Hendrick Bradley Wright (April 24, 1808 – September 2, 1881) was a Democratic and Greenback member of the U.S. House of Representatives from

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

Early life

Hendrick B. Wright was born in

Plymouth, Pennsylvania Plymouth is a borough in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located west of Wilkes-Barre, along the Susquehanna River. The population was 5,763 as of the 2020 census. History Plymouth was first settled in 1769 by the Susquehann ...

on April 24, 1808, the son of Joseph Wright, a farmer and coal mine operator. He attended the Wilkes-Barre Grammar School and

Dickinson College , mottoeng = Freedom is made safe through character and learning , established = , type = Private liberal arts college , endowment = $645.5 million (2022) , president = Jo ...

Carlisle, Pennsylvania Carlisle is a borough in and the county seat of Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, United States. Carlisle is located within the Cumberland Valley, a highly productive agricultural region. As of the 2020 census, the borough population was 20,118; ...

. In 1831, he left Dickinson to study law, gained admission to the

Luzerne County Luzerne County is a county in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and is water. It is Northeastern Pennsylvania's second-largest county by total area. As of ...

bar, and commenced practice in

Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania Wilkes-Barre ( or ) is a city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Luzerne County. Located at the center of the Wyoming Valley in Northeastern Pennsylvania, it had a population of 44,328 in the 2020 census. It is the s ...

Political activities

He was appointed district attorney for

Luzerne County, Pennsylvania Luzerne County is a county in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and is water. It is Northeastern Pennsylvania's second-largest county by total area. As of ...

, in 1834. He was a member of the

Pennsylvania State House of Representatives The Pennsylvania House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Pennsylvania General Assembly, the legislature of the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. There are 203 members, elected for two-year terms from single member districts. It ...

from 1841 to 1843 and served the last year as speaker. He was a delegate to the

Democratic National Convention The Democratic National Convention (DNC) is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1832 by the United States Democratic Party. They have been administered by the Democratic National Committee since the 18 ...

s in

1844 In the Philippines, it was the only leap year with 365 days, as December 31 was skipped when 1845 began after December 30. Events January–March * January 15 – The University of Notre Dame, based in the city of the same name, receiv ...

1848 1848 is historically famous for the wave of revolutions, a series of widespread struggles for more liberal governments, which broke out from Brazil to Hungary; although most failed in their immediate aims, they significantly altered the polit ...

1852 Events January–March * January 14 – President Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte proclaims a new constitution for the French Second Republic. * January 15 – Nine men representing various Jewish charitable organizations come tog ...

1856 Events January–March * January 8 – Borax deposits are discovered in large quantities by John Veatch in California. * January 23 – American paddle steamer SS ''Pacific'' leaves Liverpool (England) for a transatlantic voya ...

1860 Events January–March * January 2 – The discovery of a hypothetical planet Vulcan is announced at a meeting of the French Academy of Sciences in Paris, France. * January 10 – The Pemberton Mill in Lawrence, Massachusetts ...

1868 Events January–March * January 2 – British Expedition to Abyssinia: Robert Napier leads an expedition to free captive British officials and missionaries. * January 3 – The 15-year-old Mutsuhito, Emperor Meiji of Jap ...

, and

1876 Events January–March * January 1 ** The Reichsbank opens in Berlin. ** The Bass Brewery Red Triangle becomes the world's first registered trademark symbol. * February 2 – The National League of Professional Base Ball Clubs is ...

United States House of Representatives

In 1850, Wright was an unsuccessful candidate for election to the U.S. House of Representatives, but in 1852, was elected as a Democrat to the Thirty-third Congress. He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1854. He was again elected to the Thirty-seventh Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the death of

George W. Scranton George Whitfield Scranton (May 11, 1811 – March 24, 1861) was an American industrialist and politician, a Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania from March 4, 1859, until his death in 1861. Moving to Pe ...

. He was elected as a Democrat to the Forty-fifth Congress and reelected as a Greenbacker to the Forty-sixth Congress. He was chairman of the

United States House Committee on Manufactures United States House Committee on Manufactures was a standing committee of the U.S. House from 1819 to 1911. On December 8, 1819, an amendment was accepted in the House to separate the Committee on Commerce and Manufactures into the Committee on ...

during the Forty-fifth Congress. During the

Great Railroad Strike of 1877 The Great Railroad Strike of 1877, sometimes referred to as the Great Upheaval, began on July 14 in Martinsburg, West Virginia, after the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O) cut wages for the third time in a year. This strike finally ended 52 day ...

, Congressman Wright protested the use of state and federal troops to put down the strike in his District: "Troops were introduced into my district at the solicitation of the men who controlled the mines and the manufacturing establishments … There was no necessity or occasion for it … It only stirred up he laborelement. And now, since that has been done, that element has shown its power and its strength, a power and strength that cannot be resisted, that will work its way out … You cannot suppress a volcano." (Bruce, 1959, pp. 309–10) He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1880 and was unsuccessful in getting the Greenback nomination for

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

the same year, losing to James Weaver. He died in Wilkes-Barre in 1881. He is interred in Hollenback Cemetery.

Bibliography

Bruce, Robert. 1877: Year of Violence. Ivan R. Dee: Chicago. 1959 (1987). Curran, Daniel J. "Hendrick B. Wright: A Study in Leadership." Ph.D. diss., Fordham University, 1962.

Sources

The Political Graveyard
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wright, Hendrick B. 1808 births 1881 deaths People from Plymouth, Pennsylvania Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Pennsylvania Pennsylvania Greenbacks Greenback Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Pennsylvania Speakers of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives Members of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives County district attorneys in Pennsylvania 19th-century American politicians

Early life

Political activities

United States House of Representatives

Bibliography

See also

Sources