Dr. Warren A. Wright
is a name that appears often in Readfield’s historical records and narratives.
The youngest of six children, he was born in Palmyra, Maine in 1837 to Ruel and
Fanny (Strickland) Wright. The Wrights are an old New England family - Dr. Warren
Wright’s 5th great grandfather, Deacon John Wright, immigrated to
Massachusetts from England before 1630. The first of this line to move to Maine
was his father Ruel about 1815, when most of Maine was still wilderness. To
function as a country doctor in 19th century Readfield Dr. Wright had
to have high principles, a strong work ethic and commitment to his community.
From what we know about him, that was all true.
Warren Wright
received his secondary education from Hartland Academy in Hartland, ME. He
also attended “Corcuma Academy”- presumably the study of pharmaceuticals.
According to the Harvard Alumni Directory
he attended Harvard Medical School in Boston 1861-62. The Directory of
Deceased American Physicians, 1804-1929
says he received
his Maine license to practice allopathic medicine in 1862. That same year our
subject appeared on the Readfield tax roll as a 25 year old physician. He must
have endured some scrutiny as a newcomer! For
nearly 75 years the people of Readfield had been treated by two doctors who
were father and son - the doctors Currier. Old Dr. Samuel Currier had been the
physician in our town for decades when he died in 1848 and then his son, Dr.
George Currier, carried on their practice. The son Dr. Currier died in 1863,
the year after Dr. Wright arrived. Perhaps Dr. Currier had an awareness of his own declining health which motivated
him to recruit the young doctor? Whatever the case Dr. Wright must have been a
welcome addition at a vital crossroads in our town’s history!
Dr. Warren Wright was
a busy man from the first and, in spite of his youth, he soon proved himself
worthy of respect. He came to Readfield in the throes of the Civil War and our
town was reeling from its affects. Readfield’s population was 1,500+ in 1860
and an astounding 10% enlisted for military service in the three years that
followed. During Dr. Wright’s first two years in Readfield twenty-seven
families were impacted because their sons were wounded, killed in action or
died in prison camps. The emotional wounds and physical toll on the men who
returned home, and on their families, was beyond measure. The railroad had come
to town a few years prior and had brought with it new problems and
unanticipated financial strain to the town – such as itinerants, who often
required medical attention. Multiple factories and farms meant injuries and
infections were common. Since there were no antibiotics those infected wounds
or fractured limbs often meant amputation – then emotional scars and financial
strain soon followed. The childbirth rate was increasing and complicated births
and the death rates of mothers, infants and young children was distressingly
high everywhere. Consumption, diphtheria, kidney disease, heart failure and
scarlet fever were all too common in addition to other afflictions. But Dr.
Wright was up to the challenge and settled in for an admirable lifetime medical
career that lasted nearly 60 years. He came to be a much beloved physician
among our townspeople.
Dr. Wright delivered
many children in Readfield and the surrounding area during the mid 19th
into the early 20th century. He devotedly ministered to the poor as
well as to those who could afford medical care. He took his call to service
very seriously – sometimes placing himself in peril to do so. When Readfield’s
roads were still dirt, and in poor condition, people sometimes chose to travel
the frozen lakes rather than riding the rutted and muddy roads. It is said that
in late winter / early spring, when the ice was getting dangerously thin, Dr.
Wright often took chances in order to reach a laboring mother or sick child in
time. His carriage could be seen flying across our ponds as he whipped his horse
to full speed. Fortunately he always managed to keep ahead of any breaking ice,
but on more than one occasion he and his horse and carriage nearly fell
through. This story leads me to believe
he must have sported a sense of adventure.
In the midst of his
busy medical practice Dr. Wright also took interest and found time to become
involved in a business. In 1880 Thomas U. French of Chesterville purchased the
old carding and fulling mill in West Mt. Vernon and had it moved south and
across the road. The next year those buildings provided a start when, for
$14,000, French and Dr. Wright partnered to build a tannery and chimney at the
head of Taylor Pond. The tannery had become one of the most important
industries in the area when they sold in 1900. The massive building burned
later, in 1912, and the business died but the chimney in West Mt. Vernon
remains a landmark to this day.
Dr. Warren Wright had bought
property on the west side of Church Road in 1866 on which there was a small Cape Cod house. In 1877 he bought a lot across the street and had his Cape Cod house moved there (25 Church Rd), where it still stands today. He then had a large house built on his lot adjacent to/north of the Union Meeting House, which has been known as the "Dr. Wright house" ever since.
Dr. Wright married Mary Jane
Goodwin and they had six children between the years 1867-1879. Three died in
infancy – including their youngest child and only daughter, Julia. Four days
before Christmas in 1899 Mary Jane Wright died. She was 58 years old and the
cause of death was listed as rheumatic neuralgia. In 1913 his eldest son
Willis, who was a farmer in Mt. Vernon at the time, developed bladder disease
and died of uremic poisoning. Dr. Wright signed both Mary Jane’s and Willis’ death
certificates as attending physician. How saddened he must have been that he
could not save the lives of his own wife and four children!
The
widowed Dr. Wright and two of his grown sons, Arthur and Charles, lived at the
big house alone for three years until he married Ellen Dorothy Fogg – a maiden
lady from a well known family in town. He was 65 and Nellie, as she was called,
was 44. There was a grand wedding at the Fogg Homestead. Engraved invitations
were mailed, the best table settings were brought out and guests came from
miles around dressed in their finery. Among artifacts and other Fogg family
memorabilia Nellie’s wedding dress was recently donated to Readfield Historical
Society by the Fogg family where it is now on display. Dr. Wright and Nellie
lived in the big house on Church Road throughout their 17 yrs of marriage. Dr.
Wright carried on his busy medical practice for the rest of his life, and he
continued to hold the admiration of townspeople. He was also revered by
Nellie’s family according to Joanne Fogg Fournier who says: “One of the little family idiosyncrasies that I
always found interesting was that, as a couple, the old folks in the (Fogg)
family ALWAYS referred to them as "Nellie and Dr. Wright" -
never as "Nellie and Warren". Indicative, I think, of the great
respect everyone had for the good doctor.” Nellie and Dr. Wright never had children of their own.
His sons Arthur and Charles moved to South Paris, ME where they lived until the
end of their days.
According to his
death certificate Dr. Wright began suffering from the affects of nephritis in
1916. I suspect he detected his own declining health before that because he
signed his property over to his wife Nellie in 1913 – the same year his eldest
son Willis died. No doubt he did this to make sure Nellie would be taken care
of after he was gone. Dr. Wright died in
1919 at 81 years of age. He was buried at Readfield Corner Cemetery along with
his first wife Mary, four of his children and a daughter-in-law. He had lived
his life of service well - with dignity, integrity and loved by all.
Nellie remained at
the Wright house where she was living alone in 1920. In 1921 she remarried to
Ernest Lewis, a widower from Jay, Maine. They lived there for about 2 years and
then sold the Wright property to E.C. Frost. Later that decade Nellie married a
third time to another widower, Frank S. Willard, and she moved with him to Los
Angeles, California. Nellie died in 1934 and was brought home for burial in the
Readfield Corner Cemetery. There she lies beside her parents and other members
of the Fogg family.
(c) 2013 All Rights Reserved by Dale Potter-Clark
This article appeared in Lakes Region Reader in April 2013.
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