The Wright, Anderson, Rees, and Hopkins families have been present in Southwestern Pennsylvania since the eighteenth century and became united through a number of marriages beginning in 1814.
The earliest Wrights settled in the area in 1764 near Venetia, in Washington County, Pa., and also just north in Peters Township. Rev. Joseph Wright (1794-1851), son of Enoch Wright and Rachel James, married Catherine Hopkins (1796-1862), the daughter of Thomas Hopkins and Catherine Hurd, in 1814. Joseph's father, Enoch, established what would become Wrights Methodist Church in Venetia, Pa., in 1823, which Joseph presided over as minister. The original sanctuary was badly damaged in 1854, and ultimately razed in 1922. The building which now stands was constructed in 1923. Joseph and Catherine had 11 children, including Joshua Enoch Wright (1822-1903), Enoch N. Wright (1824-1890), and their youngest daughter Charity Sauns Wright (1840-1925).
Alexander G. Hopkins, Catherine Hopkins brother, tended to the younger Wright children who were underage at the time of their father's death in 1851.
The Anderson family connection begins with Charity Sauns Wright's marriage to Dr. David Miller Anderson. Dr. Anderson was a physician and surgeon during the Civil War, and afterwards practiced in Washington County. Later in life he entered into the coal business and owned and operated the Anderson mine at Anderson Station, near Venetia. He also served three terms in the Pennsylvania state legislature throughout the 1890s. Dr. Anderson was chief executor of the estate and will of Alexander G. Hopkins, his wife's uncle. Charity Wright Anderson and Dr. Anderson had two children, Lt. Col. Alexander Hopkins Anderson and Elizabeth "Bessie" Eleanor Anderson.
Lt. Col. Alexander Hopkins Anderson, who saw active duty during the Spanish-American War, went on to serve in local governmental capacities, as well as in the Pennsylvania state legislature as a republican representative in the early twentieth century. Elizabeth "Bessie" Eleanor Anderson married David Rees, and resided in Finleyville, Pa. David Rees originally worked as a supervisor in Elizabeth's father's Anderson mine. He eventually earned a controlling stake in the company which was renamed Anderson-Rees Coal Producers. They had no children.
Hannah and Kathryn Marvin inherited the Wright estate from Charity Wright Anderson's daughter, and in 1976 it was donated to the Peters Creek Historical Society. The donor's grandmother, believed to be Hannah Marvin, worked as household attendant for Charity Wright Anderson.
The Wright-Anderson-Rees Family Papers and Photographs document the personal and professional interactions of various persons that became family members through a number of marriages. The collection contains a large amount of handwritten correspondence, as well as deeds and legal documents, newspaper clippings, and images of individuals and family groups. Additionally, there are roughly 30 small diaries and journals from the latter half of the nineteenth century through the early twentieth century. While the families are all related as extended relations, the materials have primarily been grouped according to direct family surname: Andersons, Wrights, Rees, and Hopkins. The Wright-Anderson-Rees-Family Papers and Photographs are housed in 10 boxes and separated into seven groups.
I. Wright (1830s-1910s)
Box one contains Rev. Joseph Wright's legal documents, land surveys, his father Enoch Wright's financial receipts and business documentation (with the Bank of Pittsburgh), and some of Rev. Wright's correspondence. Box two holds promissory notes from Joseph and Catherine, Enoch Wright's business correspondence, Enoch Wright and Catherine Wright's wills, some of Joshua Wright's correspondence, as well as two folders with some compiled family history.
II. Anderson (1830s-1910s)
The bulk of materials in box three are correspondence between Dr. David M. Anderson and his wife Charity Wright Anderson, and letters from Charity Wright Anderson to her children. Box four holds one folder of photographs, as well as land abstract and deeds, correspondence of Dr. Anderson, Charity Anderson, and Lt. Col. Alexander H. Anderson, and newspaper clippings on Lt. Col. Anderson. Box five contains assorted Anderson family materials, correspondence, and documents dealing with Dr. Anderson's execution of Alexander G. Hopkins estate.
III. Rees (1830s-1910s)
Box six consists of condolence letters, business documents transferring land and mine rights to Elizabeth and David Rees (Pittsburgh Coal Company), David Rees stocks, letters to and from Elizabeth "Bessie" Andersons, and business correspondence from Anderson-Rees Coal Producers.
IV. Hopkins (1830s-1870s)
Box seven holds correspondence to and from Alexander G. Hopkins, financial receipts, as well as five personal diaries belonging to Hopkins from the 1870s.
V. Women's Clubs Programs (1910s-1930s)
Box eight contains programs and booklets from regional women's societies. Both Peters and Nottingham Township Societies of Farm Women are included, as well as the Women's Club, Mothers Club, and the Martha Washington Club.
VI. Extended Family Materials (circa 1800s-1900s)
Box nine contains correspondence and documents not relating to direct family members in the Wright-Anderson-Rees marriage line presented in the historical note above. There are several papers of Gertrude Duffy, and unidentified photographs.
VII. Diaries and Journals (1850s-1920s)
Box ten contains 23 diaries and journals that are not directly identifiable with a family member. Some of the diaries are believed to have been kept by the donor's grandmother, Hannah Marvin. The seven that were identifiable have been separated in boxes with related content.
None
Gift from Yvonne Davies in 2009.
Archives accession # 2009.0289
Wright-Anderson-Rees Family Papers and Photographs, 1830s-1950s, MSS 0752 , Thomas and Katherine Detre Library and Archives, Senator John Heinz History Center
This collection was processed by Alex J. Toner on 03/14/12.
Property rights reside with the Senator John Heinz History Center. Literary rights are retained by the creators of the records and their heirs. For permission to reproduce or publish, please contact the Thomas and Katherine Detre Library and Archives of the Senator John Heinz History Center.
The Library holds Wrights on the Move: Follow Over Six Generations of James Wright's Descendants. Sandra Wright Kennedy, 2007. CS71 W95 K4.
Pennsylvania State University holds Dr. D.M Anderson's physicians account book from the 1870s. Http://www.libraries.psu.edu/dam/psul/up/digital/findingaids/7181.htm
The Peters Creek Historical Society holds numerous Wright family materials, and maintains the Wright family estate in Venetia, Pa. http://peterscreekhs.org/.