Family:John Wright and Mary Kendall (1)

Source:Hodgman, Edwin R. History of the Town of Westford in the County of Middlesex, Massachusetts, 1659-1883, p. 482, shows two men named John Wright of an appropriate age to be the husband of Mary Kendall.

• One [#13] married a wife named Sarah and had children from 1755 to 1777. Hodgman identifies this John as son of Jacob and Abigail, b. 1723.
• One [#14] married Mary Kendall in 1747 and had children from 1748 to 1762. Hodgman provides no identification of him.

As is typical in most secondary sources, no explanation is given how it is determined which John was the son of Jacob. Neither couple appears to have named a child either Jacob or Abigail.

One notable child name is Zebedee, of John and Mary (Kendall) Wright. Because of the rarity of this name it is easy to spot him dying in Tyngsborough. In the same record, we also find the death of John Wright in 1816, in his 93d year. Hence the husband of Mary Kendall was born about 1723-24. However, neither couple appears to have named a child either Robert or Alice.

It turns out there is a John Wright b. 1723 in Charlestown, s/o Robert Wright and Alice Dowse. Dowse Genealogies give no information about what happened to John, but Source:Dowse, William Bradford Homer. Lawrence Dowse of Legbourne, England, His Ancestors, Descendants and Connections in England, Massachusetts and Ireland has the following suggestive comment (p. 138): "There is no mention of Alice Dowse after 1733, when she appeared in a case in Court; no will or administration of Robert or Alice Wright and no deeds. Possibly they removed from Charlestown."

Given the commonness of the name John Wright, it is impossible with this limited evidence to credibly identify the husband of Mary Kendall.

1. ↑ Dunstable, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States. Vital Records of Dunstable, Massachusetts, to the End of the Year 1849. (Salem, Mass.: Essex Institute, 1913)
   p. 150.

   KENDALL, Mary, and John Wright of Westford, at Westford, Mar. 19, 1747.

2. ↑ Westford, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States. Vital records of Westford, Massachusetts, to the end of the year 1849. (Salem, Mass: Essex Institute, 1915)
   p. 193.

   KENDALL, Mary, of Dunstable, and John Wright, Mar. 19, 1747.