Hezekiah Barr Wright
| The following was written by Everett B. Jackman a few years before his death in 1976. He was a grandson of Hezekiah Barr Wright. Hezekiah Barr Wright, one of the earlier settlers of Greene County, was born August 15, 1829, on Duck River, Tennessee. In 1848, he married Martha Stares Perry. Twin sons, Newton and Jasper, were born in 1849. Mr. Wright and his family lived in Tennessee until 1850, when they moved to Arkansas in a horse-drawn wagon. In Arkansas, the Wright family settled two miles west of Marmaduke in a place called Tilmansville. In 1852, they moved to what is now Breckenridge Township. Mrs. Wright died in 1863. She was the first person to be buried in the Wright Cemetery. The cemetery is located six miles northwest of Marmaduke. In 1864, Hezekiah Wright marred Permelia Ward Wood. They had eight children: Joseph, Frank, Taylor, Emma, Anna, Revis, Addie J., and Buren. John Newton, twin son of Hezekiah and Martha Wright, married Rebecca Culver. They had six children: Jim, Jennie, Jasper, Permelia, Josie and Charles. William Jasper, twin son of Hezekiah and Martha Wright, married Mary Starnes. Their four children were: Newton, Conn, Marshall and Maggie. Joseph, oldest son of Hezekiah and Permelia Wright, was born in 1865. He married Emma Rigney. This union produced twelve children: Gus, Lura, Carl, Minnie, Anna, Delsie, Effie, Troy, Alvin, Oda, Estel, and Alta. Frank was born in 1867. He married Ida Culver. They had seven children: Jewel, Dee, Florence, Cavie, Beulah, Ira, and Carrie. Taylor was born in 1869. He and his wife, Ella Livesay, had four children: Buel, Ollie, Clarence, and Albert. Emma Wright was born in 1873. She married James Starnes, and they had six children: Claude, Nora, Telfair, Adrian and twin daughters, Ernestine and Earline. Anna Wright was born in 1875 and married Thomas Jackman in 1897. This marriage produced three children: Earl, Clyde and Everett Buren. Thomas Jackman died in 1905, and Anna married Thornton Smoot in 1909. They had two children, Clifford and Orine. Two of the eight children of Hezekiah and Permelia Wright died in childhood. Revis was born in 1878, and he died when he was 16. Addie Jewell was born in 1881, and she died at the age of three years. Buren, youngest child of Hezekiah and Permelia Wright, was born in 1884. He and his first wife, Ruth Purcell, had one son Leonard. Ruth died in 1914, and Buren married Mary Ferguson in 1920. They had five children: Ormand, Willodean, Laverne, Dorothy, and Audrey. Hezekiah's wife, Permelia, died in 1902. Then Hezekiah married Sarah Huckaby Vangilder who died in 1923. When Hezekiah Wright moved to Greene County, there were very few settlers there. He had to travel to Cape Girardeau, Missouri once a year to get his corn ground and to buy sugar, salt, and coffee. He made this trip by wagon, and the round trip was 250 miles on a winding trail through the forest. He served as coroner of Greene County from 1858 until 1864. In the 1880's, he was in the mercantile business at Old Gainesville. Hezekiah was a Baptist and a Royal Arch Mason. He was a staunch democrat. He lived on the same farm in Breckenridge Township for 70 years from 1852 until 1922. He died in 1922 at the age of 93 years. Information in the above article furnished by: Quinelle Jackman Clark (daughter of Everett B. Jackman) 702 Stonebridge Jonesboro, AR 72401
This article was submitted by: May, 2012 |
Return to Greene County, AR Biographies