66 The American Geologist. August, 1905 
Professor Wright was born in Oberlin, Ohio, April 27, 
1846, being a son of William Wheeler and Susan Allen 
Wright, connected, on his father's side, with the family of 
Orville Wright, and on his mother's with the late professor 
Frederick Allen of Harvard university. He graduated from 
Oberlin college in 1865, having served for three months in 
Company K of the 150th Regiment of the Ohio National 
Guard, which was called for the defense of Washington in 
1864. For two years he taught in the Cleveland institute, 
when he returned to Oberlin, and, like so many other dis- 
tinguished geologists, among whom are to be numbered pro- 
fessors J. P. Lesley and Edward Orton, pursued a course 
of theological studies, two years of which were taken in 
Union theological seminary, New York City, and the final 
year in Oberlin seminary, from which he graduated in 1870. 
For the following two years he filled the chair of mathe- 
matics and natural science in Berea college, Kentucky, after 
which he entered the School of Mines of Columbia college, 
from which he graduated in 1875. 1° later years his educa- 
tion was continued in a more general way by numerous 
extended expeditions into Canada, the Rocky mountains, 
Florida, and other portions of the Atlantic coast, while the 
year 1884-85 he spent in traveling in Europe. 
On September 21, 1874, he was married to Mary Lyon 
Bedortha, of Saratoga Springs, N. Y., from which union 
there is left a daughter, Helen M. ; and August 18, 1891, to 
Mary P. B. Hill, of Flemington, N. J., who with a son sur- 
vives him. 
In 1874 he was called to the chair of geology and natu- 
ral history in Oberlin college, a position which he filled with 
complete satisfaction to all for thirty years, to the time of 
his sudden death. He signalized his connection with Ober- 
lin college by establishing and fostering the laboratory sys- 
tem of study by students in all scientific departments, so 
that his pupils have shown remarkable facility in their post- 
graduate studies and in finding entrance to the higher 
spheres of scientific investigation. 
But he accomplished a large amount of work outside of 
his classroom, as will be seen by the appended list of publi- 
cations. In 1874 he was engaged upon the second geolo- 
