By: Deborah J Wright debbie@juno.com © 1993
Our dear Captain George Wright, who was known as a planter of Salem & Braintree
and Rehoboth, Massachusetts Bay Colony Providence & Newport, Rhode Island;
Gravesend, West Co. (in the then New Netherlands), NY; Newtown New York; was
the progenitor of the Wright family of Flushing, Long Island, New
York.
Our "Travels with George" begin with his presumed arrival in the Plymouth
Colony, which comprised much of Massachusetts. The date of his arrival
in Salem, his first stop, is about 1636-1637. He is listed as having been
granted land in Salem in 1637. I believe he may have come to Salem a bit
earlier, maybe 1635, with Richard of Rehoboth being his brother (and
there is the possibility of Henry Wright of Dorchester being their
brother, also.), or that George followed soon after Richard was settled.
Richard paving the way for his brothers sounds like what many families did in
those days. It is plausible.
It seems an important landowner from England, named John Humfrey, had a
tract of land called "The Plain Farm" in Salem, MA. It consisted of 450 acres
(originally 500 acres and it is conjectured that George and Richard got some).
It was granted to John Humfrey on May 2, 1636. He had on this land a large
house and servants. Some which came over from England at the same time with
him. Richard Wright has been named in some research as a sort of overseer and
became a freeman in 1637. He was granted land in Salem and Rehoboth. The
tie-in with George is that they both were granted land in Salem, in 1637, at
the same time. Could their parcels of land have come from John Humfrey when
they became freemen and eligible to hold land? Quite a coincidence, wouldn't
you say?
[To add more mystery, there was a Humphrey family involved with the Kelvedon
Hatch Wrights of England.]
MEANWHILE....
Ferrying was a very important and sought after position. In 1637 the Darbie
Fort Ferry of Salem, MA was started.
A certain Nick Lissler asked to be an inhabitant (seems one needed permission
to live in Salem and to be granted land) and for the ferry job all at one
meeting. "He probably did not get the ferry job for George Wright petitioned
for it a few months later to go from Butt Point to Darbie Fort." Richard
Wright (maybe George, also?) held a position on what we would call the town
board. It appears that "strings were pulled" for George (if Richard was his
brother). While at the ferry, George was called "old" George. Now our Captain
George couldn't be too old at that time because he is recorded as still alive
in 1683-1684! It could have been a term of endearment: "Good old George, tried
and true." Or some such thing.... Although, calling our George true depends
upon your gender! It could also be, but there's no proof, that George could
have had a son named George Jr. who would be a brother to Jonathon, (b. 1635 - d.
1698). Even today, sons and fathers with the same name are sometimes called
"Big" and "Little...." or "Old" and "Young...." to differentiate between the
two of them. There are no records of a son of George's called George Jr.
George is listed as having three persons in his household, in Salem, and was
allotted 3/4 acres. Although, he seemed to accumulate land wherever he went.
[Is it possible that "Old George of the ferry" and Capt George was father and
son?]
Thus far, Captain George Wright seemed to have led a normal life for those
times. Now the fun begins....
George Wright was still in Salem, MA in 1641 when his wife, Elizabeth, joined
The First Church. He was not listed as a member of The First Church which, in
view of his "habits", seem par for the course for good old George. I'm not
saying he never attended, just that either the church elders did not want him
as a member, or, he may have followed a different belief.
At that time there were a few church "renegades" such as Roger Williams, Lady
Deborah Moody and Anne Hutchinson. Anne Hutchinson was involved (or led) the
"antinomian controversy". She left Salem around the same time as our Captain
George Wright and eventually settled on Long Island. Lady Deborah Moody (b.
1600- d. 1659) migrated to Massachusetts in 1640. She was brought before the
Salem Court for denying the need of infant baptism. She and her followers
settled in Gravesend, Long Island, New York.
The interesting thing about these two women is the path they travel through
the colonies, from Salem, to Newport and Providence and finally to Long Island,
is the same trail George takes! I wonder, could he have been a fellow believer
like them and followed them or is it just one more coincidence of history. I
have skimmed everything I could find on these two women (had to look in the
juvenile section of our library) and no mention of a George Wright. He was
probably just an "ordinary" man and not outstanding, except to those of us who
descend through him.
To us, dear Captain George Wright is best known for having, as Arthur Wright
put it, "added a bit of charm to colonial New England."
"Captain George Wright
had numerous affairs with women, resulting in court cases, the records of which,
read three centuries later, blaze for him a clear trail through four colonies,
and show why it was necessary for him to move from one colony to another".
These "problems" seem to start after he left Salem and moved to Braintree, MA
1642, where he was a Lieutenant. It is recorded at a meeting of the
Massachusetts Court of Assistants held at Boston on 5 December, 1643, that
George Wright was bound over in the sum of L40 to appear at the next March
term of the court for his attempted affair "with a married woman."
George apparently jumped bail. George Wright went to Seekonk (Rehoboth) MA.
It is stated in another reference that "George Wright, who apparently had a wife and
one child", (which could rule out any George Jr.) arrived in Seekonk with
Richard Wright. Could this be the same Richard Wright who sat on the Salem
Court? Richard already had land in Rehoboth, previous to 1644, did he not?
I would bet that Richard Wright was George's big brother.
It sounds hokey but Richard always seemed to be around to help George resettle.
George Wright pops up in Rehoboth some time before March 10, 1644. George
attended a town meeting in Rehoboth, March 10, 1644 where he drew a "lot" of
land in the first division of the Neck. George remained quietly in Rehoboth....
UNTIL....
Richard Wright left Rehoboth between Dec 26, 1645 and March 1646. This is
shown by the fact that a committee appointed at a town meeting on March 16,
1646 was an important one and, with the exception of George, was composed of
the large landowners and leaders in the town. Richard was one of the first
landowners in Rehoboth and would have been at all important meetings. He was
not listed at the meeting.
Without "big" brother looking out for him, George goes back to his old tricks.
On March 2, 1646, George was elected a member of the Rehoboth Committee. A
year later March 1647, he was brought before the Plymouth Court for "attempting
the chastity of diverse women (at Rehoboth) by lascivious words and carriages."
Does it need to be said? George jumped his Plymouth Court bail and left
Neville (?) and Doged (?) holding bond.
It is interesting to note, here, that on June 27, 1684, George Wright's son,
Jonathon, of Flushing Long Island, sold land to a John Doged that was deeded
over to Jonathon from George, Feb 2, 1683/84. The property was in Rehoboth!
Forty-nine days after jumping bail, George sold his Rehoboth property and fled
the jurisdiction of Plymouth Colony by simply crossing the Seekonk River and
"taking up his adobe" in the town of Providence, RI.
There is a later court summons for George's pulling one over on the court for
selling only part of his property and making them believe he sold it all. Late
in his life, George deeds his Rehoboth property to his son, Jonathon of
Flushing, Long Island, NY in 1683-4!.
On May 16, 1648, George had Daniel Gould and Henry Stephens, both of Newport,
RI brought before the General Court of Election, held on Providence, RI, for
circulating a "scandalous Report" (probably about his actions in Rehoboth).
This matter was cleared up and the Rhode Island Court wrote the Plymouth Court
asking "that his (George Wright's) bonds may be taken off."
Guess how long George Wright stayed out of trouble? In a letter written on
Jan 29, 1649 by Roger Williams to his friend John Winthrop, Jr. at Nameug, it
says...."George Wright, alias Captain George Wright stabt with a pike, Walter
Lettice at Newport, and is in prison. The other, if not dead, not like to
live."
The only other records of George Wright, after that incident, show him owning
and deeding land in Gravesend, Long Island and that he had land in Jan 1663.
It would appear that he was out of prison by 1663, if he even ever served
time!
After Newport, Rhode Island, George is recorded as having land in Newtown, New
Netherland (very shortly later, in 1664, it became New York when the Dutch lost
Long Island to the English.) The Episcopal Church of England became the
official church. It seems to have become the church of George's family as
many seem to have been married and buried by the Episcopal Church.
The last of George Wright is in 1683-84 when he deeded Rehoboth property to his
son, Jonathon, who by that time had a large, flourishing family, who themselves
were sprouting wings and obeying God's command to "go forth over all the earth
and multiply." The Wrights have certainly taken that command to heart!
And so, here ends the saga of Captain George Wright, progenitor of the Flushing,
Long Island, and many Hudson Valley, NY, Wrights.
OR DOES IT....?
Was he the American Projenitor of that Line?
Lets take another look at Capt George Wright.
Here in 1636 we can see that George Wright was the proprietor of the ferry. The next year 1637, he was granted half an acre to build a home on as well as five acres for planting. He must have been considered advanced in years as they call him "Old George Wright". Now we stop and take a good look at it and wonder.... "Old George Wright"..... Think about it! Could this George Wright be different from the "Capt George Wright"?. They called him "old" George Wright. Why was Elisabeth not mentioned as his wife in the Church Records as was the custom at that time... Could it be that old "George" had died and she was actually a widow in 1641? Now lets look further...
George Wright is again assigned land in Dec of 1637. Could it be that this George is a son of the "Old" George? If so, the three people could be George, Wife, and child would be Jonathon. In 1640 he is again granted a lot of land for 3 heads. In 1642 he was admitted freeman at Braintree, where he was a lieutenant. No where in the records do we ever find him listed with a wife. Could she have passed away by 1643? I mention this because from this point on, he has had many problems with women. (This is why he is nicknamed "Loverboy" by many of us researching this history) I can't feature "Old George" chasing women.. A younger Lt George, yes. If you look closely at the above records you may see that "Old George" may have died between 1640 and 1641, and "Capt George" (possibly his son) was listed there after. This is just a theory of mine, but there are so many inconsistencies in his history that leads me to believe that. For those that are interested in the History of George Wright, you will find a large amount of information in "Early Rehoboth, Documented Historical Studies of Familes and Events in This Plymouth Colony Twonship", by Richard LeBaron Bowen, Volume III, privately printed, Rehoboth, Massachusetts, 1948. We have included a descendants list, from which there is a return to this page. Descenants list for Capt George Wright We will soon have a complete page of his history as provided by court records and the "Early Rehoboth" article. Watch for it in the near future. If you have possible additions or corrections to this line you may contact The author above and/or Footprints at the Mail Box below. Please place in the Subject Line: WEBPAGE-HISTORY 
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