He began to study law in 1860, first in Dedham, Massachusetts and then in nearby Boston,[1] but in 1862 enlisted as a private in the 14th New Hampshire Volunteer Regiment to fight the American Civil War.

From 1872 to 1873 he served in the Massachusetts Senate,[2] where he secured the passage of a bill to provide for the establishment of trains for workers to Boston from the suburban districts.

In 1885 he was commissioned by the governor to investigate the public records of the towns, parishes, counties, and courts of the state.

[2] From 1900 to 1901, he was university lecturer on wage statistics at Harvard, and in 1903 he was a member of the Douglas Commission to investigate and recommend a program of vocational education for Massachusetts.

Dr. Wright was President of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 1903, and in 1907 received the Cross of the Legion of Honor for his work in improving industrial conditions, a similar honor (Order of Saints Maurizio e Lazzaro) having been conferred upon him in 1906 by the Italian government.