Dr. J. M. Wright has been an able and popular physician of Lake County for eighteen years, and was the son of Moses and Lericy (Farris) Wright. His father was born in Kentucky in 1812 and his mother in Giles County, Tennessee in 1814. When quite young he came to Tennessee, and married Miss Farris in Obion County, where they made their home. They had three sons, two of whom are farmers and stock raisers in Texas. Mrs. Wright was a Cumberland Presbyterian, but there being no church near her of that denomination, she united with the Methodists. In politics Mr. Wright was a Whig. He was an extensive farmer, and died in 1852. After his death Mrs. Wright spent a few years with her sons in Texas, then returned and lived with Dr. J. M. Wright until she died, in 1883.
Dr. J. M. Wright was born April 24, 1837, in Obion County; was raised on the farm, receiving a good education. After studying medicine for a year under Dr. Horace Head, of Troy, Tennessee, he entered the medical department of the University of Louisiana, graduating there in 1861, locating at Troy; but the war commencing, he volunteered in Company B, of Twenty-seventh Tennessee Infantry, Confederate Army, as first lieutenant. He was soon disabled by ill health and returned home, soon after returning as assistant medical surgeon. In 1865 he was invited to go before the medical board to be examined for a position in the navy, but failed to reach his destination in time, as the greater part of the railroad route was torn up. For two years after this he practiced medicine in Covington, Tennessee, and in 1868 moved to the Seventh District of Lake County, where he has since remained. In addition to professional duties he engaged in farming and raising stock.
In 1886 he married Miss Kate Stephens, who was born in Lake County May 18, 1860. Mrs. Wright is a Methodist. In politics the Doctor is a stanch democrat.