Early Monrovia Structures Research

Adeline Frances

Birthdate:

Adeline Frances Fannie Wright was the third wife of a wealthy banker, William T. Wright.  Besides being wealthy, Wright's family were considered early pioneers in Oregon and therefore not only was he rich, he was also respected.  Even so, William Wright seemed to have an unsteady relationship with his children.  He married his second wife, Marietta, in 1872.  By 1879, she was dead leaving him with four children by his second 

In spite of the fact that he was in a financial position to hire help, he sent his two youngest children, Esther who was three and Lester was one to live with William's sister Emily Merit and her husband David S. West.  The two older children were sent to their maternal grandparents.

In 1883, William married Adeline Frances Wright, eight years his junior.  He did not reclaim his children.  According to The Centennial History of Oregon, 1811-1912, Volume 4   by Joseph Gaston and George H. Himes, William belonged to all the right clubs and held a number of well-paying jobs over the next 20 years.  The book also states that William traveled in California for almost a year in 1884.  Though the Town of Monrovia wasn't founded until 1886, Adeline and William may have gotten a good look at Southern California.

We were able to find very little about Adeline Frances *Fannie" Wright.  The historical book cited above only mentions that she was born in Illinois, and her father was doctor.  Like William's other wives, her family arrived to Douglas County, Oregon, in the early days, and that made her one of the respected families.

In 1898, Lot 19, Block A in the Town of Monrovia Subdivision is purchased by Adeline Frances Wright.  That same year, a house valued at $225 is assessed to her.

She must have rented out the house for a few years before selling it in 1909 or 1910 to her sister-in-law Emily Merit and her husband David S. West.  The Wests were already living at 149 N. Magnolia Avenue with Esther Pearl Williams, Adeline's stepdaughter.  We were unable to determine exactly when the Wests arrived in Monrovia, but the voter registration list for 1916 indicates that the Wests  were renting out the house on Magnolia until 1919 when they moved into the house at 127 E. Lime Avenue with Esther Pearl Williams.

Adeline and William continued to live in Oregon for almost 20 years.  They then moved to Long Beach around 1921.  William T. Wright died in Long Beach in 1922.  Census records indicate Adeline moved back to Oregon to live with one of her stepdaughters, but death records indicate she died in Long Beach in 1939.

The Wests and Esther lived at 127 E. Lime Avenue until 1939 (David died in 1921).  Merit West died in Orange County in 1942.  Poor little Esther, sent away from her home at the death of her mother, never married and the only job she ever had was briefly in 1920 as a maid for an elderly couple.  Her aunt and uncle must have left her the house because she continued to live in the house on Lime until her death.