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- WRIGHT, William Carter, a Representative from Georgia; born on a farm in Carroll County, Ga., January 6, 1866; moved with his parents to Newnan, Coweta County, Ga., in 1869; attended the common and high schools of Newnan; studied law; was admitted to the bar in 1886; lawyer, private practice; banker; farmer; city attorney for Newnan, Ga., 1892-1895; solicitor of the city court of Newnan, Ga., 1894-1903; member of the board of education, 1910-1918; chairman of the Democratic Georgia state executive committees, 1910 and 1911; elected as a Democrat to the Sixty-fifth Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of United States Representative William C. Adamson; reelected to the Sixty-sixth and to the six succeeding Congresses (January 16, 1918-March 3, 1933); did not seek renomination to the Seventy-third Congress in 1932; died on June 11, 1933, in Newnan, Ga.; interment in Oak Hill Cemetery. [4]
- William C. Wright. The lawyer of pre-eminent distinction in Newnan and the Coweta Circuit is William Carter Wright, a native of Georgia and a representative of one of the leading families of Northern Virginia and of this section of Georgia. In a family whose members have given it especial distinction, genealogical details are of genuine interest. Let us therefore note some of the leading facts in the lives of Attorney Wright's grandfather, James Wright, and his father, Benjamin Wright.
Both the grandfather and grandmother of our subject were natives of the Old Dominion State. James Wright and his wife moved from Northern Virginia, early in the nineteenth century, to Eastern Georgia, where they reared their family. He was a planter and slave-holder, a man of prominence in his section. A stanch democrat, he took an active interest in political affairs. His vigorous life closed in Putnam County, after seventyfive years of independent and forceful activity. His son Benjamin (who lived to become the father of William Carter Wright) was of Putnam County birth. There he was reared. He married Miss Emily Eubanks Tompkins, also a native of Putnam County. Soon after their lives and fortunes were united, they remdved to Carroll County, which was the scene of their long and eventful life together. Benjamin Wright becam e a man of purposive political activities. His strong individuality made him a noteworthy figure in the Georgia State Legislature, of which he was a member, both in Senate and House, representing the Carroll County district. He was, moreover, a member of the historical secession convention of Milledgeville, which severed the southern states from the Union. Vocationally, Benjamin Wright was a planter. He and his wife, Emily Wright, lived to an unusually ripe old age. Despite the service he had given to the Confederate army, Colonel Wright lived to number his years as eighty-three, one year less than those attained by Mrs. Wright, who died in 1914, at the age of eighty-four. Both were active members of the Baptist Church. They reared four sons and three daughters. Tompkins Wright, the eldest, was but sixteen years of age when he joined Captain Beall's companies of the Confederate army; while in service he contracted pneumonia, which soon cut short his promising young life. Mary C. Wright became Mrs. J. C. Gibson, of Newnan, Georgia. Giles B. Wright is a resident of Atlanta, Georgia. Nicholas T. Wright died in 1909, at Newnan, Georgia. Emma Wright and Ada K. Wright married brothers?the former lady becoming Mrs. E. S. Roberts and the latter Mrs. T. S. Roberts, both families establishing homes in Crisp, Ben Hill County, Georgia. The youngest member of the family is William Carter Wright, whose name forms the title of this biographical review.
A self-made, educated man is William C. Wright, whose fortunate combination of native gifts and consistent ambition have led him from point to point of his successful career. Carroll County was the scene of his nativity, the date of that event being January 6, 1866. Showing at an early age an interest in books and public affairs, as well as a talent for persuasive oratory, he continued his studies through the high school and soon after became a popular young schoolmaster in the educational institutions of Carroll County. Such work, pursued by a young person of character, soon develops individuality and initiative to a practical degree; those were the qualities which guided William Wright to the choice of the law as a life-work and those have been as well notable characteristics of its performance.
Mr. Wright's first tutor in legal lore was Gen. L. H. Featherstone, whose office our subject entered at Newnan, Georgia. When those studies were cut short by General Featherstone's death,'they were resumed under exGovernor William Y. Adkinson, of Newnan, Georgia. After this period of training was concluded, Mr. Wright was formally admitted to the practice of law in 1886.
Attorney Wright's first professional partnership was formed with the Hon. P. S. Willcoxon. After five years spent as junior partner of the firm, Mr.Wright entered another professional relation, becoming the head of the partnership of Wright and Farmer, his junior partner being L. W. Farmer of Newnan. Two years of legal practice in this connection were followed by another change. At that time our subject became associated with the Hon. R. W. Freeman and the firm thus formed was known for the eight years of its existence as the leading legal office of the City of Newnan. This association was not to be permanent, however, for Mr. Freeman was eventually called to the bench, as superior judge for Coweta Circuit. AttorneyWright has since continued to administer independently the legal business of the large class of clients acquired and his is conceded to be the most important practice of the community. Mr. Wright has in the interim been honored with the office of solicitor of City Court of Newman, Coweta County, holding that office for eight years and demonstrating his ability as one of the ablest prosecutors who have been known in the history of the county. With all his heavy professional business, he finds time for practical participation in affairs educational and matters agricultural. He has served for several years on the Newnau Board of Education, having a sincere and deep interest in this phase of civic life. Mr. Wright, like every true Southerner, has a genuine affection for "our mother, the earth," and takes delight in managing the business of his farm. He has a genius for getting results from the soil and holds the record of having raised forty bales of cotton with the use of but two plows.
The attractive and efficient mistress of Attorney Wright's home is Pauline Arnold Wright, to whom he was married September 15, 1892. Mrs.Wright is a daughter of William P. and Mary (Harris) Buford, well-known citizens of the community. Several children have come to the home of Mr. and Mrs. Wright. Evelyn, the eldest, was born in 1893; Emily, the second, died at the age of four years and her little sister Pauline was called by "the reaper of the flowers" at the age of two years. Arnold, the first son, and William C. Wright, junior, are the other members of the family, and all were born in Newnan, Georgia.
Fraternal and religious life have their due share in the life of the Wright family. Mrs. W7right is a loyal and helpful member of the Methodist Church, to whose interests she devotes both time and talent; while her husband continues his allegiance to the Baptist division of the church, so faithfully adhered to by his ancestors. He is a popular Mason, having been honored by all chairs to that of Shrine. The Elks also claim his membership as a genial and distinguished member. A well-rounded life is William C. Wright's, one of fully deserved success, of broad interests, of admirable character, of substantial qualities well worthy of emulation. [5]
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