A. J. WRIGHT, PLEASANT TOWNSHIP.

This well known and substantial farmer of Pleasant township, this county, came to Iowa from his native county of Noble, Ind., where he was born November 1, 1853. He is the son of Zenas J. and Mary A. (Arnold) Wright, natives respectively of New York and Massachusetts. The father was a successful young agriculturist of the Empire State, but, in common with the ambitious element of the Eastern States, desired to conduct his operations on the larger scale of the West. As his parents, also, sought a more expansive country for their family, the entire household, consisting of the former and five children, migrated to Noble county, Ind.

The head of the family, Zenas J. Wright, Sr., there purchased a tract of heavy timber land, and the father of our subject, with the other older boys, commenced to clear it for cultivation and fuel supplies. The grandfather and his stanch assistants eventually brought a fine homestead from the forest, and Mr. Wright himself became a leader both in affairs of local government and religion. The grandparents passed their final years in the country, as did the parents.

Zenas J. Wright, Jr., the father, after assisting his parents, bought and cleared a homestead for himself, married and had a family of five sons and four daughters. One of the sons served throughout the War of the Rebellion, in the Twelfth Indiana Volunteer Infantry, and all of the children are still living except one.

Of the large family born to Mr. and Mrs. Zenas J. Wright, our subject is the only resident of this county. He received his education in the common schools of Noble county, Ind., and was trained in the practical and invigorating school of agricultural labor. In 1877, then twenty-four years of age, he located in Pleasant township, first renting th land which he operated. Later he purchased the tract upon which he now resides, although he has added to the original farm, both in the way of land area and the improvements in buildings, drainage, orchards, and other features of the modern homestead.

In 1885 A. J. Wright was united in marriage to Della Oglesby, a native of Iowa. The parents had two daughters by this union, Emma and Myrtle, and the mother herself died in 1891. Mr. Wright was married, a second time, to Arabella Oglesby, a sister of his first wife, by whom he has had three children: Zaola A., Martha E. and Cliel A.

Mr. Wright is a Republican, but is too domestic and has been too busy attending to his own affairs to be a politician, or an office seeker. He is an earnest member of the Christian Church, has a wide circle of acquaintances, many warm friends and complete respect follows personal contact. He has taken a deep interest in educational affairs and is now president of the school board.


From "Compendium and History of Cass County, Iowa." Chicago: Henry and Taylor & Co., 1906, pg. 571-572.