Wright, David Sands 1847-1931

WRIGHT, RAWSTERN, SWANSON, RADCLIFFE, COWGILL, HALE, RADCLIFF

Posted By: Volunteer Transcriber
Date: 5/25/2015 at 22:15:55

David Sans Wright, age 83, died at his home at Cedar Falls, Friday, Oct. 20, 1931. He had a stroke of paralysis Tuesday and never regained consciousness. Prof. Wright came to Cedar Falls in 1876 and was the only one of the original faculty of the state Teachers College left. He was instructor in English, Mathematics and Religious Education. His long service is thought to be without an equal in our Iowa colleges.

Prof. Wright married Miss Eliza Rawstern of this vicinity. They often visited relatives and old friends here. He was author of three books. His wife and children survive. ~ The Colfax Tribune, Colfax, Iowa Thurs 5 Nov 1931.
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Birth: Dec. 7, 1847 Highland County Ohio, USA
Death: Oct. 30, 1931 Black Hawk County Iowa, USA

The following obituary was found at
http://www.library.uni.edu/speccoll/bio/bioWrightobit.html
on 7/26/04.

David Sands Wright

Funeral services for David Sands Wright, professor emeritus of the college, who died at his home Friday morning, October 30, 1931, at 10:45 o'clock, were conducted Sunday at 2:30 p.m. at First Methodist Episcopal Church. Dr. Howland Hanson, college religious director, was in charge. Burial was in the Fairview Cemetery in Cedar Falls.

The son and three daughters of Professor Wright were here to attend the last rites for their father. Professor Wright taught the first class at the opening of the college, then named the Iowa State Normal School, on September 6, 1876. Mr. Wright was born December 7, 1847, on a farm in Penn Township, Hyland County [should be Highland Co], Ohio. His parents were both Quakers, and his father was a Quaker preacher.

At seven years of age, he attended school in a "lone log structure," the Squabble High School in Ohio. In this and other country schools he developed an interest in literature and debate, and in 1866 became a school teacher in Ohio. Later he entered the National Normal University at Lebanon, Ohio, where he obtained the bachelor of arts degree in 1871 and a master of arts degree in 1873. He received a second master of arts degree at Penn College at Oskaloosa, Iowa, in 1887.

In 1872, he became associate principal of Whittier College and Normal Institute at Salem, Iowa, a Quaker academy established in a community of Friends. Professor Wright was elected to the first faculty of the newly-organized Iowa State Nomal School in 1876. He taught English literature for five years and then switched to mathematics in 1881.

In 1916 he retired from the Department of Mathematics to become Director of Religious Education at the college. Mr. Wright began his association with the Iowa State Teachers Association in 1875, and in 1904 was elected president of the organization. He contributed approximately 125 articles to the Iowa Normal Monthly, a professional magazine for teachers, and wrote several books, among them A Drill Book in English Grammar, Geometrical Outlines, and Bible Study Outlines. The last book reached its third edition and was used extensively in Iowa high schools where the Bible was taught as a school subject. In 1926, the State Board of Education presented him with a special award for his fifty years of service. That same year, Professor Wright published an anecdotal history of the school, Fifty Years at the Teachers College. He was well known throughout the state for his sermons and lectures, and was recognized as an eloquent and forceful speaker.

Professor Wright married Eliza Rawstern on June 24, 1880, the evening of the day in which she graduated from the Iowa State Normal School. Professor and Mrs. Wright were an important part of school life for over fifty years.

At the time of Professor Wright's death, their daughter, Luella Wright, was a professor of English at the University of Iowa. Their son, Joseph Wright, was a professor of physical education at Frances Parker Academy, Chicago. Another daughter, Mrs. Ralph Swanson, lived in Valisca, Iowa. Her husband was a lawyer there. Mrs. William Radcliffe, a daughter, lived at Red Oak, Iowa, where her husband was a judge. All four attended the funeral services.

(This is a heavily edited revision of an article that appeared in the College Eye, November 6, 1931, page 1.)

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From "Annals of Iowa," Volume 18, No. 4, April, 1932, pp. 316-317:

DAVID SANDS WRIGHT was born on a farm in Highland County, Ohio, December 7, 1847, and died in Cedar Falls, Iowa, October 30, 1831. Interment was in Fairview Cemetery, Cedar Falls. He was of Quaker parentage. His education was begun in a log schoolhouse and during his boyhood was in country school. He began teaching in country schools in 1866. He was graduated from the National Normal University at Lebanon, Ohio, with the degree of B. A. in 1871, and M. A. in 1873. In 1884 Penn College, Oskaloosa, Iowa, conferred on him the degree of M. A. In 1872 he became associate principal of Whittier College, Salem, Iowa, but on the organization of the Iowa State Normal School at Cedar Falls in 1876 he became a member of its first faculty, and for four years taught grammar and English. From 1880 to 1915 he taught mathematics, and from 1915 until his retirement in 1928, he was director of religious education in what had years before become the Iowa State Teachers College. Thus for fifty-two years he was on the faculty of that institution. On his retirement he was made professor emeritus. He was the author of "Geometrical Outlines," "A Drill Book in English Grammar," and of "Bible Study Outlines," and was known as an eloquent and forceful public speaker.
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Obituary (clipping in Clinton Co, OH, w/ handwritten dated of 11-7-1931):

PROF. DAVID S. WRIGHT
IOWA EDUCATOR, EXPIRES

Prof. David Sands Wright, of Cedar Falls, Iowa, died at his home on October 30, 1931, lacking just one month of 84 years following an illness of 10 days with paralysis. He did not seem to suffer, but remained in a comatose condition until death.

He was the first instructor to teach a class in the Iowa State Normal School, established in 1876. He was a member of the first faculty and continued in the position when the Normal School grew into the Iowa State Teachers College until he had given 52 years of his life to that place and upon retirement was given the rank of Professor Emeritus.

He was born on a farm in Penn Township, Highland County, Ohio, a son of Joseph and Lydia Cowgill Wright. His education was begun in a log school-house near his home. He became a teacher early and loving the work in order to assist him in his apparent calling he entered the National Normal University at Lebanon, where he graduated in 1871. Penn College, Oskaloosa, Iowa, conferred upon him the Master of Arts degree in 1884. He was a Friends minister, likewise were his father and grandfather and he belonged to a long line of ministerial workers.

One June 24, 1880, he was married to Miss Eliza Rawstern, who had graduated at the Normal School that morning. She proved to be one of the wisest and best as wife and mother of their four children.

On June 24, 1930, his two sisters, Teacher Ellen C. Wright and Emma Wright Hale, had the happiness of attending their golden wedding with all the children and grandchildren in joyful reunion, a privilege now more highly prized than ever, with grateful hearts.

Although living too far apart for frequent association he was a brother who never lost interest in his relatives and friends and a correspondence was uninterrupted with letters concerning family affairs, opinions on current events, and the progress of everything righteous and good in this rapidly developing era. As a mark of his varied gifts no letter from his type ever came without a bubble of humor or a sparkle of wit in some word or sentence. Here especially he will be missed. A number of fine tributes to his life and character are arriving by way of press.

Judge Hugh J. Wright and all his brothers and sisters are among those who sent for the funeral day flowers and the message: "We are with you in deepest sympathy and love.
Ohio Sisters, Nephews and Nieces."

Family links:
Parents:
Joseph Wright (1812 - 1907)
Lydia Cowgill Wright (1815 - 1892)

Spouse:
Eliza Rawstern Wright (1856 - 1943)*

Children:
Luella Margaret Wright (1881 - 1963)*
May Lydia Wright Ratcliff (1883 - ____)*
Joseph S Wright (1884 - 1969)*
Ruth Wright Swanson (1890 - 1969)*

Siblings:
Lindley Murray Wright (1842 - 1848)*
Henry C. Wright (1843 - 1897)*
Ellen Cowgill Wright (1846 - 1937)*
David Sands Wright (1847 - 1931)
Jonathan Barrett Wright (1850 - 1916)*
Elwood Wright (1852 - 1903)*
Emma Wright Hale (1856 - 1941)*

*Calculated relationship

Burial:
Fairview Cemetery Cedar Falls
Black Hawk County Iowa, USA
Plot: Block 17, Lot 62

Created by: Jay Wright
Record added: Feb 02, 2012
Find A Grave Memorial# 84368662 ~ Find A Grave.