Turbutt Wright (1741-1790)
MSA SC 3520-1432
Biography
Born: ca.
1741, probably at "White Marsh," Queen Anne's
County; eldest son.
Native: fourth generation.
Resided: Wye Hundred, Queen Anne's County,
1776; 5th District, Kent County, 1783; Kent County
at death.
Died:
in 1790
in Kent County.
Family Background
Father: Maj. Nathan Wright (?-1767), of "White Marsh," Queen
Anne's County, son of Charles Wright (?-1720).
Step-Father: Thomas Bruff (?-ca. 1772).
Mother: Mary (?-1773), daughter of William Turbutt (1683/84-1739).
Uncle: Robert Norrest Wright (?-ca.
1746/47).
Aunts: Anna Maria Turbutt, who married Edward Tilghman (1713-1785); Elizabeth
Turbutt, who married Thomas Harris (?-1760).
Brothers: Robert (1756-?).
Sisters: Catherine
(1743-?), who married by 1765 William Bruff (ca.
1741-1802); Mary (1746-1754).
Married:
by 1762,
Elizabeth, daughter of Joseph Evans (?-1751),
of Queen Anne's County, and his wife Elizabeth.
Elizabeth was the stepdaughter of William Horn.
Private Career
Education: literate.
Religious Affiliation: Anglican, St. Luke's Parish, Queen
Anne's County.
Social Status and Activities: Gent., by 1767; Esq., at death.
Occupational Profile: planter by 1767; attorney-at-law, 1785 until death.
Public Career
Legislative Service: Lower House, Queen Anne's County, 1773-1774 (Elections 1, Cv, 2, 3; Laws to Expire 2;
Claims 1, Cv, 2); Conventions, Queen Anne's
County, 1st, 1774, 3rd, 1774, 4th, 1775, 5th, 1775,
6th-8th, 1775-1776, 9th, 1776 (election voided
on August 16, 1776, because the freemen of Queen
Anne's County appointed the election judges
contrary to the resolves of the 8th Convention;
reelected and seated); Senate, Eastern Shore,
Term of 1776-1781: 1777 (Loan Office 1), 1777-1778, 1778 (did not attend; resigned on November 7, 1778); House of Delegates, Queen Anne's County,
1781 (elected to the 2nd session of the 1780-1781 Assembly to fill vacancy; speaker 2; elected speaker
on June 11, 1781, to replace William Bruff; resigned as speaker on June 14, 1781, when Bruff
returned; Elections 2; Public Taxes 2), 1781-1782.
Other State Office: clerk, Lower House, May
20, 1768, to December 20, 1769; 5th Council of
Safety, Eastern Shore, 1777 (appointed on February 3, 1777, to fill vacancy).
Local Offices: register of Queen Anne's School, 1764-1773; St.
Luke's Parish Vestry, in office, 1770-1772; Committee of Correspondence, Queen Anne's County,
elected 1774; chairman, Committee of Observation, Queen Anne's County, elected 1776; justice, Queen Anne's County, by 1771 to ca. 1778
(quorum, by 1771-1775); justice. Court of Oyer,
Terminer, and Gaol Delivery, commissioned 1770,
1771, 1774 (quorum 1770, 1771, 1774); justice,
Orphans' Court, Queen Anne's County, 1777.
Out of State Service: delegate, Continental
Congress, 1781-1782 (elected in November 1781,
but did not attend until April 1782).
Stands on Public/Private Issues: subscribed to a fund for
establishing Washington College at Chestertown,
Kent County.
Wealth During Lifetime
Personal Property: assessed value £1,714.0.0, including 19 slaves, 1783.
Land at First Election: 2,279 acres in Queen Anne's County (bought 471
acres, inherited 798 acres from his father, and
patented 1,010 acres).
Significant Changes in Land Between First Election and Death: sold 1,400 acres in Queen Anne's County; bought 504
acres in Kent County in 1779, but sold this acreage
in 1788.
Additional Comments: after 1778 Wright
had no other recorded land transactions in Queen
Anne's County, but he continued to serve in the
Lower House from that county until 1782. After 1782 Wright is no longer mentioned in the Queen
Anne's County records, but he appears in Kent
County as an attorney-at-law and remains there
until his death.
Wealth at Death
Personal Property: TEV, £11,298.8.1 current money (including a backgammon table and an extensive collection, consisting
of about 50 titles, of law books); FB, £11,154.3.7.
Land: ca. 879 acres in Queen Anne's County.
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