Jane Wright (1816 - 1896)

Born 12 Jan 1816 in Ballymena, County Antrim, Ireland

Wife of James Craig — married 7 Nov 1836 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Descendants

Died 1 Dec 1896 at age 80 in Norristown, Montgomery, Pennsylvania, United States

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Biography

This biography was auto-generated by a GEDCOM import. It's a rough draft and needs to be edited.

Name

Jane /Wright/^[1]

Birth

12 JAN 1816

Ballymena, Co. Antrim, Northern Ireland^[2]

Death

1 DEC 1896

Norristown, Pennsylvania^[3]

Note

@NI00261@

Marriage

FAM

@I00260@

@I00261@

@I00253@

7 NOV 1836

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania^[4]

Sources

• Source: S035400 Title: JCC Card File

Notes

NI00261(Obituary from the (Norristown, Pa.) Daily Times, Dec 5, 1896)

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MISSIONARY AND TEACHER

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Incidents in the Eventful Life of Jane Wright Craig, Deceased

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LABORED AMONG THE HEATHEN

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Spent a Year in Reaching India, Where She was Succeeded by a Daughter - Well Remembered by Many Persons Who Attended Her Private School

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The funeral of Jane Wright Craig, widow of James Craig, took place yesterday afternoon from the residence of her son, William W. Craig, 219 East Elm Street. Rev. T. R. Beeber, D.D., of the First Presbyterian Church, conducted the services, assisted by Rev. Dr. Wylie, of Philadelphia. The pall-bearers were C. P. Weaver, Prof. J. K. Gotwals, Aaron F. Baker and James Kenworthy.

Mrs. Craig, whose maiden name was Wright, was born in Ballymena in Northern Ireland, in 1816, and came to this country with her parents when she was an infant. They lived in Philadelphia, where her father died when she was 4 years of age. Four years later the death of her mother occurred and she went to live with her grandmother, with whom she resided for 3 years until the death of that relative. At this early age she was partly thrown on her own resources and took up her residence with her uncles, James and William Wright, who were prominent grocers in Philadelphia. In 1836 she married James Craig, of Philadelphia, who had imigrated from his native home in Ireland to this country. Shortly after his marriage Mr. Craig was sent as a missionary to India by the American mission board, he, with Rev. James Campbell, who went out a few years later, being among the first missionaries sent out by the American board. Mrs. Craig accompanied her husband to his station at Saharan Pur, in Northern India. This was before the time of steam vessels and they were a year getting to their destination, being six months on the ocean and almost as long going the overland journey. Mrs. Craig's daughter in 1870 went up the Ganges in 14 hours, the same distance which took her mother four months to traverse.

Mrs. Craig remained in India eight years. Four children were born there. She had taken one child with her from Philadelphia. She remained in India until the death of her husband [in Philadelphia to which place he had previously returned.]* That sad event was the cause of her return. On her way home one son died of cholera at Calcutta. Reaching Philadelphia after a tedious journey, she resided there several years, and was afterwards a teacher in a female seminary, at Oxford, Chester county, and for a short time in the Bridgeport schools. She came to Norristown in 1851, opened a private school in the basement of the Reformed church and afterwards moved to the basements of the Baptist and the Central Presbyterian churches. From 1871 until 1885, when she retired from teaching and went to live with her son, William W. Craig, of this borough, she conducted a school on Green street near Airy. In her time she had as her pupils most of the older prominent business and professional men in this town.

Of Mrs. Craig's children three are dead. The eldest daughter followed her mother's footsteps to India as a missionary and died there in 1890. Another daughter married Rev. Henry Crawford, of Indiana, who died in 1865, and Mrs. Crawford returned to Norristown, where she was associated with her mother in teaching, till her death in 1884. The surviving children are Miss Anna H. Craig, who was also associated with her mother as teacher, and William W. Craig, a well-known school director, assistant clerk in the U.S. district court in Philadelphia and a United States Commissioner. It was with the latter that Mrs. Craig resided until her death.

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*This erroneous phrase is crossed out in the clipping. James Craig died of cholera and was buried in Saharanpur, India.

1. ↑ Source: #S035400
2. ↑ Source: #S035400
3. ↑ Source: #S035400
4. ↑ Source: #S035400

Acknowledgments

Thank you to Warren Groves for creating WikiTree profile Wright-7860 through the import of Anc_Groves_Kaelber.GED on Apr 26, 2013. Click to the Changes page for the details of edits by Warren and others.