James Wright (abt. 1871 - 1948)

Born about Jul 1871 in Colchester, Nova Scotia, Canada

Ancestors

Husband of Catherine (Gillis) Wright — married 27 Apr 1898 in Somerville, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States

Died 12 Aug 1948 at about age 77 in Little Narrows, Victoria, Nova Scotia, Canada

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Biography

James Wright was born about June 1871 in Colchester County, Nova Scotia, and raised in the Upper Stewiacke region of Colchester. He was the son of Jacob Wright and Elizabeth McMullin, and grew up in a large Presybterian family of Irish and English ancestry

Both his parents died in 1888, when he was only seventeen, and so in 1890, at the age of 20, he relocated to the Boston area.

In 1898, at the age of 27, he married Katharine "Katie" Gillis, whose surname is often given as "Gillies." She may have been baptized or legally named "Catherine Gillis," and she also went by the nickname "Kate," but her preferred first name was "Katie" (or "Katharine" in more formal situations.

Katie, who was of Scottish ancestry and raised Catholic in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, was about the same age as James, and the couple wed in Somerville, Massachusetts, on April 27 of that year.

James and Katie Wright moved their family back and forth between the Boston area and Nova Scotia several times. After marrying James, Katie seems to have identified as a Presbyterian, and their kids seem to have identified as Scottish Presbyterians on Canadian censuses.

James and Katie initially settled in Somerville, where they welcomed daughter Annie Laura, who may have gone by "Laura," in early 1899, about nine months after the wedding. The 1900 census lists James as a naturalized US citizen working as a wheelwright.

In the 1911 Canadian census, they appear to pop up back in Little Narrows, North Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, now the parents of three additional children.

• Ida Elizabeth Wright, 1900-aft. 1940.
• Wilson A. Wright, 1905-aft. 1931.
• Donald Neil Wright, 1906-aft. 1940.

(Ida was born in Somerville, MA; Donald was born in Hazeldale, Nova Scotia, Victoria County, and I'm not sure where Wilson was born, but probably in or near Hazeldale.)

These four children (including Annie Laura) were the only known children of James and Katie Wright, and it appears that only Annie Laura married, and that none of them had children, so James and Katie have no descendants that we know of.

James appears to have returned to his family's farming tradition in order to support the family once back in Nova Scotia. Like Katie and the kids, he identifies as Scottish in the 1911 census, rather than Irish, as he'd done in censuses growing up. (As far as I can discern, he did not have significant Scottish ancestry, which may explain why he switched to identifying as English on the 1921 census, but he went back to identifying as Scottish in 1931. Interestingly, both he and Katie indicated they spoke Gaelic as well as English).

The 1921 and 1931 Censuses of Canada appears to show the family living in the same place they had been living back in 1911, although the family's residence during this time is listed as Hazeldale, Nova Scotia, Victoria County on at least one document. These regions appear to be quite close together, so they may have been used interchangeably, or perhaps James had farmland/property in both places and thus resided in both at once.

In 1921, Annie Laura is no longer living at home, but the other three are. She pops back up as "A Laura Wright" in the 1930 United States Federal Census, working as a servant (apparently an in-home tutor/teacher) in Cambridge, Massachusetts. She seems to have been residing there since at least 1925, and the owner of the property, Marion A. Delano, was the headmistress of a private school of some kind for adults, which was run out of her home. In 1930, at the age of 31, Annie was working as her assistant; the other occupants were female student-boarders in their 20s and 30s.

Interestingly, on March 12, 1826, James and Katie's son Donald, then aged 19, crossed the US-Canadian born into Vanceboro, Maine, telling officials that he was on his way to the Boston area to see his sister Annie and "seek a wife." It looks like he planned to stay "over six months," but I can't make out the handwriting very well. Despite being 6'1", he doesn't seem to have ever gotten married, but he permanently relocated to Boston, initiating the process to acquire US citizenship/permanent residency in December 1926, and successfully petitioning for naturalization five years later. He took his oath of allegiance in March 1932, and worked as a laborer and watchman for a cable and wire company.

In 1931 Canada census, Wilson is the only child still at home, unmarried and working as a laborer on a "talter farm," presumably the family farm, and listed as a "son...working without regular wages."

James Wright died in Nova Scotia in August of 1948, aged 78, of what the death certificate listed as a combination of arteriosclerosis, heart disease, and rheumatoid arthritis.

Wilson seems to disappear after the 1931 census, so he may have died in Nova Scotia in the 1930s, and the same holds true of his mother Katie.

Annie Laura also disappears after the 1930 US census, but I have discovered that she must have returned to Nova Scotia soon afterwards, as she married Roderick "Rod" Allan MacPhail in Baddeck, Victoria, Nova Scotia, in 1933, aged 34. It does not appear that she ever had any children, but she was alive as of August 1948 and still living in Victoria, NS, as she was the informant on her father's death certificate.

Ida and Donald both ended up residing in Cambridge, boarding separately but in regular contact with each other, and both living until at least the early 1940s (Donald enlisted during World War II). Ida had always been a US citizen by virtue of having been born in Somerville, and she seems to have permanently settled in the heart of Cambridge at some point between 1921 and 1930, boarding and working as a bookkeeper. Donald and Annie Laura seem to have followed her there, but the siblings always boarded separately.

Ida and Donald may have both passed away before 1950, but I've been unable to confirm this.

Sources

• James Wright in the 1931 Census of Canada.
• James Wright in the 1911 Census of Canada.
• James Wright in the 1921 Census of Canada.
• A Laura Wright in the 1930 United States Federal Census.
• Birth record of Annie Laura Wright, Somerville, Massachusetts, January 20, 1899, in the Massachusetts, U.S., Birth Records, 1840-1915.
• James Wright in the 1900 United States Federal Census.
• James Wright in the 1871 Census of Canada.
• James Wright in the 1881 Census of Canada.
• Marriage record of James Wright and Katie Gillies in the Massachusetts, U.S., Marriage Records, 1840-1915.
• Border crossing record for Donald Neil Wright in the U.S., Border Crossings from Canada to U.S., 1895-1960.