Cole WRIGHT

The following bio was taken from pages 454-455 of the book entitled “Rusk County History” compiled and edited and used with permission of the Rusk County Historical Commission.

Transcribed by Gloria Freeman Riley

Submitted by Gloria Briley Mayfield, Rusk County TX Coordinator

George Henry Cole Wright and Margaret Frances Lanford were married November 25, 1874. They celebrated their sixty-sixth wedding anniversary in 1940. Cole, born in Rusk County on May 11, 1855, was a son of George Hansel Wright and Elizabeth Izell Craig, and a grandson of Hansel Wright and Elizabeth Prichard. Margaret was born in Spartenburg, South Carolina, October 4, 1858 and was a daughter of Memory B. Lanford and Elizabeth Earle Goodlett. Her grandparents were Willis and Elizabeth Goodlett, and she was a descendant of James Lanford, a Revolutionary soldier of South Carolina. She was brought to Texas when she was about two years of age. Memory Lanford enlisted in the War Between the States and died of measles soon after the Battle of Mansfield, Louisiana. He was active in the Red River campaign and wrote many interesting letters about conditions during his military life. He died in Louisiana June 7, 1864 at the age of thirty-four. The Lanfords had three daughters: Margaret Frances, Emma Jane, and Memory Elizabeth (Betty). The Wrights have always lived in East Texas—Oakhill, Elderville, Oakland, Ore City, Longview, and Henderson. They made their living from the land and in their retirement made their home in Henderson. Cole and Margaret became the parents of eight children, three girls and five sons. Their children were: Memory G. Wright and Blanche Sparks, whose children are: Irma Milstead, Hazel, Frances Lyle, M.G., Ellen Beall Rogge, and Betty Jo Streeter. Janie Wright married Claude Crim, and they had eight children: Forest, Mattie Mae Buckner, Thelma Wallace, George Wesley, Claudia Holder, Betsy Roberts, Pansy Rebecca Duval and Jane Goforth. Joe Wright married Georgia Pollard. Their children are: Lady Dean Rettig, Margaret Brown, Douglas, Willard, Joe Memory, Faustine Skinner, Anita Bradford, and Joyce Boyd. Reba (Rebecca) married Will Owings. Children from this marriage are: W. R. Jr., Mildred Schultz, Otto Cooksy and Elsie Queen. George Wright and Mittie White, his first wife, had three children: Robert Cole, George, Jr., and Rebecca (1) Taylor (2) Hewes. George’s second wife was Annie Laura Maxey. Ellen Wright married Archie Beall and had three children: Franklin (deceased), Harris, and Mary Ellen Pinkston. Her second husband was Ed Summers. Craig Wright married Winnie Chance and had two children: Thomas Craig and Gordon. His second wife was Josie Hays by whom he had Dorothy Jo Taliaferro. Travis Wright married Ruth Green and they had only one child, Annie Ruth Peoples. Cole and Margaret lived a long and happy lifetime together, and their descendants are numbered in the hundreds. Margaret died May 14, 1941 at the age of eighty-two, and Cole died at ninety-two on June 13, 1947. They were known to all their descendants and relatives as “Ma and Pa.” They are buried in the Henderson Cemetery behind the Rusk County Courthouse. They were certainly an inspiration to everyone and a fine example of happy family life. Written by Margaret Wright Brown