George H. Wright, 1837

by William Urban

    According to the census of 1850 for Warren County George H. Wright was born in 1798 in New York and was a doctor in Monmouth; his wife, Delia, had been born in 1810 in Vermont; nine-year-old Elizabeth Brown was living with them. According to the census of 1840 they had no children at that time.  A tombstone in the Berwick cemetery lists George M. Wright, died March 3, 1842, age 11 months and 22 days, son of G. H. and D. Wright.    

    In November of 1831 there was a special election to incorporate Monmouth as a township. George H. Wright was among the twenty-three voters. Subsequently he was chosen as one of the five trustees. He is in the index to the Entry Books in the Recorders Office.

   The first grocery store was licensed soon afterward, then six more in 1835.

    He was mayor in 1837. The following year, when trustees were elected to assist the mayor, he was one of the top six vote-getters (11 votes) and so elected.

    He died of cholera in Berwick on June 16, 1852. The Atlas, June 25, 1852, noted that he was "one of the early settlers of the county and his sudden demise, as also that of his affectionate companion, is deeply lamented." According to the tombstone, Delia died June 29, 1852.