From obituaries for Martha D. Wright DeHaven, 1908: "[Martha] came with her parents to Hancock County, Ill., March 26, 1832 and settled at Fountain Green."

Of the Wright brothers, details of Basil's life are the least straightforward.  He was the first of the four to pass away, probably in Fountain Green Township, before the era of lengthy obituaries. According to the Van Dine reading of his tombstone at Fountain Green Cemetery, he died on July 29, 1865, at the age of 56 years, 11 months and 20 days.

July 27, 1865, is the date of death on an impressively sized monument (pictured at right) at LaHarpe City Cemetery, Hancock County, perhaps placed some time after the death of his second wife, Hannah; this marker bears commemorative inscriptions for Basil and for his and Hannah's infant son, Nathan, also buried at Fountain Green Cemetery.  (Hannah's obituary stated that Basil died July 29.)

From Hickerson Wright's obituary: "In 1793, his father moved to Kentucky, where he remained until 1805, when he moved to Smith County, Tennessee." In both the 1850 and 1860 Federal Censuses, Basil said he was born in Kentucky, which, if the statement in Hickerson's obituary and Basil's declarations were factual, would mean that Basil was born before the 1805 move to Tennessee.

Basil's age as reported in various censuses:
1830 Federal Census	age 30 to 39	(born between 1790 and 1800)
1840 Federal Census	age 30 to 39	(born between 1800 and 1810)
1850 Federal Census	age 47	(born about 1803)
1855 State Census	age 50 to 60	(born between 1794 and 1805)
1860 Federal Census	age 52	(born about 1808)
1865 State Census	age 60 to 70	(born between 1794 and 1805)

If the inscription on the tombstone at Fountain Green Cemetery and the subsequent reading were correct, Basil was born on August 9, 1808, which is in sync with only two of the censuses, 1840 and 1860.

Basil's first wife was Nancy (maiden name undetermined).  She was born between 1800 and 1810 (based on scant documentation), died in Hancock County in the 1840s.  Census records for her children reported Nancy's birth state as Kentucky, Tennessee and Virginia.

It's fairly clear that the eldest Wright children were born in Tennessee and the younger children were born in Illinois, but there are anomalies.  When son Horace (born about 1829) enlisted in the Union Army, he stated he was born in Hopkins County, Kentucky, but census records from 1850 and 1860 indicated Tennessee.  Obituaries for Martha Wright DeHaven (April 5, 1830 - November 11, 1908), one of the middle daughters, reported she was born in Hopkins County, also.  The Scofield biography of Martha's son, Thomas, reported she was a native of Tennessee (but also reported that Martha's husband was from Tennessee when he was actually from Indiana).  The 1850 and 1860 censuses indicated that Martha was born in Tennessee; in 1870 and 1880 Kentucky was reported; in 1900 no birth state was shown.  For the next daughter, Mary Jane (born about November 14, 1832, according to her tombstone inscription), the 1850 through 1880 censuses reported her birthplace as Tennessee, Kentucky, Kentucky, Kentucky.  This is in conflict with the statement from Martha's obituary that the family arrived in Hancock County in March of 1832.

With quick acknowledgement of the myriad errors found in census records, we also note that Basil's family was counted in Smith County, Tennessee, in the 1830 Federal Census, for which the base date was June 1st.  In the same county in 1830 were Basil's brothers Hickerson and Hubbard.

Of the Wright children born in Illinois, we believe they were born in Township Six North, Five West, which would be named Fountain Green Township in 1850.  Their known children were:

i.	Elizabeth P. Wright, born July 25, 1825, in Tennessee, died October 24, 1880, in Fountain Green Township, burial at Fountain Green Cemetery.
ii.	Cossiah Wright, born about 1828 in Tennessee, died in 1865.  He is buried in the Wright family cemetery located between Fountain Green and Webster in Fountain Green Township.
iii.	Horace Alexander Wright, born about 1829.  He died September 11, 1863, at New Orleans, Louisiana, a Civil War casualty.
iv.	Martha D. Wright, born April 5, 1830.  She died November 11, 1908, near Burnside, Pilot Grove Township, Hancock County, burial at the Pilot Grove Cemetery.  Martha and her younger sister, Nancy, married brothers, Robert and Jonathan D. DeHaven.
v.	Mary Jane Wright, born about November 14, 1832 (date calculated from tombstone inscription).  She died March 13, 1882, probably in Hancock County.  Burial at Fountain Green Cemetery.
vi.	John J. Wright, born about 1836 in Hancock County, died March 15, 1898, burial location undetermined.
vii.	Frances Adaline Wright, born February 9, 1837, in Hancock County.  She died June 11, 1909, at LaHarpe, Hancock County.  She was reportedly buried at the LaHarpe Cemetery near her third husband.
viii.	Nancy M. Wright (recorded as Messannah in the 1850 census) was born July 4, 1839, in Hancock County, died August 16, 1913, burial at South Cemetery, Hire Township, McDonough County, Illinois.

Basil's second wife, Hannah M. Wood, also left us with a puzzle or two.  As reported in her obituary:
- She was born in Indiana on February 27, 1834.
- She came to the Hancock County area at an early age.
- She and Basil were married September 18, 1856.

It's a safe assumption that State of Illinois marriage records are incomplete, and Hannah and Basil could have gone to Missouri or Iowa to marry.  However, we believe Hannah's father was Ebenezer Wood, that the family was in Tazewell County, Illinois, in 1850, and that Hannah was first married to a man named "Nathan Lamme" about August 4, 1850, in Tazewell County.

McDonough County license #960 was issued on November 17, 1857, to Mr. Bazil Wright and Mrs. Anna Maria Lamb.  They were married on November 19.  Wright - Lamb license  We gently suggest that the marriage date quoted in Hannah's obituary was either a simple error or creative history.

Hannah died May 20, 1909, in LaHarpe Township, Hancock County, and was buried at LaHarpe City Cemetery.  Obituary

Basil and Hannah's sons were:

i.	Mansel William Wright, born July 29, 1858, in Fountain Green Township, died in LaHarpe Township on May 23, 1930.  Burial at LaHarpe City Cemetery.
ii.	Henry C. Wright, born June 5, 1861, in Fountain Green Township, died in June of 1926 in Montgomery County, Iowa.  He was buried at Evergreen Cemetery, Red Oak, Montgomery County.
iii.	Nathan C. Wright, born and died in Fountain Green Township, October 21, 1863 - June 8, 1864, buried at Fountain Green Cemetery.

Household of Bazil Wright
Males 0 thru 4 - 1
Males 30 thru 39 - 1
Females 0 thru 4 - 2
Females 5 thru 9 - 1
Females 20 thru 29 - 1
Total - 6

Household of Bazel Bight
Male persons age 5 thru 9 - 1
Male persons age 10 thru 14 - 1
Male persons age 30 thru 39 - 1
Female persons age 1 thru 4 - 2
Female persons age 5 thru 9 - 1
Female persons age 10 thru 14 - 1
Female persons age 15 thru 19 - 1
Female persons age 30 thru 39 - 1
Total - 7
Persons employed in agriculture - 1
White persons over 20 years of age who cannot read and write - 2

Basil Wright, 47, male, farmer, value of real estate 800, born KY
Martha, 18, female, born TN
Adaline, 16, female, born TN
Messannah, 11, female, born IL, attended school within the year
John, 16, male, laborer, born IL, attended school within the year

Ebenazer Wood, 65, male, farmer, born NY
Roxa, 46, female, born NY
Joseph, 24, male, laborer, born NY
Benj, 19, male, born IN
Hanah, 21, female, born IN
Margret, 17, female, born IN
Wm, 12, male, born IL
Joseph, 10, male, born IL

Bazel Wright, 52, farmer, value of real estate 3000, value of personal estate 500, born KY
Hannah, 33, born NY
Marion, 2, born IL [Mansel]

Wright, Hannah, white, female, 45, widow, keeping house, born IL, both parents born NY
Mansel, white, male, 22, son, single, farmer, born IL, father born Tennessee, mother born IL

Curtis, F A, head, white, female, Mar 1837, 63, widow, mother of 0 children, born IL, father born KY, mother born VA, could read, write and speak English, owned her home free of mortgage

Right, Hannah, stepmother, white, female, Feb 1834, 66, widow; mother of 3 children, all living; born IN, father born England, mother born NY, could read, write and speak English