| 4. | Lt. Abel* Wright, Sr. (immigrant) was born before 10 Jan 1631 in Leverton, Lincolnshire, England (maybe); was christened on 10 Jan 1631 in Leverton, Lincolnshire, England; died on 29 Oct 1725 in Springfield, Hampden Co, Massachusetts; was buried in Springfield Cem, Springfield, Hampden Co, Massachusetts. Other Events and Attributes:
- Religion: First Congregational Church
- Property: 2 Jan 1655, Springfield, Hampden Co, Massachusetts
- Other-Begin: 23 Mar 1655, Springfield, Hampden Co, Massachusetts; Oath of Fidelity
- Property: 13 Feb 1656, Springfield, Hampden Co, Massachusetts
- Property: 13 Mar 1660, Springfield, Hampden Co, Massachusetts
- Other-Begin: 23 Feb 1662, Springfield, Hampden Co, Massachusetts
- Other-Begin: Sep 1673, Springfield, Hampden Co, Massachusetts
- Other-Begin: 3 Dec 1678, Springfield, Hampden Co, Massachusetts; oath of allegiance
- Other-Begin: 1695, Boston, Massachusetts
- Other-Begin: 26 Jul 1708, Springfield, Hampden Co, Massachusetts; Indian raid
- Research Notes: 2 Jul 2012; familial relationships
Notes:
This family was from England, but not (as has for many years been speculated) a part of the Kelvedon Hatch Wright family. This has recently been firmly established by DNA testing. Abel Wright's family was of Norse ancestry, and he was most likely a descendant of a Viking invader. It seems to me that someone should have noticed that the Kelvendon Hatch Wright family were Catholic, but Abel must have been at least Puritan leaning or else he would have been uncomfortable emigrating to New England before 1655.
http://mjgen.com/wright/1wright.html
(see research notes)
_________________________
He was garrisoned at Skipmuck in attack in 1708.
(the following from Ruth Heeder (rheeder@redrivernet.com) 9/28/97)
Sherry,
Since I posted (May '97) I found in the NEHG Register, Volume 35, January 1881 copyright New England Historic Genealogical Society & Broderbound Software, Inc., Banner Blue Division, September 4, 1997 (quotes are my own) "Lieut. Abel Wright was found among the early settlers of Springfield Massachusetts, in the Connecticut Valley, who spent a mature life of seventy years there, from 1655 to 1725, when he died at the advanced age of ninety-four years. Where he came from or who were his parents, I have been unable to ascertain." Further on it states "Abel Wright married Dec 1, 1659, Martha Kitcherel, daughter of Samuel K. of Hartford, Conn., and had a family of thirteen children, of whom ten married." I understand they were married 53 years, 8 months, and 15 days. Their third child was Abel b Sept 25, 1664.
From an undocumented source I have "Lieutenant Abel represented his town at the General court, Boston, 1695." Since he died in 1725, this is entirely possible.
Ruth
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GENEALOGY OF LIEUT. ABEL WRIGHT, OF SPRINGFIELD, MASS.
By Rev. Stephen "wright, of Glen's Falls, N. Y.
1. Lieut. Abkl Wright1 was found among the early settlers of Springfield, Massachusetts, in the Connecticut Valley, who spent a mature life of seventy years there, from 1655 to 1725, when he died at the advanced age of ninety-four years. Where he came from or who were his parents, I have been unable to ascertain. There were other Wright settlers in the colonies before him in Eastern Massachusetts,?as Capt. Richard Wright, at Lynn, in 1630; John Wright, at Woburn, in 1641; Robert Wright, at Boston, in 1643, according to Dr. Savage, in his Genealogical Dictionary, besides others in various places of a later date than the above named. And at Wethersfield, Conn., below Hartford, there was a Thomas Wright as early as 1639, who had quite a family. Also Dea. Samuel Wright was an early settler at Springfield about the same year, 1639-40, who had a family of eight children, all named; but no Abel among either of these families is given in their records.
It is possible, if not most probable, that these last two settlers, so near each other, were brothers, and from the date of their family records, uncles to Abel Wright, who might naturally have followed in the wake of his kinsman to Springfield, at the age of twenty-four years, where he is found in January, 1055. Hence I can safely begin his record at that date, and shall endeavor to follow his line of posterity for several generations, according to authentic information obtained by much labor, from both town and family records.
Although the town had been settled in 1G36, it was still in its infancy when our Abel appeared on the stage, to claim a place among his fellow men. I give two or three extracts from the town records of Springfield, which I made in November, 1863, that read as follows: "Jan. 2, 1655,?There is granted to Abell Wright, a home lot containing three acres iu the land next ye Round Hill." And Feb. 13, 1656, again: "It is granted to Abell Wright an amount of Twenty (20) acres which had formerly Come into the hand of Rowland Thomas, lying in ye great plain over ye great river, called Chickuppy plain, provided he continues five years in town." And it seems in the sequel that he came to stag, as he did for seventy years.
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New England Historical and Genealogical Register, Vol. V, 1881, p. 74 ---
This early Springfield settlement was an agriculture and trading center. An entry in the town records there, dated Jan. 2, 1655, reads: "There is granted to Abell Wright a home lot containing three acres in the land next ye Round Hill." And again, on Feb. 13, 1656: "It is granted to Abell Wright an amount of Twenty (20) acres which had formerly come into the hand of Rowland Thomas, lying in ye great plain over ye great river, called Chickuppy plain, provided he continue five years in town.? It was soon evident that Abel had come to stay, for again reads the record: ?March 13, 1660, There is granted to Thomas Bancroft, Abell Wright, John Lumbard and Richard Sikes, a parcel of land lying on the west side of ye great river over against ye long meadow below George Colton's, which land hereby granded, lyeth between two brooks, and it is to run westward from ye river to a hill about 40 rods westward; Thos. Bancroft to lie next to the Southermost brook, Abell Wright next toward the north, John Lumbard next to him, and Richard Siikes next to him; the four sharing thereof equally in three-score acres of land, if there be so much there; or is there be not so much they are to divide the piece equally amongst them, lying as above expressed.? (Record of Deeds, vol. i, p. 203) Various other grants of land to Abel, from 1655 to 1695 are on the town records.
Our Abel married, on 1 Dec. 1659, Martha Kitcherel, of Hartford, Connecticut, daughter of Samuel Kitcherel and Martha (Chapman( Kitcheral. Abel and Martha had 13 children, all born in Springfield?.Our Abel soon made a place for himself among these early settlers of Springfield. He became a Lieutenant in the militia, and was active in the religious and civic affairs of the town as well as the military. A record of the First congregational Church reads: ?Feb. 23, 1662. In the order of seating persons in the church, Abell Wright is put in the ?eigth seat? with Mr. Horton, John Bag, Joshua Riley and Lyman Beamsn.?
Springfield, with its exposed frontier location, had early experienced sporadic indian attacks which the settlers had driven off without difficulty. In early 1675, the indians in that locale were relatively peaceful and friendly, while north of them the hostile Chief, King Philip, with his united tribes, were making murderous attacks on other settlements. Evidently this beligerent Wampanoag Chieftain had not yet contacted the local tribes, or perhaps Springfield was not considered important enough to destroy. Now, however, at midnight on the 14th of October of that year, a solitary horseman from nearby Windsor came riding fast into town. He dismounted, and quickly awakened the townspeople. "The indians are coming!" he told them. "You will be attacked at dawn!" (Henry Morris, History of the First church in Springfield.) Most of the town?s protecting troops had been sent north to join the forces under [John] Pynchon. Now, the others hurridly barricaded themselves in the various garrison houses, loaded their muskets, and stood watch at the peepholes in the walls. They waited. Had it been a false alarm? The indians did attack at dawn. And this time they came in a horde, thundering their horses? hoofs among the houses, whooping frenziedly, shooting their flame-tipped arrows. They found the garrison houses too strongly defended to attack. Comparatively few of the settlers lost their lives. But the abandoned houses were easy prey. Some 30 houses and 25 barns, with their contents, were burned to the ground. And then suddenly the indians were gone, as quickly as they had come. These were the events and times during which our Abel and Martha lived in this frontier outpost. Even more unfortunate hardships and tragedies were soon to befall them. After Springfield was nearly destroyed, the people were discouraged and many spoke of abandoning the settlement altogether. A few actually left, but the greater part of the inhabitants, encouraged by the sympathy and aid of the colonial government, determined to remain. Abel and his family were among the latter. Springfield was quickly rebuilt. Again, the records disclose, that Abel in 1695 was elected a Representative to the General court. And in May, 1696, the Deacon Burt and Lieut. Abel Wright were chosen to answer a petition of the people on the west side of the river asking to become a separate parish and procure a minister of their own. The farm and residence of Abel and Martha was still on the exposed west side of the river, near a place bearing the indian name of Skepmuck, later to become the present town of Westfield. Apparently at least one of their sons, Henry, lived nearby with his own family. On 26 July 1708, indians again came upon the town and its outlying farms. After they had gone, Martha was found lying unconscious in the yard beside their ransacked house. She had been scalped. Martha lingered on until the 19th of October of that year, then died of her wounds. The indians also had killed in this attack an infant of Abel's son, Henry, and captured Henry's wife, who died soon after. Henry and his wife, Hannah, had been married only three years before. This then, was the life of our Abel. And yet this venerable ancestor, despite his hardships and tragedies, lived until 1725. His tombstone, in the old Pine Street Cemetery in Springfield, reads: "Lieut. Abel Wright died October 29th, 1725, aged 94 years."
http://mjgen.com/wright/1wright.html
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Served as a selectman for two terms; militia lieutenant and deputy to the General Court. Abell served on the inquest jury regarding the death of young Ebenezer Harmon who drowned in the brook.
Abel paid 56 L for 31 contract years of renting from John Pynchon between 1668-1686. On 25 Mar 1668, Abel Wright leased a "yoak of cattle" for £ annually, plus rates; five days later, John Pynchon :let out to hire to Abel Wright for three yeares that land at Skeepnuck which I lately (two days ago) took of Goodman Dorchester, namely the 4 acres of plowed up ground within the fence and also the meadow without the fence for £.18.0 annually for three years. Wright was given the first option to purchase the said land if he had the means to do so at the end of the rental agreement. Wright held the lease for 18 years. He also leased from Pynchon, a bullock, a 5 ½ acre lot, another lot of undetermined size, and 1 3/4 acres near Round Hill. In 1668, Wright sold to Pynchon 40 acres of land at Ashkanucksit for £1. Wright was indebted to Pynchon in the 1680s for £93.5.7.
On 27 Dec 1674--the Sabbath--a child between 3 and 4 of Abell Wright?s called Henry, came to its end. The inquest jury found that "the child went out to a sled without the dors and indeavoring to get up upon the sled halfe loaden with wood, a log rowled downe on the child and the log falling on the childe which was a heavy log, the child thereby came to its end; the log lying upon the child when it was found dead."
In 1693, Lieutenant Wright was chosen to represent Springfield in the Council of Freeholders.
Birth:
http://minerdescent.com/2010/08/26/abel-wright/
----- Original Message -----
From: maryjo@mjgen.com
To: Sherry
Sent: Monday, July 02, 2012 10:47 PM
Subject: RE: Abel Wright English Ancestry
Sherry,
Yes, I am still at this address. I still keep this address because it's posted everywhere!
I am not right now finding where I got his birthdate as Jan 10, but I have that he was christened at Leverton, Lincolnshire, England, on January 29, 1631. Unfortunately, I haven't actually seen this record, so I don't know if the parents were listed -- seems like they would be. But as far as I know, no one for for certain who his parents were.
Religion:
Contemporaries, members of the First Congregational Church:
Abel Wright
Col. John Pynchon
Samuel Terry
John Bliss
Thomas Root
Robert Ashley
Hugh Dudley
Thomas Sewall
Obadiah Miller
Eliezer Holyoke
John Holyoke
James Osborne
Nathaniel Pritchard
Thomas Gilbert
Deacons:
Samuel Chapin
Samuel Wright (until 1657 when he removed to Northampton and died there Oct 17 1665 when asleep in his chair)
Jonathan Burt
Benjamin Parsons
John Hitchcock
James Warriner
Rev. Pelatlah Glover from 1659 to 1692
Rev. Samuel Brewer from 1694 to 1725 and onward to 1733 when he died.
The New England Historical and Genealogical Register, Vol 35
Property:
The town of Springfield, Mass. was first settled in 1636. Abel was in Springfield by 1655. On Jan. 2, 1655 Abel Wright was granted a home lot of three acres next to the Round Hill.
http://mjgen.com/wright/1wright.html
Property:
Feb. 13, 1656 he was granted twenty acres of land, formerly owned by Rowland Thomas, lying in the great plain called the Chicoppe Plain, overlooking the Connecticut River, provided he live there for five years.
http://mjgen.com/wright/1wright.html
Property:
March 13, 1660, There is granted to Thomas Bancroft, Abell Wright, John Lumbard and Richard Sikes, a parcel of land lying on the west side of ye great river over against ye long meadow below George Colton?s, which land hereby granded, lyeth between two brooks, and it is to run westward from ye river to a hill about 40 rods westward; Thos. Bancroft to lie next to the Southermost brook, Abell Wright next toward the north, John Lumbard next to him, and Richard Siikes next to him; the four sharing thereof equally in three-score acres of land, if there be so much there; or is there be not so much they are to divide the piece equally amongst them, lying as above expressed.? (Record of Deeds, vol. i, p. 203)
New England Historical and Genealogical Register, Vol. V, 1881, p. 74
Other-Begin:
A record of the First congregational Church reads: ?Feb. 23, 1662. In the order of seating persons in the church, Abell Wright is put in the ?eigth seat? with Mr. Horton, John Bag, Joshua Riley and Lyman Beamsn.?
Other-Begin:
The colonial laws regulated the subject of extravagant dressing. In September 1673 the court recorded:
?Diverse women at Springfeild (sic) presentd at ye Courte in March last for that being of meane estate they did weare Silkes contrary to Law vixt Goodwife Labden (,) Goody Colton (,) Goody Morgan (,) Goody Barnard (,) Mercy & Hephzibod Jones (,) Hunters wife & Daughter & Abell Wrights wife, & warned to this Courte the six former app?ring in Courte they were admonisht of their extyravagancyes & dismist.?
Other-Begin:
A royal proclamation of April 27, 1678 ordered all subjects to take the oath of allegiance, accordingly magistrate John Pynchon performed that duty to 62 inhabitants of Springfield on Dec 3, 1678 & Jan 1, 1679, including Abel Wright.
(Abel made oath on of these two dates)
http://mjgen.com/wright/1wright.html
Other-Begin:
Lieutenant Abel represented his town at the General court, Boston, 1695
Other-Begin:
On July 26, 1708 seven or eight Indians rushed into the house of Lt. Abel Wright of Skipmuch in Springfield, and killed two soldiers, Aaron Parsons of Northampton and Benjah Hulbert of Enfield; scalped the wife of Lt. Wright (who died 3 months later on Oct 19), took Hannah, the wife of Lt.Wright's son Henry, and killed her; killed her infant son Henry in a cradle and knocked in the head of her daughter Hannah, aged 2 years, in the same cradle, but she later recovered.
http://mjgen.com/wright/1wright.html
Research Notes:
----- Original Message -----
From: hardmba@aol.com
To: erbaker35@gmail.com ; lumoto@aol.com
Sent: Tuesday, July 03, 2012 1:15 AM
Subject: Re: thoughts on Hampden Wrights
Hi, Sherry and Ellen,
The DNA evidence that Able Wright and Deacon Samuel Wright were not of the same family line comes from the Y-DNA analysis of proven descendants of Abel Wright of Springfield, MA, of Dea. Samuel Wright of Springfield and Northampton, MA and of Thomas Wright of Wethersfield, CT. What we find by Y-DNA analysis is that the male line of Abel Wright descendants are all in the haploid group R1b1, whereas those of both Deacon Samuel Wright and Thomas Wright of Wethersfield are all haploid E1b1b1a2. These two haploids are known to have separated over 45,000 years ago in northeastern Africa so there is no way, outside of a NPE in the Abel Wright line between about 43 C.E. and 1639, that these two Wright families were related in even an anthropological sense.
Abel Wright's male line R1b1 haploid comes from a very ancient Celtic line that first arrived 10,000 years ago in England & Ireland following the end of the last ice age. They came from the Basque country of Spain at that time, following the receding ice sheets northward along the Western coastline of Europe. They crossing to the main British Isles over the land bridges that existed for centuries between the Continent and England as the ice sheets continued slowly to melt and move northward toward the present day Arctic circle. Eventually enough ice melted that the sea levels rose to submerge these land bridges and the ancient settlements that were built on them to give us the English Channel that we see today. Only recently have undersea archeologists been able to explore these submerged lands and excavate some of these long lost stone age settlements. In any case, the R1b1 haploid has been in the British Isles for so long that it is found today with equally high frequency in every part of England, Ireland, Scotland and the outlying islands of all three. This is the most ancient haploid in England that has spread out evenly all over the British Isles.
By contrast,the haploid of Dea. Samuel Wright and Thomas Wright, E1b1b1a2, is a relatively recent arrival in England. The original men who came to England with this haploid arrived in large numbers with the Roman Army in the first century C.E. They were men who had been recruited/conscripted into the Roman Army between 50 B.C and 49 C.E. from the Dardanian 'barbarian' tribes of the Balkans (specifically from an area lying north of a line between Pec and Pristinia, Kosovo). The Dardanians were a tribe of mixed Illyrian and Thracian ancestry who are first recorded by the Roman historian Justin in the second century C.E. as having been an Illyrian-Thracian tribe who recognized the supreme authority of Macedonia's King Phillip II in 357 B.C. Mercenary soldiers, like the Dardanians, served the Roman army as members of the 'auxilia' calvary cohorts attached to specific Roman Legions. Because they were not Roman citizens they could not serve in the Legions, but they could serve in the auxilia of any legion Rome felt needed extra man power or special combat skills. The Dardanians were respected by the Romans for their skill on horseback fighting over rough terrain with lance and sword. Dardanians were also experienced in establishing mining operations for lead, gold and silver ore, so were able to perform double duty for the Roman Army both in its conquests and its occupations. Our anthropological research suggests strongly that the original immigrant father to England was in the auxilia of Legio XX and had retired near Londinium from the Roman Army prior to 68 C.E., was called back up to help put down the Incenian revolt of Boadicea in 68 C.E., and then retired from military service a second time with full Roman citizenship and a small estate in or near the 'colonia' re-established near Colchester, England after the revolt was put down. Here he is most likely to have lived out the rest of his life with his sons inheriting his estate according to Roman tradition. Thus began the long climb to the status of wealthy landed gentry for this line of men.
Because the E1b1b1a2 haploid is such a recent arrival in England, it has not had time to spread evenly throughout the population of England to achieve the kind of uniformity in geographical distribution we see with haploid R1b1. It is that unique fact that makes the anthropological study of this haploid infinitely easier than trying to figure out from where in England the male line of a man with R1b1 haploid might have started. As a result of this fortunate circumstance, when we plot the location of haploid E1b1b1a2 in England among the general population of men sampled in a number of different genetic sampling studies in England (see Steven Byrd, Journal of Genetic Genealogy. 3(2):26-46, 2007), we find the highest concentration of men with present day E1b1b1a2 haploid occur around the geographical locations where the Romans built their forts and stationed their troops. Specifically the highest concentration of E1b1b1a2 haploid in England is found around Chester, England. This is not surprising because between 50 C.E. and 410 C.E. Chester was the principle base of the Roman Army's Legio XX. But before being stationed at Chester, Legio XX was stationed between 43 C.E. and 49 C.E. in Colchester and Londinium. Legio XX cadre also figured prominently in the building of Hadrian's wall. That men from the E1b1b1a2 Illyrian-Thracian ancestry of the Balkans were involved in the garrisons of each checkpoint built along Hadrian's wall is attested to by the small increase in the frequency of occurrence of their haploid among the local population of men living today near these ancient fortifications. Likewise we find small increases in the frequency of occurrence of E1b1b1a2 haploids around the four most northern so called 'Saxon shore forts' built by the Romans in the mid 4th century. This too, makes good sense because we know from Roman records these first few forts were built with troops that were re-deployed from Hadrian Wall garrisons. This is in contrast to the southern Saxon shore forts where there is hardly a trace of E1b1b1a2 haploid in their vicinity today and we know that they were built by Roman Army legions whose auxilia were not of Balkan origins. There is also almost no trace of E1b1b1a2 haploid in Ireland, where the Romans never set foot.
We know from DNA evidence that Thomas Wright and Dea. Samuel Wright were of the same English family because the Y-DNA profiles of their respective descendants are almost identical. We know from documentation that Thomas Wright was a direct male descendant of Robert Wright of Kelvedon Hatch (1522-1563) and Mary Green Manor on Bridgestreet in Brentwood (the Moat House). Even though we do not have the best documentation of the parentage and marriage of Deacon Samuel Wright in England, the Y-DNA evidence supports the proposal that he is also a Kelvedon Hatch Wright. Our research of the English records has not improved the documentation trail substantially over what has been done before on the question of the Deacon's parents, other than to firmly rule out Nathaniel and Lydia (nee James) Wright as possible parents and reconfirm John Wright and Martha Castell as his most likely parents. If we accept the current best proposal that Dea. Samuel Wright was the son of John Wright, Esq. (1569 - 1640) and Martha Castell (dau. Robert Castell, Esq. 1571 - 1610) of South Weald parish, Co. Essex, England, then, we can show from existing documents that John Wright, Esq. (1569-1640) was the grandson of Myddle John Wright (1524- 1558) who inherited the estate of Wrightsbridge, among other prosperities, from his father, John Wright of Kelvedon Hatch. By this connection we understand that Thomas Wright of Wethersfield was Deacon Samuel Wright's third cousin.
So, there is now no doubt they are of the same English family no matter how much we might want to quibble over which member of the Kelvedon Hatch Wright family was the Deacon's father. The evidence that does exist; The fact that John and Martha Castell were of the Wrightsbridge branch of the family, the fact that there is a clear baptismal record that we find in the South Weald parish register of St. Peters listing a Samuel Wright, son of "Mr Wright of the Bridge" (meaning Wrightsbridge) baptized 29 (or 30) June 1606, the fact that a substantial gentleman and Barrister would typically be referred to in public records as "Mr.", and the Emmanuel college matriculation record of 1624, a college whose focus was the training of Puritan ministers, the fact that in the MSS of Charles I there is an oath of allegiance record of one Nathaniel Wright giving oath in behalf of his brother, Samuel, who has gone to New England, and lastly, the leading role we find Dea. Samuel Wright playing in the churches of Springfield and Northampton, giving evidence by the New England records of his advanced theological training and recognized abilities to preach the sermon in the absence of the church minister in those places. All these are most consistent with Deacon Samuel Wright being the son of John Wright, Esq., of Wrightsbridge. All we lack for a traditional genealogical connection proof is a second vital statistic record by which we could verify the one we have.
If only we had just one more document: a ship passenger record, or a marriage record for Samuel and Margaret, or birth records in England or New England for their first five children. But these have not been turned up in over 150 years of research effort by a dozen genealogist of different ages . There are also no English probate records for John Wright, Esq. nor for Dea. Samuel & Margaret Wright. Although there are wills for both Dea. Samuel and Margaret Wright, they do not leave us any clues regarding their English origins nor kinships with their supposed eldest children, Hanna Wright and Benjamin Wright. (who I remain firmly convinced were not their children, though Hanna may have been the Deacon's ward for a short time before she married. We believe, now that the Y-DNA evidence we have for Thomas Wright and Dea. Samuel Wright descendants are sufficiently supportive of the currently proposed parental connection for Dea. Samuel Wright that it is no longer a matter of speculation despite the lack of that key second vital statistic record.
One thing about the Y-DNA data that gives us the courage to say we have proven his parentage is that, so far, we have only one other male participant in the Wright-DNA project who falls into the E1b1b1 haploid which is not likely to be a Kelvedon Hatch Wright descendant. Therefore, we have been persuaded that any American Wright who is positive for E1b1ba2 haploid is almost certainly a descendant of either Thomas Wright of Wetherfield, CT or Deacon Samuel Wright of Springfield & Northampton, MA. That narrows the field considerably in where and whose descendant family you can belong to and where those who do not have the documentation they would like can concentrate their research efforts to the best benefit. They are also most certainly related to well known people such as Ethan Allen, NY. Gov. Silas Wright, Wilbur and Orville Wright and Nancy Reagan, to name just a few and that always spices up the quest for the documentation to show those relationships.
In concluding this section on the Wright DNA project results for Kelvedon Hatch Wrights, I think the large number of participants (20) has helped us confirm our English origins as well as delineated some differences between various branches within the Kelvedon Hatch Wright family that can help those whose documentation is missing or sketchy focus their efforts better on certain branches of the family where they appear to belong, genetically. To view those results go to www.wright-dna.org and click on "all other haploids" under the RESULTS tab in the upper left hand corner of the home page. Scroll down the results table to the E1b1b1a2 haploid, which is also labeled "Kelvedon Hatch Wrights...."
Examine the marker values for the various and click on the top "Samuel (1665)" oldest ancestor selection. This will take you to a pdf chart of the descendant line of John Wright (d. 1551) so far as we have Y-DNA participants/representatives now. The only disagreement I have with the chart is that I do not believe Henry Wright (1424 - before 1468) was the first ancestor. I believe this is a misunderstanding/misinterpretation of the entry in Morant's "History and Antiquities of the County of Essex..." (1768). The Henry Wright Morant refers to in his discussion of this family lived in the 1590s and married Anna Whitebread in White Notely (marriage record found there) and was of the Elder John Wright line, which is how the Kelvedon Hatch Wright family came into possession of White Notely Hall later in the 17th century. A number of other researchers have tried to conclude from Morant's rather vague remarks, that this Henry Wright and Anna Whitebread (dau. of Thomas) both lived nearly 100 years before they actually did. It is hard to argue with a marriage record that is clearly dated in the next century as well as birth records for them and their children. It simply was not so that Anna Whitebread married Henry Wright in 'ca. 1446. As a result, I believe the first solid record we have for the Kelvedon Hatch Wright family is that of John Wright, 1488-1551 of South Weald and Kelvedon Hatch. I would wipe Henry Wright and John Wright (1450 - 1509) off that chart and replace them with question marks. I have seen no evidence that there are any records anywhere in England for these two men as progenitors of this Wright family.
As for the Wrights of Kelvedon Hatch being Catholic, it needs to be understood that almost all Englishmen were Catholics until Henry VIII broke with the Catholic Church and established the Anglican church. After that, Catholics were essentially outlawed, so one had to make choices; toe the Royal line, or go underground. The original John Wright of Kelvedon Hatch (1488 - 1551) was firmly attached to Henry VIII and so it is no doubt that, despite being raised a Catholic, he had no problems becoming an 'Anglican' Catholic when Henry VIII required it. Likewise his sons all appear to have had no problem becoming Anglicans in their own generation and appeared NOT to have taken the Catholic side during Mary's brief reign. This unity behind the Anglican Church did not last indefinitely, however. It was the next generation where all the religious and political fracturing of the Kelvedon Hatch Wright family group occurred. Out of that fracturing there emerged members of the Kelvedon Hatch Wright family who were everything from staunch Catholics (Papists) to staunch Puritan Calvinists. The period between 1550 and 1644 saw tremendous upheaval in almost every facet of English life & religion led the way. So, to study what happened to the Kelvedon Hatch Wright family in this period of time is to see an excellent reflection of what was happening all over the England of this period.
As with many of the emerging gentry families in the years of the reign of Elizabeth I, men of the Wright family were privileged enough to go to University at a time when the Universities were coming into their own as institutions of intellectual freedom and radical thinking. As a result many of them came home from their school days with even more radical ideas of what religion should be that went beyond the simplifications of the Catholic faith that Henry VIII's and Elizabeth I's Common Book of Prayer represent. These 'enlightened' Englishmen and their European counterparts (such as Luther and Calvin) brought a wave of intellectualization to religion that had not previously held much sway as a political force within either the Catholic or Anglican church. By the mid 1580' their 'Puritan' ideas had gained enough of a following among the high and mighty of England, that the influential followers of this intellectualized Protestant faith, such as Sir Walter Mildmay, Exchequer to the Queen and Sir Robert Rich, Lord of the Ongar Hundred, dared to establish colleges for the training of 'Anglican' ministers in the 'Puritan' style. One such college was Emmanuel College at Cambridge University, established in 1584 by Sir Mildmay. Dea. Samuel Wright's father, John Wright, Esq., Clerk of the House of Commons (1613 - 1639), matriculated Emmanuel College in 1585 in its second class, presumably as a prelude to entering the ministry. However, it is apparent that he was of a less ideological nature and more of a practical man. He entered the study of the law at Gray's Inn rather than continue studies to become a minister and became a quite influential London barrister, becoming the King's man in the House of commons by assuming the role of Clerk of the House of Commons in 1613 and holding that post continuously until just before his death. The Clerk was paid from the King's Exchequer and owed the King his primary allegiance, but in 1621 John Wright was arrested by the King and his papers confiscated because he was involved in a matter King James considered contrary to the interests of the Crown. John Wright was, to some degree, his own man and a man of the Commons rather than its overseer as the King intended. Later, John Wright's eldest son, John, also attended Emmanuel and went on into the law via Grays Inn. Dea. Samuel Wright also matriculated Emmanuel in 1624 and seems to have found no living to his liking in ministry in England and went to New England seeking religious freedom and adventure. Even Nathaniel and Lydia (nee James) Wright's eldest son, Samuel, attended Emmanuel College. This Samuel Wright matriculated Emmanuel as a 29 year old man in 1644 and later received a DD degree from Oxford. That is how we know he was not the Deacon Samuel Wright who was in Agawam (Springfield) in 1639.
While two branches of the Kelvedon Hatch family (from Robert Wright of Brookstreet & from Myddle John Wright of Wrightsbridge) were moving in the direction of embracing a more Puritan view of religion, the elder line of John Wright the Elder, of Kelvedon Hall whose line held the manor estate of Kelvedon Hall in Kelvedon Hatch were being wooed by noted Catholic Papists, William Byrd and Gabriel Colford. In 1605 it appears that these twp were successful in converting both John Wright, Lord of Kelvedon Hall and his sister Ann to the Catholic faith. Their Elder line of Wrights remained Catholic from 1605 onward for as long as they held the estate and manor of Kelvedon Hall (to 1922).
Not much is known about the religious inclinations of the youngest of John Wright's (1488-1551) sons, Young John Wright. We suspect that we do not know much about that branch of the family because they were devout in their attendance to the Anglican church, and thus avoided being recorded in the ecclesiastical and quarter session court records as recusants or papists as was true for those in the other three male branches of the family.
I hope this rather tedious discourse was of assistance to you in sorting out the many rumors and falsehoods that have sprung up over the last 150 years concerning the Kelvedon Hatch Wright family and Deacon Samuel Wright. They were an ambitious, industrious and prosperous bunch from the earliest of times but they have certainly left a spotty trail of evidence for their activities at many key turns in their lives. I was as stuck on Dea. Samuel Wright's parentage as all of the previous genealogist who tried to pin down an English origins for him, until we were able to put the Y-DNA evidence together. I hesitate to say such scientific evidence as Y-DNA is even better than traditional documentation, but only because it feels so incredibly good to finally unearth a key document that lays out a connection that appears nowhere else in the written record.
Our current research in England involves locating living descendants of John Wright the Elder and Young John Wright as well as more of those from Myddle John Wright and Robert Wright and persuading them to participate in the Y-DNA testing & research. We continue to look for records in England as part of that effort, and continue to hope we run across records related more directly to Dea. Samuel Wright in the process. I'll probably still be looking for Dea. Samuel Wright documents the day I die.
Always good to hear from you, Ellen. Hope you are feeling well and keeping busy. Thanks for copying me on Sherry's e-mail and I hope I was able to help some.
Best Regards,
Mike Wright
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Forwarded to me by Mary Jo on Jul 2, 2012
-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Abel Wright English Ancestry
From: hardmba@aol.com
Date: Thu, March 08, 2012 10:05 pm
To: maryjo@mjgen.com
Dear MaryJo,
I ran across your web page for Abel Wright (d. 1725, m. Martha Kitcheral) and noticed that you has speculated that he was a Kelvedon Hatch Wright http://mjgen.com/wright/1wright.html. I wondered if you were aware of the FTDNA Y-DNA genetic data that shows that Abel's patrilineal descendant lines are not related to the Kelvedon Hatch Wrights. Abel appears, from genetic data, to have descended from an entirely different Wright line in England as compared to the known Kelvedon Hatch Wright immigrant fathers, Deacon Samuel Wright of Springfield and Northampton, MA (1606 - 1665) and his third cousin, Thomas Wright of Wethersfield, CT (1610 - 1670). I would refer you to the web page for the Wright DNA Project at www.wright-dna.org. You will find participants who have listed Abel Wright as their proven immigrant father under the results section for "All other Haplogrps" (upper left hand corner of home page). Abel Wright (1725) is listed under participants with the I1 haplogroup genetic profile. There are six different participants who share the Y-DNA profile of the one participant who has a document trail to Lt. Abel Wright of Springfield, MA. I have worked with one of them on the Deacon Samuel Wright line. He helped us persuade a cousin of Wilbur and Orville Wright that he knew personally to have his DNA tested so that we could show that Wilbur and Orville Wright were descendants of Deacon Samuel Wright, just as their father's genealogical work in the 1890's had suggested.
At one time he, too, thought that Abel Wright was possibly related to the Kelvedon Hatch Wrights in Springfield (Dea. Samuel Wright). However, given the genetic evidence that Abel was a completely unrelated Wright of Norse lineage (Haploid I1), he has concluded that although Deacon Samuel Wright and Lt. Abel Wright undoubtedly knew each other, they were not related in any genealogical way.
The Kelvedon Hatch Wrights are of Roman era origins in England and were in England long before Norsemen, Vikings, Danes or Saxons began coming to English shores. Abel Wright's Y-DNA profile is of Norse origins so his ancestors probably came to England as "the Vikings" three or four centuries after the Kelvedon Hatch Wright Roman ancestors were already well established in England. This Roman era arrival actually started out life, not as a Roman, but as a Dardanian tribesman recruited/conscripted by the Roman Army from a "barbarian" area of the Empire's Moesia Superior Principate in the Balkans. The Dardanian homeland was situated in an area that now lies between Pec and Pristinia, Kosovo. He served his time in the Roman Army probably between 25 and 75 C.E. as a mercenary soldier fighting with the calvary auxillary cohort of Roman Legion XX. He probably served first in Gaul and then accompanied Emperor Claudius for the invasion of England in 43 C.E. He retired from the Roman Army to Londinium (Roman London) and was later called up to help put down Queen Bodiccia's rebelion in 61-62 C.E. He appears to have been among those recalled veterans from the Londinium area who survived the battles of that rebellion and afterwards were re-retired as part of the veterans contingent chared with resettlement of the Roman Colonia at Colechester. Like the rest of the veterans of the Roman Army, he was granted full Roman citizenship and an estate sufficient to support himself and his native family. nearly 1400 years later one of his descendants, named John Wright, emerges into recorded history 30 miles from the old Roman colonia at Colchester; as a church divine from Dagenham, co. Essex. This ancestor's son is the John Wright (1488 - 1551) who purchased the tenancy of the principal Kelvedon Hatch estate from the Crown in 1538 for 493 pounds and change, and there founded the Kelvedon Hatch dynasty of Wrights who held Kelvedon Hall and its associated estate until the last male heir, Edward Carrington Wright, died in 1920.
Unfortunately, we do not know as much about the pre-surname Viking ancestors of Lt. Abel Wright, but that is only because no one has taken up the chore of looking at the Viking settlement pattern on the east coast of England in order to find probable home towns from which Lt. Abel might have come, then gone there to research their local 5th century records and on to see if they can find him. We have 19 participants in our Kelvedon Hatch Wright DNA group and in addition, many outside resources, that have been brought to bear on the ancestry of Deacon Samuel Wright and his English family. I am sorry to say that Lt. Abel Wright's ancestor group has not enjoyed such extensive investigative effort. However, I would bet that if someone were to take up the chore, a very interesting history could be pieced together, if the town where he came from could ever be found. In a search for that town, I would start by studying the geographical pattern of modern day distribution of the I1 haploid in England and look at each town lying within those regions showing the highest concentrations of I1 haploid. I would then examine the records of each of those towns for any evidence of Wright families in the 1525-1625 timeframe. Those that had Wright families present would then get special attention to a detailed, on-site investigation of local records as well as anything housed in the National Archives and regional libraries, etc.
That is how we built the entire English history of the Kelvedon Hatch Wright family to where it is today.....all the way back to 43 C.E. and beyond. It is amazing to know where your male line came from at the time of Christ's crusifixion!
So, I have written to you to be sure you are advised of the interpretations of the Y-DNA data for these two family groups. I do not expect you to do anything in particular, but you might want to add a note or two to your web page about all this.
Best Regards,
Mike Wright
Abel* married Martha* Ketcheral on 1 Dec 1659 in Hartford, Hartford Co, Connecticut. Martha* (daughter of Samuel* Ketcheral, (immigrant) and Martha** Chapman, (immigrant)) was born on 4 Jan 1646 in Skipmuck, Hartford, Hartford Co, Connecticut; died on 19 Oct 1708 in Springfield, Hampden Co, Massachusetts. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]
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1688 - Abt 1693 (4 years)