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Maverick Wright was 22 when he came to Hampton in 1837. In 1850 Mr. Wright purchased lot 1 block 30 and built
his two-story brick store building and engaged there in general merchandise business. Mr. Black's and Mr. Wright's
stores were considered large, and their customers came from Whiteside and Henry counties and also from out in iowa.
Both Black and Wright engaged in the pork packing business and did all large trade with the steamboats the packing
was done in the fall and winter and was so extensive that their business hired 16 Coopers in eight shops to make
the necessary pork barrels and lard tierces.
Mr. Black and Mr. Wright had paid as high as16 and 18 cents a pound for their holdings and probably gave their
notes until the river opened up in the spring so they could ship and sell their product. The war closed and pork
took a heavy drop, and Mr. Wright, unable to meet the loss, went broke and went out of business. He sold out to
Frank Wells and Bares Shurtliff and moved to Iowa. His health failed him and he returned to Hampton where he died
April 14th, 1876.
Information submitted by Mary and Rock Nelson of
the Hampton Historical Society
A History of Hampton, Illinois 1838-1938
by George McNabney
©2006, Genealogy Trails
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