Person:Thomas Wright (63)

m. Abt 1601
  1. John Wright1602 - 1682
  2. Grace Wright1604 - 1605
  3. Anne Wright1606 -
  4. Martha Wright1607 - 1646
  5. Anthony Wright1608/09 - 1608/09
  6. Thomas Wright1610 - 1670
  7. Grace Wright1612/13 - Abt 1643
  8. Thomazine Wright1613/14 - 1616
  9. Anthony Wright1615/16 - 1679
  10. Ignatius Wright1621 - 1623
m. Abt 1629
  1. Thomas Wright, Jr1630 - 1683
  2. James WrightEst 1632 - 1705
  3. Lydia WrightEst 1634 - Bef 1688/89
  4. Ensign Samuel WrightEst 1636 - 1689/90
  5. Deacon Joseph WrightAbt 1639 - 1714
m. Bet May 1648 and Mar 1648/49
Facts and Events
Name[6] Thomas Wright
Gender Male
Christening[4] 19 Nov 1610 South Weald, Essex, EnglandSt. Peter's Church
Marriage Abt 1629 to Mary Cranbroke
Immigration[3] 1635 New Englandon the ship "Susan and Ellen"
Marriage Bet May 1648 and Mar 1648/49 to Margaret Unknown
Death[5] Apr 1670 Wethersfield, Hartford, Connecticut, United States
Burial[5] Wethersfield, Hartford, Connecticut, United States
Ancestral File Number 42ZL-T2

Thomas and his first wife came to New England in 1635 on the "Susan and Ellen" and purportedly first settled at Watertown, on the north side of the Charles River abutting Cambridge to its west, the latter itself west across the Charles River from Boston. He likely removed to Wethersfield sometime between 1636 and 1639 as part of Rev. Hooker's congregation that gradually settled Wethersfield along the Connecticut River south of also newly founded Hartford. His first wife Mary Cranbrook died in an unknown year and place (variously reported as within a year of arrival in New England, 1639 and 1641, in Watertown or Boston).

Will and Estate

The inventory of the estate of Thomas Wright totaling £101-15-00 was taken on 29 April 1670 by James Treat, Samuel Boreman [Boardman] and John Ryley [Riley]. His undated will says:
The last Will & Testament of Thomas Wright sen., of Wethersfield, is as followeth:

I do give unto my dear wife Margaret, after my decease, all the provisions (that are for Meat and Drink) now in my possession, also the Use of such my Moveables as she shall think needful for her use during her life. My will is that the Division that I have formerly made of my Land unto my sonns shall stand firme forever, onely in yt [that] my will I give unto my sonn Samuell but halfe my six Acre Lott in ye meadow, together with foure Acres in ye swamp, which he now enjoyes, all which is in consideration of five Acres of Land which I had purposes to have given him upon the Island. I doe give unto my sonn Joseph halfe my six Acre Lott in ye meadow, that is to say, the north side of ye sd Lott. My will is that after all my debts are paid out of my estate, there shall be an equall division made of ye remainder amongst my children. I doe allsoe make my sonn Thomas sole Executor of yt my will, and doe desire my Loving friend Samuel Hale senr to be helpful to him herein. I doe give unto my dear wife Margaret all the Linnen that I have in my possession that was of her owne spinning.

THOMAS X WRIGHT.
Witness: Samll Tallcott, John Deminge, Samuel Hale, Josiah Gilbert.

Court Record, page 101 dated 1 September 1670: Will was exhibited by Thomas Wright, Jr. and Samuel Hale and accepted, only it is ordered that the clause in the Will wherein mention is made of giving to Joseph halfe his six acre lot in the meadow (the north side of the lot) is to be null because it appeard to this Court that part of the lot was, on 6 March 1688 [1688/9], Sold by the said Thomas Wright to his Son Samuel Wright.[7]

References
  1.   Savage, James. A Genealogical Dictionary of the First Settlers of New England: Showing Three Generations of Those Who Came Before May, 1692, on the Basis of Farmer's Register. (Boston: Little, Brown, and Co, 1860-1862)
    4:660.

    "THOMAS, Wethersfield 1639,. may have been earlier at Watertown, or other Mass. settlem. brot. from Eng. w. and ch. sev. perhaps, had more on this side of the water. For sec. w. by wh. he had no ch. he took Margaret, wid. of John Elson (wh. had been wid. of Hilliard, perhaps Hugh, and had s. Benjamin, Job, and John H.) He was much engag. 1658 in the controv. a. Rev. John Russell; and d. Apr. 1670. Of his ch. Samuel, James, Thomas, Joseph, Lydia, it is very diffic. to make any arrangem. of dates. Chapin, p. 179, adds to these a Mary. The wid. d. 1671; and the d. Lydia d. bef. he came to W. m. Joseph Smith."

  2.   Wright, William Henry, and Gertrude Wright Ketcham. History of the Wright family, who are descendants of Samuel Wright (1722-1789) of Lenox, Mass: with lineage back to Thomas Wright (1610-1670) of Wethersfield, Conn., (emigrated 1640), and showing a direct line to John Wright, Lord of Kelvedon Hall, Essex, England. (Salt Lake City, Utah (1977 reprint): Genealogical Society of Utah (1977 reprint), 1913)
    page 39.

    'Extracts from "Ancient Wethersfield" by Henry M. Stiles. ... He came first probably to Watertown, Massachusetts. ... and removed to Wethersfield, Conn., probably about 1639.'

  3. Wright, Curtis. Genealogical and Biographical Notices of Descendants of Sir John Wright of Kelvedon Hall, Essex England, in America, Thomas Wright of Wethersfield, Conn., Samuel Wright, of Northampton, Mass., 1610-1670, 1614-1665. (Carthage, Mo.: The Author, 1915)
    page 77.

    ' "... Thomas came to America in 1635, in the ship 'Susan and Ellen,' bringing his family. ... After her death (first wife) he went into Connecticut, a new country, settled in a part which eventually became Wethersfield, becoming one of its first settlers. ... " (Genealogy of Judge John Crafts Wright, by Mrs. Martha (Wright) Morris, 1911.)'

  4. Wright, Curtis. Genealogical and Biographical Notices of Descendants of Sir John Wright of Kelvedon Hall, Essex England, in America, Thomas Wright of Wethersfield, Conn., Samuel Wright, of Northampton, Mass., 1610-1670, 1614-1665. (Carthage, Mo.: The Author, 1915)
    page 77.

    'Thomas Wright ... of Wethersfield, Conn., son of John and Grace (Glascock) Wright of Brook Hall, Essex, was born in Brook Hall (Moat House), village of Brook Street, parish of South Weald, County Essex, England; his baptismal record was there found in the register of St. Peter's church, as follows:
    "Thomas Wryght ye sonne of John Wryght of Brook Street, bapt. 19 day of Nov., 1610." '

  5. 5.0 5.1 Wright, Curtis. Genealogical and Biographical Notices of Descendants of Sir John Wright of Kelvedon Hall, Essex England, in America, Thomas Wright of Wethersfield, Conn., Samuel Wright, of Northampton, Mass., 1610-1670, 1614-1665. (Carthage, Mo.: The Author, 1915)
    page 78.

    'Thomas Wright died at Wethersfield in April, 1670, and is there buried; his grave is not marked.'

  6. Wright, William Henry, and Gertrude Wright Ketcham. History of the Wright family, who are descendants of Samuel Wright (1722-1789) of Lenox, Mass: with lineage back to Thomas Wright (1610-1670) of Wethersfield, Conn., (emigrated 1640), and showing a direct line to John Wright, Lord of Kelvedon Hall, Essex, England. (Salt Lake City, Utah (1977 reprint): Genealogical Society of Utah (1977 reprint), 1913)
    page 24.

    'Abstract of Will of Grace Wright, dated July 25th, 1653. ... My second son, Thomas.'

  7. Manwaring, Charles W. A Digest of the Early Connecticut Probate Records. (Hartford, Conn.: R. S. Peck & Co., 1904-06)
    2:260-61.