Moses Wright of Ray City, GA
Moses Wright of Ray City, GA
Moses Wright was born March 2, 1886, a son of Julia Roundtree and Alexander Wright.
His mother, Julia Roundtree, was a daughter of Green Roundtree, a farmer of Lowndes County GA. By 1870, just five years after the end of the Civil War, Green Roundtree had acquired a farm valued at $500 and a personal estate valued at another $500, making him one of the wealthier African-Americans in Lowndes County, and one of the very few African-American land owners of the time.
His father, Alexander Wright, was born about 1846. After the Civil War, Alexander Wright was enumerated as Ellick Right in Lowndes County, GA where he was engaged in farming. In the 1870s and 1880s, Alexander Wright was living next to the farm of his father-in-law, Green Roundtree. His household included wife, Julia Roundtree Wright, and daughters.
Since the 1890 Georgia census records are lost, little is known of Moses Wright’s early life. It appears that his father, Alexander Wright, died around 1899, when Moses was about 12 years old. His mother was married a second time, to William Brown. Moses and his siblings were enumerated in the census of 1900 in his step-father’s household, in a rented Valdosta, GA home. Thirteen-year-old Moses was working as a day laborer.
Moses Wright married about 1903 at the age of 16. Carrie and Moses Wright made their home in the Cat Creek District, on the Valdosta & Rays Mill Public Road. They were renting a farm which they worked together on their own account while raising their family.
In 1918, Moses Wright registered for the WWI draft along with other local men. He was a self-employed farmer residing on rural route 4 out of Valdosta, Lowndes County, GA. He gave his next of kin as Cornelius Wright. His physical description was medium height, stout build, black eyes and black hair.
Moses Wright 1918 draft registration., Lowndes County, GA
By 1920, Moses and Carrie had moved their family to one of the settlement roads around Ray City, GA. They purchased a farm on credit, and worked it on their own account. In 1930, the Wrights owned a home at Ray City valued at $1500.
Carrie Wright died January 23, 1931 in Berrien County, GA at the age of 44. Afterwards, Moses Wright married Stella Wright, also of Ray City, GA. She was well known throughout the area as a seeress and a healer. Stella and Moses continued to live at Ray City through the 1940 census.
Related Posts:
Ray City History Blog 