John Wright

John William Wright, our grandfather, was born on September 24, 1868 in Richmond, Pennsylvania. His father, Delos, was 28 and his mother, Virginia White, was 26. Delos was a merchant in the Jamestown, NY area.

John’s brother, Robert Lyon Wright was born November 27, 1869. Their mother, Virginia, died November 11, 1871 at age 29.

Delos then married Virginia Charmer in 1873. She gave birth to Frederick D Wright in 1874. She died shortly thereafter at the age of 27.

Delos then married Edna Jane Minniss in 1879. They had several children including a daughter, Hortense Edna Wright in 1885, who we knew as Aunt Hortense when we were growing up. Delos died in 1920.

John Wright studied at Jefferson Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, 1890, and became a doctor and moved to Erie, PA. He served on a ship in the Spanish American War in 1898.

He married Clara Katherine Keller, our grandmother, and they had two children together. Eduard Keller Wright, who was born and died in 1902 and Elizabeth Keller Wright, my mother, who was born on Halloween in 1904.

He then married Katherine Hayes Law on Jan 1, 1913. She was also a doctor and they had one daughter, Virginia Law Wright in 1914 (Annie Sis) together. He was a doctor and health officer in Erie for 32 years.

The Great Influenza of 1918 tells the story of Drs. Katherine Law Wright and William Wright in Erie. You should read it.

John died on December 13, 1926, in Erie, Pennsylvania, at the age of 58, and was buried there.