Nelson Wright was born around 1845 in Albemarle County, Virginia, and worked as a farmer before the war. He enlisted in the Union army in Petersburg, Virginia, on April 14, 1865, and mustered in as a private in Company I of the 117th USCT Infantry Regiment on April 20. His enlistment records describe him as 5 feet, 1 inch tall, with black hair, black eyes, and a black complexion. He deserted from the regiment on June 1, 1865, at Camp Lincoln, Virginia.
He may have returned to Albemarle County after the war. The 1880 census lists a Nelson Wright living in Rivanna, Virginia, with his wife, six children, and a stepdaughter. No other details of his postwar life have been found.
| Name: | Wright, Nelson | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Gender: | M | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Race: | Black | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Branch of service: | Army | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Rank In: | Private | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rank Out: | Private | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Highest rank achieved: | Private | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Birth date: | 1845 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Birth date certainty: | About | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Birth place: | Albemarle County, VA | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Occupations: | Farmer |
Compiled Service Records for Nelson Wright, RG94, National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, D.C.; United States Federal Census, 1880, accessed through Ancestry.com.
