MACHIAS - JOSEPH WRIGHT
Submitted by PHGS member DANFORD WRIGHT
One of the respected yeomen of the town of Machias, is the son of Joseph
B. Wright, a native of Oneida Co., N.Y. His
father removed to Gainesville, Wyoming Co., N.Y., where he married Nancy Lewis,
a native of Delaware, from which state her parents had emigrated to Wyoming when
she was very young. Joseph Wright
came to Cattaraugus County in 1823, locating in the western part of the town of
Machias, near the Ashford town line. The
county was then a wilderness; there were only three houses, and those built of
logs, in what is now Machias village; and “blazed” trees, in lieu of roads,
marked their route through the dense woods.
He cleared his farm of fifty acres, afterwards increased to three
hundred, and there he resided until his demise in the year 1860 (January 1),
aged sixty-one years, six months, and twenty eight days.
His wife died Oct. 23, 1865, aged fifty-six years.
His family embraced seven children, of whom six survive, --all residing
in this town, -- viz.: Danford, Myron, Cleantha (deceased), Dennis, Mandana,
Lafayette, and Paulina. Dennis is
located on the homestead farm.
Danford Wright, the eldest son of Joseph and Nancy Wright, was born in
Gainsville, N.Y., Sept. 25, 1825. He
was about a year and a half old when his parents removed to Machias.
He remained with his father upon the home farm until he was twenty-three
years of age, when he married Eliza Wright (not related), purchased a tract of
seventy-four acres in the neighborhood of his father’s place, and commenced
life for himself. That he
prosecuted his labors with success is evidenced by the fact that his acreage was
subsequently increased to three hundred and fifty acres.
He sold one hundred and fifty acres.
The remainder embraces two farms, --one occupied by a tenant; the other,
in the northeast portion of the town has been his home since the date of its
purchase in 1858.
Mrs. Danford Wright’s father, Reuben Wright, was also an early settler
of the town; he died on his farm, near Machias village, in the year 1858, aged
eighty-two years. Her mother, whose
maiden name was Susanna Stebbins, was a native of Wilbraham, Mass.; she died
also on the homestead farm, Oct. 2, 1868, at the advanced age of nearly
eighty-three years. Eliza Wright
was born Jan. 13, 1821, at Alexander, Genesee Co., N.Y., to which place her
parents removed from Massachusetts in an early day, and thence to Cattaraugus
County
The family of Danford and Eliza Wright consists of an only son, Amon D.,
who was born July 215, 1851. In 1869 he married Miss Mary Lewis of Gainsville, N.Y., who
was born July 10, 1851. The reside
on a farm near Machias Junction.
Mr. Wright is, and has ever been, a hard-working, calculating, and prudent farmer, whose many years’ toil has yielded him a competence for his declining years, although he now enjoys good health and is possessed of a rugged constiution
The above information was obtained from the History of Cattaraugus County, New York by L. H. EVERTS, 1879.
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Last Update February 2, 2020