John Vines Wright

Wright was born in Purdy, Tennessee, in McNairy County the son of Benjamin C. and Martha Ann Hicks Wright. He completed preparatory studies and attended the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, where he pursued courses in medicine and law. After graduating from the law department, he was admitted to the bar, and he commenced practice in Purdy. He married Georgia Hays and they had three children, Eugene, Georgia Hays, and Annie.[1]

Elected as a Democrat to the Thirty-fourth, the Thirty-fifth, and the Thirty-sixth Congresses, Wright served from March 4, 1855 to March 3, 1861.[2]

During the Civil War, Wright served in the Confederate Army as colonel of the 13th Tennessee Infantry in 1861. He was elected to both the First and the Second Confederate Congresses.

Wright served as a judge of the circuit court of Tennessee, and then as a chancellor and judge of the Tennessee Supreme Court. He practiced law in Nashville in 1885 and 1886. He was an unsuccessful candidate as an Anti-Repudiation Democrat for governor of Tennessee in 1880. He was chairman of the Northwest Indian Commission in 1886 and a member of the commission to treat with the Great Sioux Nation in Dakota. He was appointed to the law division of the General Land Office in 1887 and served until his death.[3]

Wright died in Washington, D.C. on June 11, 1908 (age 79 years, 349 days). He is interred in Rock Creek Cemetery, Washington, D.C..[4]

• United States Congress. "John Vines Wright (id: W000765)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
• John Vines Wright at Find a Grave