Elias Wright—22 June 1830-2 January 1901
Teacher, Brevet Brigadier General, Land Agent, Surveyor, and Joseph Wharton’s Friend
Presenter: Betsy Carpenter
Date: June 13, 2015
Time: 1:00 p.m.
Place: Batsto Visitors Center Auditorium
One of Joseph Wharton’s many talents was his ability to hire people who were capable, competent, and creative. Elias Wright, known to all after the Civil War as “General Wright,” possessed all three characteristics.
Born on his family’s Durham, New York farm located at the northern edge of the Catskill Mountains near the Hudson River, he grew up within walking distance of spectacular Kaaterskill Falls and, by contrast, witnessed this region’s Anti-Rent Wars. In his late teens, he put his mathematic ability to good use working as an apprentice carpenter for an uncle, then in 1851 he moved to today’s Gloucester County to study at his brother Calvin’s school.
Julia Ashley, daughter of a distinguished Port Republic, NJ family, became his wife on 17 September 1855. From 1855-1861, Elias was employed as a surveyor by the Stephen Colwell family in Weymouth, Atlantic County. After serving as a Union officer throughout the Civil War, he returned to South Jersey where he continued employment for Stephen Colwell until 1872. Not long after Colwell’s death, he was hired by Joseph Wharton, a partnership that lasted for more than a quarter century.
Discover the many contributions that the “General” made to today’s Wharton State Forest and rapidly growing 19th century Atlantic City. Locate his burial monument in Pleasantville’s Greenwood Cemetery, and know that Joseph Wharton’s tribute to him after his passing included the Biblical passage, “Well done good and faithful servant: enter thou into the joy of the Lord.” As Wharton wrote, “The world in which he lived is better for his work and his example.”
Wharton State Forest owes much to the General who, during his tenure surveyed over 100,000 acres of land some of which had titles dating back to 1720. Today this vast acreage makes up a large portion of the Pinelands National Reserve.
