AUGUSTIN WRIGHT, deceased, during a lifetime of intense and well directed activity was one of the most forceful factors in community affairs in Charlotte township. He entered upon the active duties of life unaided by influential friends or adventitious circumstances.

He was the sole architect of his own fortune, molding his own character and shaping his own destiny. He came to be an agricultural man of commanding ability, yet his labors were not restricted to the advancement of his own personal interests. He championed the highest interests of the municipality and of the people-at-large, with such success that his name came to be held in honor while he lived, and his death was regarded with sorrow that was at once general and sincere.

Mr. Wright was born in Chautauqua County, at Villenova, in 1847, a son of Augustin and Annie (McGuire) Wright, pioneer settlers of Villenova. He received his early education in the district schools of Villenova, and was there reared to manhood. After finishing school studies, he took over the management of a 160 acre tract of land and it was not long before it was one of the best farms in the township. However, later he sold his farm and removed to Pomfret, where he engaged in farming for sometime and then went into the lumbering business. He continued in this business for seven years, then sold his large farm and accepted the position as manager of the B. C. Moon farm, a tract of 150 acres of land, which position he held for five years, then bought the farm. Here he engaged in the stock raising and agricultural business, and was one of the prominent and influential agriculturalists of the township.

In politics Mr. Wright was a staunch Republican, though in local affairs he voted for the men and measurers who had for their object the best interests of the people. Mr. Wright and his iamily were members of the Weslyan Methodist Church, and all were prominent in the social as well as the business affairs of this church.

In Villenova, Chautauqua county, N. Y., Mr. Wright was united in marriage with Mrs. Mary (Hopkins) Corwell, who was born at Livonia, N. Y., a daughter of James and Mary (Maloney) Hopkins. To Mr. And Mrs. Wright was born one child, Jane, who married Charles Bronson, and they were the parents of three children: i. Wright Bronson, who resides in Sinclairville, a veterinary surgeon; he married Flossie Ried. ii. Reginold Bronson, who is a merchant in Cassadaga, and married Esther Linburg, who is a minister of the United Brethem Church; they are the parents of one child, Augusta. iii. Oliver Bronson, who manages the homestead farm; he is not married. By her first marriage Mrs. Wright had two children: William, who died at the age of fifty years; and Alice, also deceased.

In closing this review will say that Mr. Wright had taken a deep and sincere interest in all that had been accomplished in his community, and had cooperated in many measures for the general good. He was never remiss in any duty of citizenship, but faithfully performed every task allotted him to the best of his ability. He earnestly desired the, best interests of the county, and labored for the welfare of Western New York with singleness of purpose. His business affairs, conducted and characterized by honesty and straightforward dealing, brought to him prosperity that enabled him in his later years to enjoy all the comforts of life. He died on his farm, in August 1913, at the age of sixty-six years, and thus passed away one of the prominent agricultural men of Charlotte Township. He demonstrated by his labors the resources of this part of the State, and he left behind him an honored and irreproachable name.

Also Found:
Rev. Levi Wright, a Wesleyan Methodist minister, was instrumental in building a small church on the farm of Baxter Dodge about 1855.

Reuben Wright (1814), cloth dresser; Allen and Reuben G. Wright, his sons, prominent business men.

Soon after 1864 Allen Wright organized the Westfield Paper Company, which built a paper mill at considerable expense, where the first "news" paper in Western New York was made. In 1866 the mill began to turn out round paper boxes that'were in great demand for packing grapes. In 1869 Reuben G. Wright became proprietor, rebuilt and enlarged the mill, which has since passed through various hands and seen chaoges and vicissitudes.

The attached image was intitled: "The Wright Home at Moons, NY."