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The Fletcher Wright Burial Ground

History:
North of Wilton a short distance is the old Fletcher Wright Cemetery. It was abandoned many decades ago and now lies in deep woods, very difficult to access. There has been no known information about this cemetery published before. I was informed about the site by Mr. Carl Henry of Ashland. Carl and his wife, Ethelda, now deceased, found the cemetery site around 1990. On the first day of July, 2000, Michael Bartlett and I managed to find the site with great difficulty.

George M. Wright (?-ca.1840) purchased the NE 1/4 of S22, T46, R13 from the U.S. Government in 1838. The location was near the Missouri River, about two miles north of the new Goshen Primitive Baptist Church. George was a brother to Fletcher Wright (1805-1843) and to Peter Wright (1787-1847). Both George M. and his brother, Peter, were surveyors. The farm apparently passed to Fletcher on Georges death in about 1840. It is of interest that the actual cemetery site lies just north of this parcel of land in Section 15, not Section 22. It is possible that the Wright family also owned the land in Section 22 for a while, but it may be that the cemetery was inadvertently located just north of their boundary line. In any case, it rests just barely into Section 15. Fletcher Wright and his wife, Sophia Talbott, were the parents of Judge Hail T. Wright. (See Switzler, p. 691, for biography of Hail T. Wright.) Fletcher and Sophia Wrights daughter, Elizabeth, married John E. Woolfolk on 4 Nov 1852 (see Boone Co. Marriage Record Bk. B). Sixteen months later she died in childbirth and both mother and child were buried here.

Location:
It is located in Cedar township in the SW 1/4 of the SE 1/4 of Section 15, Township 46N, Range 13W. Coordinates determined by GPS are: Lat. 38.76274 N, Long. 92.37627 W.

Directions: From Wilton, proceed northwesterly on the River Road about 1.7 miles to the sharp bend to the left (west). Park. Walk north from here on the KATY trail about 0.3 miles until you come to the first "valley" that cuts through the bluffs on your right. Leave the trail here and walk into the valley, following it upward for approximately 0.25 miles. Note that the traveling once you get off the trail is very difficult, especially in the summer time. The area is deeply ravined and heavily overgrown. For safety, I would not recommend trying to find it alone. In general, you have to "bear left" as you proceed up the valley. The land rises fairly steeply up a ridge and the cemetery is located 2/3 of the way up the ridge. You should cross a falling down E-W fence line before reaching the cemetery just 40 yards or so north of the fence line. This cemetery is extremely hard to find unless you have a guide who has been there or can use the coordinates given below to pinpoint the location on a topographic map or can use a GPS system to locate it.

Overview of Cemetery:
The four tombstones are all in one row with a spacing of about five feet between graves. The graves have the traditional E-W orientation and the tombstones are inscribed on the west side. The three adult stones are still standing; the infant stone has fallen down. All are in good shape. The adult stones are nicely carved and show little sign of weathering. There was no evidence of additional burials at this site that I could see. The listing below reads up the row of four stones, from south to north. In other words, the Fletcher Wright stone is on the south end of the row.

Visiting guidelines:
This cemetery is on private ground and the current owner does not welcome visitations. As such we recommend you make use of the information provided here and if you really feel a need to visit, it is strongly recommended you ask permission before going out to visit.

Plot map:
to be done

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Last updated 30 July 2000