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Note: James Carlisle WRIGHT was born in 1850 in the township of Listowel, located in Pearth County, Ontario, Canada. The Wright family resided in the township of Usborne, located in Huron County, Ontario, Canada. James [age 10] is listed in the Canadian census of 1861. The Wright family is listed in the 1871 Canadian census residing in McKillop Township, located in Huron County. James [age 20] is listed. James was oldest of nine children. James migrated to the United States and took up residence in Bay City, [Bay County] Michigan circa 1873. He was employed as a railroad engineer and was assigned to train that ran between Bay City and Pentwater [Oceana County] located on the Lake Michigan coast. In 1876, James married Chloe Jennie BALLARD, a widow, with one small boy (Edgar Ballard Mails, born 1872, VT). The marriage took place in Hart, Michigan, the county seat of Oceana County. Jennie Ballard had been living in the Pentwater area and remained there after the death of her husband Richard Mails circa 1874. Jennie was friends with James Wright's sister, Sarah CUNNINGHAM, a resident of Pentwater. It is assumed that Sarah introduced her brother to Jennie. James and Jennie resided in Pentwater where Jennie gave birth to two children, Euphemia born 1876 and Willis born 1877. The Wright family is listed in the 1880 U.S.Census, Pentater, Oceana, MI. It is believed James was a school teacher during the 1880-1900 time frame. After the children had left the home in the early 1890's, James and Jennie bought a ranch [circa 1900], in Cody [Park County] Wyoming. It is said that they were neighbors and friends with "Buffalo" Bill Cody. James was naturalized in Laramie,WY on 23 Aug 1900. A copy of the naturlization paper has been obtained verifying date and place. James' wife Jennie died in 1902. James sold the Wyoming ranch and bought a sugar plantation in San Mateo, San Luis Potosi, Mexico. James married Mary [May] Crosswaite OATMAN on Christmas day 1907, in Laredo, Texas. !Marriage: Marriage License #3764, issued State of Texas,Webb Co.31 Dec 1907. It was a second marriage for both of them. In 1910, while living on the plantation in Mexico, they got involved in the Mexican Revolution. They were harassed by the likes of Pancho Villa. James sent his wife, May, back to stay with her parents at their home in San Antonio. James held out for several months at the plantation, while continually being harassed by the revolutionists. He got very sick. He tried to get passage out to the U.S., but it was slow in happening, meanwhile he needed medical care which was not available to him and his condition worsened. Finally he did get back to Texas but died only one week after his return from Mexico. His widow, May, filed for compensation after the revolution ended. It is all documented. [National Archives] She won the property settlement [$100,000], but the personal death settlement [$100,000] was thrown out. His widow used the Wright Family bible to prove his marriage to her for her claim as his widow. The bible might still exist and could possibly give some good family data.
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