Rev. married Mary MERRIAM on 21 Feb 1586 in Hawkhurst, Kent, England, UK.. Mary was born in 1564-1574 in Marden, Essex, England; and died. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Rev. married Elizabeth HATCH on 13 Nov 1593 in Hawkhurst, Kent, England. Elizabeth was born in 1559 in Tenterden, Kent, England; died on 29 Apr 1633 in 1667687, Kent, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

William married Joanna SHEAFFE, * about 1634 in England. Joanna (daughter of Edmund SHEAFE and Joanna) was born in 1614 in Cranbrook, Tunbridge Wells Borough, Kent, England; died on 16 Aug 1668 in Guilford, New Haven, Connecticut, United States; was buried in Guilford, New Haven County, Connecticut, United States of America. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Elizabeth married Thomas WRIGHT?, Jr * on 16 Jun 1657. Thomas (son of Thomas WRIGHT, * and Mary CRANBROKE, *) was born on 16 Aug 1630 in South Weald, Brentwood Borough, Essex, England; died on 24 Aug 1683 in Wethersfield, Hartford County, Connecticut, United States of America; was buried in Wethersfield, Hartford County, Connecticut, United States of America. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

It is not known with any certainty whom James Wright's father is. The group I think he is in is haplogroup I-M253, group 1 at the Wright YDNA group. That is a guestimate and not proven.

As for the current theories from research, here are the ones I have found without good support for any of them currently.

1. Tradition says that there were five Wright brothers that settled on the Eastern Shore of Maryland during the Colonial period as professed by several aged persons in THE WRIGHT ANCESTRY by Capt. Charles W. Wright, 1907.

2. Two other brothers settled in Baltimore Co, Maryland according to one of these ancients. Maryland's southern border is on the Atlantic Ocean. The additional 2 brothers that settled in Baltimore would have entered Chesapeake Bay and gone north to Baltimore. Baltimore is about 55 miles south by water from where our James Wright can first be verified as living in East Nottingham, Chester Co., PA (now of Cecil Co., MD) via the same bay that comes in from the southeastern side of Maryland on the Atlantic Ocean.

3. James's father according to Don Wright in the "Footprints Database" is John Wright of Pennsylvania. This probably refers to 13 volumes microfiched and available through Salt Lake City's library: "Footprints of Our Past : Our Ancestors and their Descendants" by Don P. Wright. He edited this publication through 1992 under that name and his main interest was researching the Wright surname.

In any case, this Wright family lived above Noris Ford on Marshy Hope Creek literally at the boundary of Maryland and Delaware. It is near 100 miles by land and across the Chesapeake Bay east of where our James Wright can be verified as living in East Nottingham (Now Cecil Co., MD.) in 1707. It is a creek that runs south into the Nanticoke River which runs into the Chesapeake Bay making it even further by water. John was a possible son of two brothers, William (b. bef. 1658 surmised from the fact that he had 5 sons who were born before he died in 1686) and a James Wright that settled in Dorchester Co., MD about 1682 above Noris Ford (Northwest Fork Ford) of Marshy
Hope Creek. That part of Dorchester Co., MD is now a part of Caroline Co., Maryland due to boundary changes. William and James possibly emigrated on the "Bristol Factor" in that same year with one of William Penn's colonies probably through Bristol, England. (C-951)

The two brothers were Quaker preachers and traveled extensively to preach to Quaker communities. Brother William died in Dorchester before June 5, 1686. He had sons William (who married Sarah Noble), Roger, Edward, Samuel and John. (This is likely the John that Don Wright's "Footprints Database" refers to. His sons Edward, Samuel and John supposedly moved west which at that point in time would have been east of the Allegheny Mountains.) His son, Roger, who lived in Dorchester and had several children including sons named Levin, William and *James.
Many of the Wrights in Maryland and Delaware descend from this William. No descendants lineages were apparently kept for James' children according to "The Wright Ancestry of Caroline, Dorchester, Somerset and Wicomico Counties, Maryland." The two brothers were known as Niccolite or Quaker Wrights because of their strict religious sect. The James Wright who came over with his brother William in 1682, might even be our James or William's grandson at a stretch might be our James.

The births of our James and Mary Wright are recorded with the Niccolite Births (Quaker Record Abstracts) in the Hall of Records at Annapolis, Anne Arundel Co., MD supporting this theory. Their particular group was known as the "Northwest Fork River Niccolite Friends." Of course, if one of these James is our James, it still doesn't tell us who his father is. It might be helpful to note that Dorchester Co., MD is 110 miles south from where we can verify that James Wright first lived which was East Nottingham, Chester Co., PA (Now in Cecil Co., Maryland) via the Chesapeake Bay. They and several generations of their descendants worshipped at the Niccolite Quaker Meeting House Branch near Federalsburg, Maryland and at Piney Grove Monthly after it moved locations.

Of all the theories I'm seeing presented, this one is the one with the greatest hope of including our James' ancestors and I will be studying it with a relish. "The Wright Ancestry of Caroline, Dorchester, Somerset and Wicomico Counties, Maryland" is currently available as a free Ebook on Google Books by the way. *It should be noted if this theory ends up being correct, Naomi Wright is supposed to have been a sister to the above brothers. She lived in Sussex Co., Delaware and married Joseph Atkins shortly after their 2nd declaration of intention to marry on Mar. 30, 1699. (C-258, 259)

However, there was at least one Naomi Wright whom is not the sister of William and James but the daughter of Arthur and Abigall Wright in Dorchester Co., Maryland at the time that possibly is this Naomi Wright. In 19 July 1679, An Account of Arthur Wright's estate is recorded, with payments to 147 people. Abigall Wright is listed as administratrix. (MD Accounts and Inventories Lib. 6 fol. 187) On 29 September 1679, Abigail Wright of Dorchester County, widow, gave to her children, Grace Wright, Absalom Wright, Edward Williams, Arthur Wright and Naomi Wright: Livestock. Witnesses Wm. Stephens, Thomas Taylor, William Smithson Acknowledged September 29, 1679. (Dorchester Land Record 4 old 6)*It should also be noted that I'm simply not finding persons whom are tracing their lineages back through anyone but William's son William whom married Sarah Noble - and their dating estimates are really throwing this lineage off.3. A very common ancestral line in public member trees at Ancestry says James was born in Chester Co., PA and was the son of Thomas Wright and Elizabeth Chittenden.

4. Also often stated is that he is the son of John and Martha Wright of Connecticut and John was the son of the above Thomas Wright and Elizabeth Chittenden. A well researched Wright descendant has Thomas and Elizabeth Chittenden Wright listing totally different children and places of birth at http://homepages.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~legends/wright.html. They descend through an unrelated Connecticut branch of Wrights that go back through Essex Co, England. Y-DNA supports the fact that the Thomas Wright and Elizabeth Chittenden group descends from the Essex Co., England group. It's a very clear match to that grouping with a haplo group of E-M78 and YDNA shows that match. https://www.familytreedna.com/public/wright/default.aspx?section=yresults4.

5. A book referred to as the "Wright Briscoe Pioneers" believed James's father to be one of three brothers, Joshua, Thomas or Samuel who came from Yorkshire, England to New Jersey in 1677. These were sons of Robert Wright and Alice Lawtie of East Riding, Yorkshire, England. We can rule out Joshua Wright and his wife, Elizabeth Empson. Their son was: Richard Wright 1651.

A clue to this family is where they lived. James and his wife died in Frederick Co., Virginia. People from Pennsylvania and Maryland had first settled it sometime between 1738 and 1743. All we know for certain is that they were there before 1759. From East Nottingham (Chester Co., PA, now Cecil Co., MD) they would possibly have come down the Chesapeake Bay to the Potomac River and then taken the old "Indian Trail" down the Opequon Creek basin 35 miles to the newly formed Frederick Co., Virginia. This trail later became known as the "Great Valley Road". It was a common route of passage for early migrantion into Frederick Co., VA.

James married Mary BOWATER or DAVIS, * on 26 Feb 1707 in East Nottingham, Chester, PA, USA. Mary (daughter of John BOWATER, * and Mary MAUNDER) was born on 2 Dec 1689 in London, City of London, Greater London, England; died before 6 Mar 1764 in , Frederick, Virginia, USA; was buried before 6 Mar 1764 in Clear Brook, Frederick County, Virginia, United States of America. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]