Cemetery Research Blog: James W. Wright

 

James W. Wright (1828-1897)

By: Kari Moore

James William Wright was born in 1828 or 1829. His parents, Louis and Eliz Wright lived in Brunswick, Virginia. He married Amanda Melvina Walthall in 1857. He was 28 years old, and Amanda was 24 years old. They had six children together Emmett, Horace, Indianola, Robert Louis, James David, and John Hill. James was a farmer. His sons became his farm hands. He owned one slave, Jones Charles. They had a lovely home. Several members of the Wright family are buried together. They had an established life on the outskirts of Lynchburg. 

James fought in the Civil War. He was a soldier and a stonemason. He did live in Virginia, so he fought for the Confederacy for the first year and a half until July 1863. After the battle of Gettysburg, he deserted the rebel army, and it went up to Missouri. He registered with the union. I don’t know if it was James Wright wanting to survive and make it to the union, he decided that slavery was wrong, or that he tried to protect his family and he knew that one way to do that would be to help the union in the army win the war. Even into the 1880 census, Jones, a slave, was still on the property. The census says he was a servant, not a slave, which is a noteworthy difference.

James Wight did fight in the union army. He was a part of Harris Light Cavalry, 2nd New York Volunteer Cavalry Regiment. This regiment fought in many battles: the second battle of bull run, the battle of Fredericksburg, the battle of brandy station, and the battle of Gettysburg, where James ended his time with the Confederacy. I wonder if he was captured and made to fight or chose to fight for the union, which needed clarification. He fought during the battle at Five Forks and got to be at the Appomattox courthouse when the surrender happened.

James returned to Virginia after the war. His family had stayed in Virginia. He had even had two children born during the war here in Virginia, the only one registered in the other state before the children moved away. James passed away in 1897. He died from old age and survived the war, leaving a legacy of children.

A couple of his sons moved to West Virginia, and a couple stayed on their father's land with their mother. Amanda outlived her husband by about 21 years. After her husband passed away, she moved to Roanoke city in 1900 and lived there for a little while. In 1909, There is a picture of her with her granddaughter. The Picture was taken in Charleston, South Carolina, where she is registered. She passed away in 1819, when she was born in Campbell, Virginia, and was 85.

James and Amanda Wright and their family had had a full life of raising children and fighting battles when our country was in turmoil. Raising six children in such circumstances is a challenging and unimaginable thing. They did it together.