The Story of William Wright

I started my new internship at Wright's Ferry Mansion two weeks ago and am absolutely loving it!

Three of the Wright brothers, descendants of Susanna Wright of the mansion, were in the Civil War. I have been transcribing William Wright's letters home. Most of them so far have been to his brother Samuel or to his mother Ann E. Wright, and they describe daily life in camp. I don't know how many letters there are in total, but so far they just keep coming! The next step will be placing them in the broader context of the Civil War. It's been fascinating so far to make some small connections. I began transcribing from September 1862 and right now I'm up to May of 1863. He never mentioned Chancellorsville by name, but it was neat to discover that he was mentioning it in his latest letter. I'm excited to really do the background research for these letters and make more of these connections. The best part, though, is to see camp life through the eyes of one person and to see his life unfolding before me. Sometimes it feels like I'm the one receiving the letters as I sit in Columbia, PA and read them. Oh, I forgot to mention that no one has read these letters before!

Meg, the curator, has been very welcoming, too. I feel quite at home and have certainly enjoyed my fill of hot tea each time!

I look forward to reading more of Will's letters!