Jean M. Hoffman, CG
The father of Mary, second wife of
Moses Nichols of New Windsor, Orange County, New York, could be the
David Wright of whom I've written. [1] Looking
for evidence of a connection requires examining more of the records
from David Wright and his associates.
Two accounts emerge from descendants of
different alleged sons.
Three related DAR applications
claim patriot ancestor David Wright of New Windsor who served in the
Second Ulster Regiment. Their descent is through a son Benjamin who
allegedly died in 1820 and his wife Jane Gregg. The applications
state that David died in 1833 in New Windsor. Benjamin was born
about 1774, his mother wife #2, Margaret Woodhull. The record copy
of the last application refers to family records, but there appear
to be no supporting documents filed with it. [2]
Descendants of a son John wrote up
research results. They are reflected in a 1987 compilation. [3]
The compiler has provided me with a copy of the 14-page typescript
Francis Wright and Maude E. (White) Cleghorn produced. They indicate
David Wright of New Windsor was from Hempstead, then Queens County,
on Long Island. Census records for David in New Windsor in 1800,
1810, and 1830 were not located somehow, just 1790 and 1820. One
conclusion was that David moved after 1823 to live with a son,
Nathaniel, in Warwick, another town in Orange County. Conversely, on
another page is the suggestion that Nathaniel returned to New
Windsor to care for his elderly parent. The latter could be correct,
but David Wright, age 80 through 89, has a household of himself and
a female not quite as old, age sixty through sixty-nine, and no
others in 1830. [4]
An important document referenced in #2
above is a deed from David Wright, carpenter, and his wife Mary of
New Windsor in 1783 selling land in Hempstead to Nathaniel and Samuel
Wright of Hempstead. One of the witnesses was a Benjamin Wright. The
deed was recorded in 1799. I need to find a copy of this deed! The
1785 will of this Nathaniel Wright refers to a brother David Wright.
[5]
Missing in any of this research or my
own had been records of purchases of land in New Windsor or
distribution of it following David's death. Because New Windsor was
transferred to Orange County from Ulster County in 1798, I checked
deeds in Ulster County. Two pertinent deeds were recorded there.
In 1774 Benjamin Wright, a house
carpenter of Hempstead, Long Island, purchased two parcels in New
Windsor from Reuben Weed and his wife Martha. The deed was recorded
at the request of Mr. Benjamin Wright in 1787. [6]
In 1791, seventeen years later, David
Wright and his wife Mary sold to John Wright, all of New Windsor, one
of the parcels and part of the other purchased in 1774 by Benjamin
Wright. The deed provides no insight on David's acquisition of title
to the land. [7] A common reason for an
unrecorded transfer is inheritance. Could David be a son of Benjamin?
If so, what relation is John Wright?
Records in Hempstead, especially the
eight-volume published town records, show several generations of
Wrights in that location. [8] More research here
might be worthwhile and David Wright's 1783 deed is needed. I have
created a timeline for all Wright surname events I've found connected
to New Windsor. One for Hempstead may be needed as well.
Still, this sheds no new light on the
disposition of David's land after his death. Orange County deed
indexes need to be followed further into the 1800s in hopes of
finding a link to his heirs.
References:
-
Membership
application, Mirbell Shirey Pairan, National no. 226286, on David
Wright (1745-1883, New York), approved 1926 or after; National
Society Daughters of the American Revolution, Office of the
Registrar General, Washington, DC; digital images, Daughters
of the American Revolution
(http://www.dar.org/national-society/genealogy : purchased 28 August
2012).
Douglas
Wright Cruger, A
Genealogical Dictionary of Wright Families in the Lower Hudson
Valley to 1800
(Bowie, Md: Heritage Press, 1987), 25.
Francis
Wright and Maude E. White Cleghorn, “Wrights of Long Island,”
14-page typescript of now unknown origin, photocopy provided to the
author by Douglas W. Cruger, 2015; citing a deed from David Wright
and wife Mary to Nathaniel and Samuel Wright (1783, recorded 1799)
presumably in Queens County, NY. Regarding U.S. census records, the
1800 and 1810 are cited in my blog posts (see #1 above) although the
1800 is in error as David and John Wright were enumerated in New
Windsor but mis-indexed as Newburgh which ends in the top half of
their page. Also, 1830 U.S. census, Orange County, New York, New
Windsor, p. 103, line 14 for William Wright and line 18 for David
Wright; digital images, Ancestry.com
(www.ancestry.com
: accessed 21 May 2010); citing NARA M19, roll 113; imaged from FHL
microfilm 0,017,173.
Will
Record 38: 172-73, Will of Nathaniel Wright (1785); New York County
Surrogate's Office, New York, NY, apparently later copy of original
Queens County record; digital images, “New York Probate Records,
1629-1971,” FamilySearch
(https://familysearch.org
: accessed 5 November 2015); imaged from FHL microfilm 866,989.
Deed
Record vol. 9 – II: 509-14, deed Reuben Weed and wife Martha to
Benjamin Wright (1774, recorded 1787); Ulster County Clerk's Office,
Kingston, NY; digital images, “New York Land Records, 1630-1975,”
FamilySearch
(https://familysearch.org
: accessed 3 November 2015); imaged from FHL microfilm 944,744.
After 1798 land in the Town of New Windsor is in Orange County, New
York.
Deed
Record vol. 11 – LL: 480-82, deed David Wright and wife Mary to
John Wright (1791, recorded 1794); Ulster County Clerk's Office,
Kingston, NY; digital images, “New York Land Records, 1630-1975,”
FamilySearch
(https://familysearch.org
: accessed 3 November 2015); imaged from FHL microfilm 944,749.
Benjamin D. Hicks,
editor, Records of the Towns of North and
South Hempstead, Long island, New York
[1654-1880], Volumes 1-8 (Jamaica, NY, Long Island Farmer Print,
1896-1904). Also digital images at Internet Archive.
