BENJAMIN WRIGHT, and his wife, Jane (surname unknown) moved from England to Gilford, Connecticut, prior to May 4, 1645. It was thought that he was related to Sir John Wright, of Kelvedon Hall, Essex, England. In 1648, Benjamin was sentenced to the whipping post for contempt of court. In 1669, he moved to Kenilworth (now Clinton), Connecticut. He acquired a tract of land near that town situated on a small river, now known as Wright’s River. Benjamin died at Kenilworth on March 29, 1677; his wife on October 26, 1684. They had eight children, one of whom was James Wright.
JAMES WRIGHT, the eldest, born in England in 1643. He was twice married; first to Sarah Wise, then to Hannah Walstone. According to family legend, Hannah came from England to be his bride. James owned a considerable amount of land in Connecticut. He died at Kenilworth on March 10, 1727. At least three sons were born of his second marriage, one of whom was Benjamin Wright, II.
BENJAMIN WRIGHT, II, born at Kenilworth, Connecticut, about 1675. On April 5, 1705, he married Elizabeth Hand, daughter of Joseph Hand and Jane Wright. Elizabeth was born at Gilford, Connecticut, March 12, 1677, and was Benjamin’s first cousin; her mother, Jane Wright, being the sister of Benjamin’s father, James Wright. Benjamin and Elizabeth moved to Saybrook, Connecticut, at the mouth of the Connecticut River. The dates of their deaths are unknown, but they were living as late as 1720. One of their children was David Wright.
DAVID WRIGHT, born at Saybrook, Connecticut, August 27, 1717. In 1745, he married Hester Whittlesey, daughter of John Whittlesey, V, and Sarah Williams. Hester was born at Saybrook, June 12, 1722, and was the great-granddaughter of the first John Whittlesey, who came to New England about 1650. David and his wife lived in the western part of Saybrook, later to become a separate town known as Westbrook. He died there of smallpox in 1760, and was buried on his own premises. David and Hester had seven children, among whom were:
a) WILLIAM WRIGHT, who graduated from Yale in 1774;
b) DAVID WRIGHT, JR., who graduated from Yale in 1777; died of yellow fever on September 4, 1798;
c) BENJAMIN WRIGHT, III, born in Westbrook, Connecticut, in 1759. While preparing to enter Yale, the Revolutionary War began and
Benjamin enlisted in the Continental Army. On April 19, 1781, he married Hester Chapman, daughter of (Deacon) Jedediah Chapman, Jr. and Mary Grinnell. Hester was born at Saybrook, in 1763. She was a member of one of the oldest pioneer families in Connecticut. Benjamin Wright died February 27, 1832; his wife on November 27, 1826. Twelve children were born of this marriage, the sixth being Jesse Durastus Wright.
JESSE DURASTUS WRIGHT, born in Westbrook, Connecticut, May 15, 1793. After graduating in medicine from Yale University, he moved to the South. According to family legend, Jesse first located in Woodville, Mississippi, moving with members of the Grimball and Robert families from that town to Cheneyville, Louisiana, in about 1820. Jesse Durastus Wright married Sarah Robert Grimball, daughter of Paul Grimball, III, and Esther Jaudon on May 17, 1821, at Cheneyville, Louisiana. Dr. Wright, in addition to practicing his profession and operating several plantations, was also active in the civic and religious affairs of the community. He was a deacon in the Baptist Church, and an ardent advocate of education. He was instrumental in founding the Spring Creek Academy, near Cheneyville, serving as a member of the Board of Trustees of that school. He brought two of his nieces from New England to teach in the school. Dr. Wright purchased a plantation on Bayou Boeuf, about a mile below Cheneyville, and named it “North Bend.” It is now separated by a gravel road from the “Keary Place” (former home of Captain Patrick F. Keary, who married a niece of Jefferson Davis). After his death, Dr. Wright’s widow transferred this plantation in part-payment for “Greenwood Plantation,” the old Stafford home place above Cheneyville. Dr. Wright was a fearless man. According to legend, he saved the life of his enemy, James Bowie (of Bowie knife fame) and they became fast friends. Dr. Wright died at his home near Cheneyville, on March 25, 1850, at the age of 57. His wife died in 1881. Both were buried in the old “Cheneyville Graveyard” just south of Cheneyville, where a marble monument marks their resting place. They had eleven children, two of whom were Sarah Catharine and Julia Caroline Wright.
1. SARAH CATHARINE WRIGHT (the Grandmother of Dr. Graham Stafford, author of STAFFORD GENEALOGY) was born August 26,
1826, on North Bend Plantation. On August 24, 1843, she married Leroy Augustus Stafford (who became General Stafford in the Civil War). He was
a son of Leroy Stafford and his second wife, Elizabeth Susan Calliham.
2. JULIA CAROLINE WRIGHT, born August 16, 1828, on North Bend Plantation. On February 3, 1848, she married Leroy Stafford Havard,
son of John Havard and Joyce Calliham.
The Wright family thus merges into the Havard family.
The Lyons Family 
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