boston and Eastern Massachusetts, Volume 1  Lewis historical Publishing Company, 1908 - Boston (Mass.)

Two things of interest in that biography: first, the marriage of John's daughter Ruth to Jonathan Butterfield, who is my 8x great granduncle ; second, John Wright's marriage to
Abigail Warren. I'll get into the significance of that in a moment.

I also found more about John Wright in  an article SOME DESCENDANTS OF JOHN WRIGHT OF     WOBURN, MASS. BY FRANK VERNON WRIGHT published in Putnam's Monthly Historical Magazine, Volume 3:
2. John (2) Wright, son of John and Priscilla, moved to Chelmsford and there married Abigail, daughter of Arthur Warren of Weymouth, May 10, 1661. He afterwards returned to Woburn. With his brother Joseph and several other members of the church at Woburn, in Dec., 1671, he was presented by the Grand Jury to the Court sitting at Charlestown for withdrawing from the communion of the church and for favoring in other ways the sentiments and practices of the Baptists. He was a selectman (1670–1680–81?) 1690. Tithingman for Boggy Meadow End in 1692. In 1687 he was in Chelmsford and sold four acres of land in Woburn, which he had bought of his brother-in-law Joshua Sawyer, to James Fowle. His will was dated May 24, 1701, and probated Nov. 11, 1714. Wife and son Josiah executors. Abigail, his widow, died 6 Apr., 1726, aged eighty-four years.
-p230

Putnam's Monthly Historical Magazine, Volume 3,  Eben Putnam, Publisher and Editor, Salem, Ma. 1895 

So John and his brother Joseph were involved in a dispute and may have been Baptists? I'll
have to see what else I can find out about that. 

I mentioned that there was some significance to me about John's wife, Abigail Warren. Her
father Arthur Warren was one of the first settlers of Weymouth, Ma., which is the town
just to the north of Abington, Ma. where I live today. The border between the Massachusetts
Bay Colony and Plimouth Colony in colonial times ran through about what is now the border
between Abington and Weymouth. Weymouth is one of only two towns I've lived where my
colonial ancestors had lived as well(the other is Marshfield).

I have the images of John Wright's probate file and I'll discuss those in a later post.

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