e oppressed in every land and of every
nationality and color. His uncle, Benjamin Wright, and cousin, Samuel B.
Wright, were active members of the old Pennsylvania Abolition Society,
and at the time of the emancipation of the slaves in this state were
often engaged in lawsuits with slave-holders to compel them to release
their bondmen, according to the requirements of the law. William Wright
grew up under the influence of the teachings of these relatives. Joined
to this, his location caused him to take an extraordinary interest in
Underground Rail Road affairs. He lived near the foot of the southern
slope of the South Mountain, a spur of the Alleghenies which extends,
under various names, to Chattanooga, Tennessee. This mountain was
followed in its course by hundreds of fugitives until they got into
Pennsylvania, and were directed to William Wright's house.

In November, 1817, William Wright married Phebe Wierman, (born on the
8th of February, 1790,) daughter of a neighboring farmer, and sister of
Hannah W. Gibbons, wife of Daniel Gibbons, a notice of whom appears
elsewhere in this work. Phebe Wright was the assistant of her husband in
every good work, and their married life of forty-eight years was a long
period of united and efficient labor in the cause of humanity. She still
(1871) survives him. William and Phebe Wright began their Underground
Rail Road labors about the year 1819. Hamilton Moore, who ran away from
Baltimore county, Maryland, was the first slave aided by them. His
master came for him, but William Wright and Joel Wierman, Phebe Wright's
brother, who lived in the neighborhood, rescued him and sent him to
Canada.

In the autumn of 1828, as Phebe Wright, surrounded by her little
children, came out upon her back porch in the performance of some
household duty, she saw standing before her in the shade of the early
November morning, a colored man without hat, shoes, or coat. He asked if
Mr. Wright lived there, and upon receiving an affirmative reply, said
that he wanted work. The good woman, comprehending the situation at a
glance, told him to come into the house, get warm, and wait till her
husband came home. He was shivering with cold and fright. When William
Wright came home the fugitive told his story. He came from Hagerstown,
Maryland, having been taught the blacksmith's trade there. In this
business it was his duty to keep an account of all the work done by him,
which record he showed to his master at