James S. Wright

James S. Wright

James S. Wright (1816-1889) was the son of John B. Wright, a native Virginian who became prominent in Indiana before relocating his family to the village of Homer in Champaign County in September 1830. James Wright left his father's farm in 1837 and went to work on the Illinois and Michigan Canal, which was then being dug between Chicago and the Illinois River. He returned to Homer with enough money to buy some land and soon became an independent farmer. 

Wright started working as a county surveyor beginning in 1838 and continued to do so until 1850. In 1831, he helped organize the first Sunday School in the county. Wright's first breakthrough as an entrepreneur was with M.D. Coffeen a merchant who wanted to establish a trading center. This led to his involvement in founding the First National Bank of Champaign in 1865, for which he would serve as its first cashier. He got his start in politics (1846-1854) when he served in the state legislature as a Whig, leading to two terms as a member of the Illinois General Assembly, one for each house. He continued his political career locally by serving as the mayor of Champaign from 1862 to 1863.