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/2263.2988.1.1.1.1.1.3/mb.ashx Message Board Post: Hi Carolyn, Our male descendant line of Wrights in England come from a Roman mercenary soldier who was originally a Thracian of the Dardanian Tribe. Of course, when he arrive he was not called Wright. We do not know what his name was, but through DNA testing we know something of his movements and wereabouts in England. We believe he arrived in England sometime between 79 and 110 C.E. as a member of the calvalry auxiliary troops attached to Legion XX and retired from military service while Legion XX was stationed at the Roman fort that stood where Colchester, Co. Essex, England now stands. The family's given surname is not noted for certain in the Doomsday book although it is possible that the Robert le Wrichte mentioned in 1255 Essex in my previous post was a forefather of the Henry Wright that is the first mention of my ancestors in written histories (Philip Morant's, "History and Antiquities of the county of Essex..." 1768). Henry Wright was in some way that is not entirely clear involved with the church at Upminster, Co. Essex. He was born about 1424, possibly in or near to White Notely, Essex England. In any case, he married Anna Whitebread of White Notley, daughter of Thomas Whitebread of that place. Henry's son, John Wright (1450 - 1509) appears to have been a rector of the Upminster Church. Rector John's son, John Wright (1488-1551), who was an up and coming landed yeoman in the Havering/Navestock/South Weald parish area of Essex, came into possession of the former monestary estate called Kelvedon Hatch in 1538. This estate, which included some 628 acres of land and a manor home called Kelvedon Hall, descended in the progenitor side of the Wright family for nearly the next 400 years. Hence this line of Wrights is called the Kelvdeon Hatch Wrights by most genealogists today. John Wright (1488 - 1551) had four sons, John the Elder, Robert, Myddle John and Young John. The John the Elder male line died out in the early 20th century and no descendants survive today. Robert Wright left a large descendant family in England and America and we have a proven descendant represented in our Wright-DNA database and three more possibles who can't quite trace their ancestry back with documentation. Myddle John Wright (d. 1558) also left a large descendant family in England and America and we have at least a half dozen descendants in our Y-DNA database from him. We are currently seeking descendants of Young John in England. None of his male descendants ever left England that we can determine. My ancestor is Myddle John Wright through his eldest son and eldest grandson, John Wright (Arms and Crest 20 June 32 Elizazbeth I; (1542 - 1624) and John Wright, Esq. (1569 - 1639?; Clerk of the House of Commons, 1612-death). The immigrant father to New England was the third son of John Wright, Esq. and wife, Martha Castell, Samuel Wright (1606 - 1665). Samuel, like his father before him, was a graduate of Emmanuel College, Cambridge University. Unlike his father Samuel had no interest in the law and seems to have been more interested in religious matters and business. Though he was never ordained he was prominent in church affairs and was a deacon in the Congregational churches of New England where he resided. He left England with his family sometime between 1635 and 1639 where he is first mentioned in Colonial records as serving on a jury in Hartford, CT and later receiving a home lot and pasture lot in Springfield, MA where he was among the first settlers of the town! . In 1654 he accompanied 30 families from Springfield who were dissatisfied with the Springfield church affairs, going with them up the Connecticut River a short distance where he was a substantial contributor to the founding of Northampton, MA where he died at his home, "sleeping in his chair" on 2 October 1665. I am a descendant of his eldest son, Samuel (16??-1675). Wilbur and Orville Wright are descendants of his second to youngest son, James Wright (1639 - 1724), and Ethan Allen of the Green Mountain Boys is a descendant of his youngest son, Judah. We are also related to Gov. Silas Wright of NY (1844-1846) and Nancy Reagan, among others. We are not related to Frank Lloyd Wright or the Wrights of North Carolina, Maryland, Virginia or Georgia, among others. Male descendants of Sgt. Samuel Wright (16?? - 1675) went to Vermont in 1762 and descendants of theirs went to Ohio in 1815 to found the town of Saybrook, Ashtabula Co., Ohio where my GG-grandfather, Moses Wright was born (it was called Wrightsburg at that time). All the rest of my male descendant family, including my two brothers were subsequently born there. I currently live in Texas and my two brothers live in Boston and Southern Indiana, respectively. Among us there is only one son to carry on the male line of the descendant tree and we are praying he doesn't get himself killed before he produces a son. He is currently 22 years old. So you can find our Y-DNA profile at www.wright-dna.org under the E1b1b1a2 haploid. We are labeled Kelvedon Hatch Wrights. And that, in a nutshell, is my Wright family group. 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.