Hendrick B. Wright | |
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| Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromPennsylvania's12th district | |
| In office March 4, 1877 – March 3, 1881 | |
| Preceded by | William Henry Stanton |
| Succeeded by | Joseph A. Scranton |
| In office July 4, 1861 – March 3, 1863 | |
| Preceded by | George W. Scranton |
| Succeeded by | Charles Denison |
| In office March 4, 1853 – March 3, 1855 | |
| Preceded by | Galusha A. Grow |
| Succeeded by | Henry Mills Fuller |
| Member of thePennsylvania House of Representatives | |
| In office 1841–1843 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Hendrick Bradley Wright April 24, 1808 |
| Died | September 2, 1881 (aged 73) |
| Political party | Democratic Party Greenback Party |
| Profession | Lawyer |
Hendrick Bradley Wright (April 24, 1808 – September 2, 1881) was aDemocratic andGreenback member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromPennsylvania.
Hendrick B. Wright was born inPlymouth, Pennsylvania on April 24, 1808, the son of Joseph Wright, a farmer and coal mine operator. He attended the Wilkes-Barre Grammar School andDickinson College inCarlisle, Pennsylvania. In 1831, he left Dickinson to study law, gained admission to theLuzerne County bar, and commenced practice inWilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.
He was appointed district attorney forLuzerne County, Pennsylvania, in 1834. He was a member of thePennsylvania House of Representatives from 1841 to 1843 and served the last year asSpeaker. He was a delegate to theDemocratic National Conventions in1844,1848,1852,1856,1860,1868, and1876.
In 1850, Wright was an unsuccessful candidate for election to theU.S. House of Representatives, but in 1852, was elected as a Democrat to theThirty-third Congress. He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1854. He was again elected to theThirty-seventh Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the death ofGeorge W. Scranton. He was elected as a Democrat to theForty-fifth Congress and reelected as aGreenbacker to theForty-sixth Congress. He was chairman of theUnited States House Committee on Manufactures during the Forty-fifth Congress.
During theGreat Railroad Strike of 1877, Congressman Wright protested the use of state and federal troops to put down the strike in his District: "Troops were introduced into my district at the solicitation of the men who controlled the mines and the manufacturing establishments … There was no necessity or occasion for it … It only stirred up [the labor] element. And now, since that has been done, that element has shown its power and its strength, a power and strength that cannot be resisted, that will work its way out … You cannot suppress a volcano." (Bruce, 1959, pp. 309–10)
He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1880 and was unsuccessful in getting the Greenback nomination forPresident the same year, losing toJames Weaver. He died in Wilkes-Barre in 1881. He is interred in Hollenback Cemetery.
Bruce, Robert. 1877: Year of Violence. Ivan R. Dee: Chicago. 1959 (1987).
Curran, Daniel J. "Hendrick B. Wright: A Study in Leadership." Ph.D. diss., Fordham University, 1962.
| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
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| Preceded by | Member of the U.S. House of Representatives fromPennsylvania's 12th congressional district 1853–1855 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Member of the U.S. House of Representatives fromPennsylvania's 12th congressional district 1861–1863 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Member of the U.S. House of Representatives fromPennsylvania's 12th congressional district 1877–1881 | Succeeded by |
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