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Hendrick B. Wright

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(Redirected from Hendrick Bradley Wright) American politician
Hendrick B. Wright
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania's 12th congressional district
In office
March 4, 1877 – March 3, 1881
Preceded byWilliam Henry Stanton
Succeeded byJoseph A. Scranton
In office
July 4, 1861 – March 3, 1863
Preceded byGeorge W. Scranton
Succeeded byCharles Denison
In office
March 4, 1853 – March 3, 1855
Preceded byGalusha A. Grow
Succeeded byHenry Mills Fuller
Member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives
In office
1841–1843
Personal details
BornHendrick Bradley Wright
April 24, 1808
Plymouth, Pennsylvania
DiedSeptember 2, 1881 (aged 73)
Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania
Political partyDemocratic Party
Greenback Party
ProfessionLawyer

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

Early life

Hendrick B. Wright was born in Plymouth, Pennsylvania 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 in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. In 1831, he left Dickinson to study law, gained admission to the Luzerne County bar, and commenced practice in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.

Political activities

He was appointed district attorney for Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, in 1834. He was a member of the Pennsylvania State House of Representatives from 1841 to 1843 and served the last year as speaker. He was a delegate to the Democratic National Conventions in 1844, 1848, 1852, 1856, 1860, 1868, and 1876.

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. 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 during the Forty-fifth Congress.

During the Great Railroad Strike of 1877, 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 element. 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 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.

See also

Sources

U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded byGalusha A. Grow Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Pennsylvania's 12th congressional district
1853–1855 		Succeeded byHenry M. Fuller
Preceded byGeorge W. Scranton Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Pennsylvania's 12th congressional district
1861–1863 		Succeeded byCharles Denison
Preceded byWilliam H. Stanton Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Pennsylvania's 12th congressional district
1877–1881 		Succeeded byJoseph A. Scranton
Speakers of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives
Seal of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives
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