This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Author: MichaelWright12 Surnames: Classification: queries Message Board URL: http://boards.rootsweb.com/surnames.wright/15905.2.1.1.1.3.3.2/mb.ashx Message Board Post: Deirdre, The direct male line of Orville and Wilbur Wright was strictly New England in origins and has no origins in VA. Following is the immediate descent line of the Wright Brothers according to the research conducted by their own father, Bishop Milton Wright. The Bishop's work has been verified by a number of genealogists over the last 100 years, and we currently are awaiting Y-DNA confirmation of the lineage via a male line descendant of one of the Wright brother's older brothers. His Y-DNA profile will be compared to those of a half dozen proven collateral descendants of Deacon Samuel Wright of Springfield and Northampton, MA. This is their Wright line from the first immigrant to New England: 1-Deacon Samuel Wright (1606 Eng. - 1665 Northampton, MA) sp: Maragret (nee ??) (?? - 1681) 2-James Wright (1639-1723) MA sp: Abigail Jess (1 Mar 1645-24 May 1707) 3-Samuel Wright (16 May 1675-18 Apr 1734) MA sp: Rebecca Sikes (15 Sep 1678-1760) 4-Benoni Wright (26 Feb 1719-3 Jan 1761) MA and VT sp: Elisabeth (Betsy) (Eliza) Smith (26 Feb 1719-1 Mar 1785) 5-Dan Wright Sr (7 Apr 1757-10 Sep 1832) VT sp: Sarah Freeman (27 Mar 1762-1 Apr 1848) 6-Dan Wright Jr (3 Sep 1790-6 Oct 1861) VT and OH sp: Catherine Reeder (17 Mar 1800-24 Sep 1860) 7-Milton Wright, "Bishop" (17 Nov 1828-3 Apr 1917) OH and IN sp: Susan Catherine Koerner (30 Apr 1831-4 Jul 1889) 8-Reuchlin Wright (17 Mar 1861-27 May 1919) OH sp: Lulu Billheimer (11 Apr 1865-7 Jan 1951) 8-Lorin Wright (18 Nov 1862-1 Dec 1939) OH sp: Ivonette "Nettie" Stokes (8 Jan 1865-9 Dec 1940) 8-Wilbur Wright (16 Apr 1867-30 May 1912) OH; died Unmarried 8-Otis Wright (7 Mar 1870-9 Apr 1870) 8-Ida Wright (7 Mar 1870-14 Mar 1870) 8-Orville Wright (19 Aug 1871-30 Jan 1948) OH; died Unmarried 8-Katharine Wright (19 Aug 1874-Mar 1939) OH; died married but no Issue If you are looking for a VA connection in the direct male line of the Wright Brothers, check out the family of Bisp. Milton Wright's wife - Susan Koerner who was born in Hillsboro, Loudoun Co., VA. Her father, John (Johann) Gottlieb Koerner (February 16, 1791 - December 3, 1876 was born in Förthen, Saxony (Germany), to Johann Thomas Koerner and Eva Elisabeth Polion. Her mother, Catherine Freyer (or Fry) Koerner (November 30, 1796 - January 20, 1889) was, however, born near Hillsboro, VA to John Philipp Freyer and Dorothea Boger. The connections to a VA Wright might be through the Freyer or Boger families, or as a consequence of marriage to a VA Wright family by one of Susan's 11 siblings. I have never bothered to check that out. Orville and Wilbur belong to one of only two known Kelvedon Hatch Wright family groups in America. Their group alone is a huge family group and there are many, many collateral lines descending from Dea. Samuel Wright. However, the root family was from MA and not VA. All those collateral lines I know about stayed in New England until about 1750 and then began various migrations north and west, not south. The typical migration pattern seems to have been affected only by the Revolutionary War such that I know of only two patterns. The majority of them went north from MA or CT first to VT or NH and then a generation or two later, West to New York and OH. A minority of them went first to VT and NH and then sided with the British and went to Canada before they, or descendants started coming back to the US after the war, reentering the US through NY or Michigan before going on to WI or OH. So, if there is a connected Wright collateral line in VA their ancestors would have come to VA from MA, CT or VT between 1750 and 1820 or from OH to WV/VA after 1850. I do not personally know of any such migration in the Kelvedon Hatch Wright family of America, but there are a number of collateral lines I have not fully traced, so it is still possible, however improbable it may seem. My best guess is that if you are related, it is through a VA born female marriage connection to the New England Wrights. It would be someone like Susan Koerner, who by the way, was the parent Wilbur and Orville went to when they needed mechanical and mathematical advice. Susan Koerner Wright was a mechanical genius in her own right who had spent most of her childhood helping her father in his carriage building business and had been the top mathematician in her class at Hartsville College (Hartsville, IN). Father Milton Wright, on the other hand, was all thumbs, but the deep thinker in the family. Many of the toys that Wilbur and Orville Wright played with as children had been made from common household things by their mother, and she had more than a little to do with their future success as bicycle repairmen, businessmen and airplane innovators. Good Luck in you quest. Mike Important Note: The author of this message may not be subscribed to this list. If you would like to reply to them, please click on the Message Board URL link above and respond on the board.