John WRIGHT, III

                   THE HERITAGE OF YADKIN COUNTY, published by The Yadkin County Historical Society, Yadkinville, NC 27055 1981. Thomas Wright was born on Feb. 18, 1758 to Ann Williams Wright and John Wright III on his maternals grandmother' (Honour Williams) estate in Prince William County, Virginia, that part which became Fauquier County in 1759. In 1774, John Wright III, together with his family, departed through the Gap in the Blue Ridge Mountains for the long Indian trail between the Ricge and the Cumberland Mountains. The trail let southward to the Yadkin River in North Carolina, then southwesterly from "Bigg Branch of the North Fork of Hunting Creek" to the southwest corner of Surry County, now the County of Yadkin to Buck Shoals at Deep Creek. It was here that the family settled. In June 1776, at the age of eighteen, Thomas Wright voluntered for service to help quell the Cherokee Indian uprisings . He served as private under the command of Capt. Jacob Feree. After helping build Fort Defiance on the Yadkin River, he received a verbal discharge, and returned home on Aug. 1776.A few days later, he volunteered again under Capt. Ferree, in Col. James Martin's North Carolina Regiment, for further serrvice against the Cherokees. He served three months and was verbally discharged. In the Spring 1780, he volunteered as a minute man in the Revolutionary War, to help keep the Tories in check. He served whenever called upon, under several different captains, until the surrender of Cornwallis. His Revoluntionary War File No. is R.11,899.In February, 1833, Thomas Wright, who at that time was senior magistrate for the Surry County Court, applied for a military pension. He was placed on the roll as a Revolutionary pensioner, entitled to seventy dollars per annum. His Friend, Congressman Lewis Williams, attested to his character in his letter to the Commissioner of Pensions, "In support of this claim, I must say that the applicant, Thomas Wright is a respectable, as worthy, as reputable as a man as any in the United States". Thomas Wright entered public life, as a member of the House of Commons in the General Assembly from1800 to 1803. He was then elected to the Senate in 1807, serving a one year term. He was re-elected in 1810 and served continuously until 1817. It was between two of his various periods of enlistment for military service that Thomas Wright married Mary Clanton, daughter of Thomas and Elizabeth Clanton, of Surry County, on -. This information was recorded on the leaf of Thomas Wright's bible, found among his pension papers. In December of 1778, Thomas Wright obtained a warrant for four hundred acres of land on the south fork of Deep Creek. Record of the survey was dted Sept. 27, 1779, Grant 576, issued Oct. 30, 1783. (File No. 577, Deed Book 53, Pg. 102, Dept. of State, Raleigh, NC). According to this record, it is believed that Thomas and Mary Clanton Wright settled down on a farm adjoining John Wright III's at the close of the Revolution. Unlike many of John Wright III's other children, Thomas maintained his residence in Surry County throughout his life. He was a prominent membr of Flat Rock Baptist Church, which was originally know as Petty's Meeting House. Thomas Wright died on June 22, 1840. His will, recorded in Surry Co., Will Book 4, pg. 175, dated June 1, 1838 names his eight children:
   Patrisha Martha "Patsy" WRIGHT
   Elizabeth WRIGHT b: ABT. 1754 in Prince William Co, VA
   Nancy (Ann) WRIGHT b: ABT. 1755 in Fauquier Co, VA
   Thomas WRIGHT b: 18 Feb 1758 in Prince William (later Faquier) Co, VA
   Capt. Daniel WRIGHT b: 27 Sep 1759 in Fauquier Co, VA
   Agatha WRIGHT b: 1759-1760 in Prince William (later Faquie)r Co, VA
   John WRIGHT IV b: 1760-1761
   Amelia WRIGHT b: ABT. 1762 in Fauquier Co, VA
   William WRIGHT b: 15 Apr 1763
   Lucretia "Lucy" WRIGHT b: 7 Jul 1765 in Fauquier Co, VA
   James WRIGHT b: 1766 in Fauquier Co, VA
   Frances WRIGHT b: 14 Feb 1766 in Fauquier Co, VA
   Sarah "Sally" WRIGHT b: 1770-1774 in Fauquier Co, VA
   Mary "Polly" WRIGHT b: 1772 in Fauquier Co, VA
   Margaret "Peggy" WRIGHT b: 1774 in Fauquier Co, VA
   Williams WRIGHT b: 5 Apr 1779 in Surry Co, NC
   Roseanna "Rosey" WRIGHT b: ABT. 1780 in Surry Co, NC
   Susanna "Sukey" WRIGHT b: 1780 in Surry Co, NC