Wright Family

Abel Wright I

This early Springfield settlement was an agriculture and trading center. An entry in the town records there, dated Jan. 2, 1655, reads: “There is granted to Abell Wright a home lot containing three acres in the land next ye Round Hill.” And again, on Feb. 13, 1656: “It is granted to Abell Wright an amount of Twenty (20) acres which had formerly come into the hand of Rowland Thomas, lying in ye great plain over ye great river, called Chickuppy plain, provided he continue five years in town.” It was soon evident that Abel had come to stay, for again reads the record: “March 13, 1660, There is granted to Thomas Bancroft, Abell Wright, John Lumbard and Richard Sikes, a parcel of land lying on the west side of ye great river over against ye long meadow below George Colton’s, which land hereby granded, lyeth between two brooks, and it is to run westward from ye river to a hill about 40 rods westward; Thos. Bancroft to lie next to the Southermost brook, Abell Wright next toward the north, John Lumbard next to him, and Richard Siikes next to him; the four sharing thereof equally in three-score acres of land, if there be so much there; or is there be not so much they are to divide the piece equally amongst them, lying as above expressed.” (Record of Deeds, vol. i, p. 203) Various other grants of land to Abel, from 1655 to 1695 are on the town records.

Our Abel married, on 1 Dec. 1659, Martha Kitcherel, of Hartford, Connecticut, daughter of Samuel Kitcherel and Martha (Chapman( Kitcheral. Abel and Martha had 13 children, all born in Springfield….Our Abel soon made a place for himself among these early settlers of Springfield. He became a Lieutenant in the militia, and was active in the religious and civic affairs of the town as well as the military. A record of the First congregational Church reads: “Feb. 23, 1662. In the order of seating persons in the church, Abell Wright is put in the ‘eigth seat’ with Mr. Horton, John Bag, Joshua Riley and Lyman Beamsn.”

Springfield, with its exposed frontier location, had early experienced sporadic indian attacks which the settlers had driven off without difficulty. In early 1675, the indians in that locale were relatively peaceful and friendly, while north of them the hostile Chief, King Philip, with his united tribes, were making murderous attacks on other settlements. Evidently this beligerent Wampanoag Chieftain had not yet contacted the local tribes, or perhaps Springfield was not considered important enough to destroy. Now, however, at midnight on the 14th of October of that year, a solitary horseman from nearby Windsor came riding fast into town. He dismounted, and quickly awakened the townspeople. “The indians are coming!” he told them. “You will be attacked at dawn!” (Henry Morris, “History of the First church in Springfield.”) Most of the town’s protecting troops had been sent north to join the forces under [John] Pynchon. Now, the others hurridly barricaded themselves in the various garrison houses, loaded their muskets, and stood watch at the peepholes in the walls. They waited. Had it been a false alarm? The indians did attack at dawn. And this time they came in a horde, thundering their horses’ hoofs among the houses, whooping frenziedly, shooting their flame-tipped arrows. They found the garrison houses too strongly defended to attack. Comparatively few of the settlers lost their lives. But the abandoned houses were easy prey. Some 30 houses and 25 barns, with their contents, were burned to the ground. And then suddenly the indians were gone, as quickly as they had come. These were the events and times during which our Abel and Martha lived in this frontier outpost. Even more unfortunate hardships and tragedies were soon to befall them. After Springfield was nearly destroyed, the people were discouraged and many spoke of abandoning the settlement altogether. A few actually left, but the greater part of the inhabitants, encouraged by the sympathy and aid of the colonial government, determined to remain. Abel and his family were among the latter. Springfield was quickly rebuilt. Again, the records disclose, that Abel in 1695 was elected a Representative to the General court. And in May, 1696, the Deacon Burt and Lieut. Abel Wright were chosen to answer a petition of the people on the west side of the river asking to become a separate parish and procure a minister of their own. The farm and residence of Abel and Martha was still on the exposed west side of the river, near a place bearing the indian name of Skepmuck, later to become the present town of Westfield. Apparently at least one of their sons, Henry, lived nearby with his own family. On 26 July 1708, indians again came upon the town and its outlying farms. After they had gone, Martha was found lying unconscious in the yard beside their ransacked house. She had been scalped. Martha lingered on until the 19th of October of that year, then died of her wounds. The indians also had killed in this attack an infant of Abel’s son, Henry, and captured Henry’s wife, who died soon after. Henry and his wife, Hannah, had been married only three years before. This then, was the life of our Abel. And yet this venerable ancestor, despite his hardships and tragedies, lived until 1725. His tombstone, in the old Pine Street Cemetery in Springfield, reads: “Lieut. Abel Wright died October 29th, 1725, aged 94 years.”