John Crafts Wright (August 17, 1783 – February 13, 1861) was a

U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...

from

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

and a

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

. He was the brother-in-law of

Benjamin Tappan Benjamin Tappan (May 25, 1773 – April 20, 1857) was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Ohio and a United States senator from Ohio. Education and career Born on May 25, 1773, in Northampton, ...

U.S. Senator The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and powe ...

from Ohio from 1839 to 1845. Born in

Wethersfield, Connecticut Wethersfield is a town located in Hartford County, Connecticut. It is located immediately south of Hartford along the Connecticut River. Its population was 27,298 at the time of the 2020 census. Many records from colonial times spell the name ...

, Wright completed preparatory studies and then learned the trade of printer. He moved to

Troy, New York Troy is a city in the U.S. state of New York and the county seat of Rensselaer County. The city is located on the western edge of Rensselaer County and on the eastern bank of the Hudson River. Troy has close ties to the nearby cities of Albany a ...

, and edited the ''Troy Gazette'' for several years. He studied law at

Litchfield Law School The Litchfield Law School of Litchfield, Connecticut, was the first independent law school established in America for reading law. Founded and led by lawyer Tapping Reeve, the proprietary school was unaffiliated with any college or university. (Whi ...

. He was

admitted to the bar An admission to practice law is acquired when a lawyer receives a license to practice law. In jurisdictions with two types of lawyer, as with barristers and solicitors, barristers must gain admission to the bar whereas for solicitors there are dist ...

and commenced practice in

Steubenville, Ohio Steubenville is a city in and the county seat of Jefferson County, Ohio, United States. Located along the Ohio River 33 miles west of Pittsburgh, it had a population of 18,161 at the 2020 census. The city's name is derived from Fort Steuben, a 1 ...

, in 1809. United States district attorney in 1817. Wright was elected to the Seventeenth Congress, but resigned on March 3, 1821, before the beginning of the congressional term. Elected again to the Eighteenth Congress, he began his service in that body as a National Republican, and continued to serve in the Nineteenth, and Twentieth Congresses, his three terms running from March 4, 1823, through March 4, 1829. He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1828 to the Twenty-first Congress. Wright was elected to the

Ohio Supreme Court The Ohio Supreme Court, Officially known as The Supreme Court of the State of Ohio is the highest court in the U.S. state of Ohio, with final authority over interpretations of Ohio law and the Ohio Constitution. The court has seven members, a ...

in 1831 and served until February 2, 1835, when he resigned. In 1833, Wright, along with Edward King and Timothy Walker, founded the

Cincinnati Law School The University of Cincinnati College of Law was founded in 1833 as the Cincinnati Law School. It is the fourth oldest continuously running law school in the United States — after Harvard, the University of Virginia, and Yale — and the first in ...

, the first law school in the West.History of UC College of Law
/ref> He moved to Cincinnati in 1835 and engaged in newspaper work, and for thirteen years published the ''

Cincinnati Gazette The ''Cincinnati Commercial Tribune'' was a major daily newspaper in Cincinnati, Ohio formed in 1896, and folded in 1930.(3 December 1930)OLDEST NEWSPAPER IN CINCINNATI QUITS; Commercial Tribune Stopped by McLean Interests After Political Shift in ...

''. He served as director of the Cincinnati, Hamilton and Dayton Railroad. He served as delegate to and honorary president of the

Peace conference of 1861 The Peace Conference of 1861 was a meeting of 131 leading American politicians in February 1861, at the Willard's Hotel in Washington, D.C., on the eve of the American Civil War. The purpose of the conference was to avoid, if possible, the secess ...

held in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, in an effort to devise means to prevent the impending war, and died while serving in that capacity at Washington, D.C., February 13, 1861. He was interred in

Spring Grove Cemetery Spring Grove Cemetery and Arboretum () is a nonprofit rural cemetery and arboretum located at 4521 Spring Grove Avenue, Cincinnati, Ohio. It is the third largest cemetery in the United States, after the Calverton National Cemetery and Abraham L ...

Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

. Wright married Mary Buell Collier Aug. 22, 1805. They raised four children.

Notes

References

John C. Wright - the Father of "the Popular Vote" in US Presidential Elections
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Wright, John Crafts 1783 births 1861 deaths American male journalists Politicians from Cincinnati Burials at Spring Grove Cemetery 19th-century American newspaper editors Ohio National Republicans Justices of the Ohio Supreme Court University of Cincinnati College of Law faculty Litchfield Law School alumni United States Attorneys for the District of Ohio Democratic-Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Ohio National Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives 19th-century American male writers 19th-century American politicians 19th-century American judges