Served on the Iowa Supreme Court from January 11, 1855, to January 11, 1860; and again from June 26, 1860, when he was appointed to fill the vacancy occasioned the death of Justice Lacon D. Stockton, until he resigned September 1, 1870. He was Chief Justice for seven years.
Born at Bloomington, Indiana, in 1820. He was graduated from Indiana University in 1839, and located the next year at Keosauqua, Iowa. He was a member of the Second and Third General Assemblies. In 1870 he went to the United States Senate for one six-year term.
In collaboration with Justice C. C. Cole, he established at Des Moines the first law school west of the Mississippi river. This school later became the Law Department of the University of Iowa. Justice Wright was a lawyer, judge, legislator, teacher, and business man. For many years he was a director of the Rock Island Railroad. He was president of the State Agricultural Society, president of the Polk County Savings Bank, and an organizer of the Pioneer Lawmakers Association. His brother was a Governor of Indiana.
Justice Wright died in Des Moines in 1896.