James Wright was born around 1837 to Daniel H. Wright and Susan Porter. His father was a carpenter who owned $1,000 of real estate and $300 of personal property by 1860. He enlisted in the Union army on August 22, 1862, and mustered in as a private in Company C of the 113th Ohio Infantry later that day. The army transferred him to the Veteran Reserve Corps on November 1, 1863. He died sometime after 1864.