[1] He later became a merchant, and in 1849 moved to San Francisco, California, where he continued his mercantile career and expanded into banking and mining.
[1] He was one of the founders of a bank, San Francisco's Palmer, Cook & Co.[1] In September 1850, California attained admission to the Union.
Wright won election as an independent to one of the new state's two at-large seats in the U.S. House and served a partial term, September 11, 1850, to March 3, 1851.
[1] An inventor who worked on improvements to steam engines, during the American Civil War, Wright resided in Buffalo, New York, where he took part in construction of a ship for the United States Revenue Cutter Service, the USRC Commodore Perry.
[1] Wright later moved to Washington, D.C., where he served as an attorney representing the interests of the Choctaw American Indian tribe.