John J Wright

John J. Wright was the founder of the John J. Wright School in Snell, Virginia.

The second child of Louisa Alsop (below center), John was born November 18, either 1862 or 1863, on the William Blanton Farm (Rock Spring Farm) in Spotsylvania, Virginia. His mother later married Woodson Wright and birthed 10 more children.

    He attended primary school in Massaponax, but because there was no post-elementary school for him to attend, he grew and worked on the farm.  He got the opportunity in 1891 to attend Virginia Normal & Collegiate Institute in Petersburg where he earned a teaching certificate in 1893.  He returned to Spotsylvania and began his life's work of ensuring that his hometown children had a chance to learn too.  He taught at the same school he attended as a child, and later organized a debating society he called, "The Rock Spring Lyceum."  

    On February 12, 1896, he married Caroline County native, graduate of Virginia Normal & Collegiate Institute and teacher, Virginia "Jennie" Garnett; he and his wife had one child, Jeanette.  His wife died on November 6, 1898.  Several years later, he remarried another Caroline County native and fellow teacher, Cora Jackson (below right).  

    They worked in tandem with other citizens to found the Spotsylvania Sunday School Union in 1905, from which developed the idea of establishing a junior high school.  Over time, the school provided education from elementary through high school graduation.   

    Mr. Wright was principal and a teacher at the Spotsylvania Graded School until ill health forced his resignation.  He taught one more year at a newly built Massaponax Colored School and then retired to his farm.  Even though he was not in the classroom, he continued his civic involvement:  clerk of Beulah Baptist Church, secretary of the Mattaponi Baptist Association, and mentor to countless youth.  

    He died January 2, 1931 at his home.  He is buried at Beulah Baptist Church cemetery.  His wife, Cora, lived another nine years, succumbing to illness and dying in 1940.  She rests beside him.

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John J. Wright: Devoted reader and leader

Date published: 2/16/2005

Blacks weren’t allowed to read in 1863, when John J. Wright was born. But the man who eventually got a college education—and became a teacher at the Spotsylvania County school later named for him—became a bookworm in the worst way.

He often churned butter with one hand and turned pages of a book with another.

He stressed self-reliance and self-discipline, principles that helped him get a higher education, even though he was in his 30s before he graduated. He paid for his tuition by waiting tables in Atlantic City and growing cucumbers in Spotsylvania.

Wright became a successful businessman who owned hundreds of acres in Spotsylvania and Caroline counties. He raised horses for the government during World War I and sold milk and eggs to his neighbors.

By the time of his death in 1931, Wright had helped local blacks get homes and property, voting rights and an education.

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