The toils and cares of life are past
May he reap a rich reward at last.
May he reach the heavenly shore
Where friends meet to part no more.

The News of Fountain Green, January 5, 1927:
Early Settlers Of Fountain Green Tp., by Geo C. Tyler:

From Tennessee came the four Wright brothers, Hickerson, Hubbard, Wilson and Bazil.  With Hickerson Wright came his family of six boys and four girls.  Hickerson and most of the boys were over six feet in height.  All the boys crossed the plains to California, some as early as 1850 and others later and some of them made the trips the second and third time.

By late 1840, he had purchased two parcels of land in Fountain Green Township.  The first purchase of 80 acres was registered October 10, 1840.  A second purchase of 40 acres was recorded November 3, 1840.  Click on the dates to view the certificates.

He married Ada (Edy) Tyler about September 06, 1849, in Hancock County.

Wright, Hickason, 53, male, farmer, real estate value 1500, born TN, could not read or write
Ada, 50, female, born NC
Martha E, 22, female, born TN
Patrick W, 20, male, laborer, born TN, attended school within the year
Basil, 17, male, laborer, born TN, attended school within the year
Henry D, 15, male, laborer, born KY, attended school within the year
Thomas G, 13, male, born IL, attended school within the year
Jane, 12, female, born IL, attended school within the year
Charles G, 10, male, born IL, attended school within the year
Cynthia A, 6, female, born IL, attended school within the year

Hickerson Wright, 60, male, farmer, value of real estate 6000, value of personal estate 2000,
born VA
Adda, 61, female, born NC
Jane, 21, female, born IL
Charles, 19, male, born IL
Cynthia, 16, female, born IL
Samuel, 13, male, born IL, attended school within the year
Sarah, 10, female, born TN, attended school within the year

Wright, Hickerson, 76, male, white, retired farmer, value of real estate 19600, value of personal estate 2000, born VA, could not read or write, male citizen of the U.S. aged 21 years or more

Ada, 73, female, white, born NC, could not read or write

Norman, Henry, 11, male, white, born IL, attended school within the year

Wright, Sarah, 17, female, white, born Tennessee, attended school within the year
This listing (the last on the page) includes a 2 in the columns for "Cannot Read"
and "Cannot Write".  These are probably page totals for each column,
placed in error on the line for Sarah.

From the Hancock County Quill, June 14, 1989, the Pioneer People column:

"July 1876 - Ft. Green July 5 - The storm last evening struck this locality about 6:30 p.m.  At Hick Wright's it blew down a large branch hitting him on the head and came near killing him.  It also destroyed the residence of Bob Glass near Webster, a barn for Jesse Roberts and one for Calvin Simmons and about 20 trees in W.L. Parker's grove."

From the 1880 Gregg History of Hancock County, Fountain Green Township, page 839 (paragraph breaks added):

Hickerson Wright, now deceased, was born in Virginia and raised in Kentucky.  His grandfather came from Scotland prior to the Revolution.  His father died when he, Hickerson, was a small boy; not having the advantages of school, he did not even learn to distinguish the denominations of paper money; nevertheless, after coming to this county with his brother Basil in 1833, he accumulated considerable real property and proved to be a good financier.  Wilson and Hubbard, two younger brothers, came soon after.

Mr. Wright was the father of 11 children; viz., Sebean, Seneca, Pattrice W., Thomas G., Charles G., Henry D., now in California, Arzilla Ward, Martha Yetter, Cynthia Willey, and James B., who died at the old homestead in 1851.

[Note: James' tombstone shows that he died in 1850.  Also, the original text has a comma placed between Cynthia and Willey.  Cynthia Wright Willey is listed as a survivor in the obituaries of brother Patrick (Pattrice), and sister Arzilla Wright Ward.  The eleventh child, not named above, would be the infant son who died May 1, 1842, and who is buried here in the Wright Cemetery.]

Seneca, the oldest of this tp., remained at home until 22 years of age, when he was married in 1849 to Miss Eliza A. Burnham, who died in Dec., 1866, leaving 2 children, Douglas and Seneca L.  Between the years 1850 and 1855 he made three trips across the Rocky Mountains, coming back by way of Nicaragua and New York.  Growing somewhat tired of the traveler's life, he built a residence in 1860 on sec. 32, where he now owns 130 acres of tillable land, besides 40 acres of timber.  In 1868 he was married a second time to Miss Damietta Rose, whose parentage was of New York;  The mother [Damietta's mother] now resides in Carthage, the wife of Garland Beneathy [Bernethy].

By his last wife he [Seneca] has 3 children: Cora D., Ella A. and Robert Bruce, a little boy of seven summers.  Mr. W. grew like a sunflower and is considerably above the average in statue, now weighing over 200 lbs.  The family generally hold to no sectarian faith, and are liberal in sentiment both in politics and religion.  To realize their liberality, socially, one needs only to call at their homes, where he will share whatever may be reasonably bestowed by the family.

The News of Fountain Green, Nov. 4, 1925: Pioneer Lender, by Geo C. Tyler:

Hickerson Wright was a successful farmer and stockman, and accumulated money to the extent that he was one of the curbstone brokers of that day in discounting notes and loaning money.  He was a man strong in his likes and dislikes, and if assured of the honesty of his applicant for money they were always accomodated.