| Robert Wright | |
| Jr/Sr1: | United States Senator |
| State1: | Maryland |
| Term Start1: | November 19, 1801 |
| Term End1: | November 12, 1806 |
| Predecessor1: | William Hindman |
| Successor1: | Philip Reed |
| Order2: | 12th |
| Office2: | Governor of Maryland |
| Term Start2: | November 12, 1806 |
| Term End2: | June 9, 1809 |
| Predecessor2: | Robert Bowie |
| Successor2: | Edward Lloyd |
| Office4: | Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Maryland's 7th district |
| Term Start4: | November 29, 1810 |
| Term End4: | March 3, 1817 |
| Predecessor4: | John Brown |
| Successor4: | Thomas Culbreth |
| Term Start5: | March 4, 1821 |
| Term End5: | March 3, 1823 |
| Predecessor5: | Thomas Culbreth |
| Successor5: | William Hayward Jr. |
| Office6: | Member of the Maryland Senate |
| Term6: | 1801 |
| Birth Date: | 20 November 1752 |
| Birth Place: | Chestertown, Province of Maryland, British America |
| Death Place: | Queen Anne's County, Maryland, U.S. |
| Party: | Democratic-Republican |
| Spouse: | Sarah De Courcy |
Robert Wright (November 20, 1752September 7, 1826) was an American politician and soldier who fought in the American Revolutionary War.
Wright was born at Narborough, near Chestertown, Maryland, and attended the Kent Free School (later Washington College) of Chestertown. He studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1773, and commenced practice in Chestertown.
He served in the Maryland militia during the American Revolutionary War as private, lieutenant, and later as captain. After the war, he served as a member of the Maryland House of Delegates from 1784 to 1786, and as a member of the Maryland State Senate in 1801.
In 1800, Wright was elected as a Democratic Republican to the United States Senate on November 19, 1801, for the term commencing March 4, 1801. In the Senate, Wright served as delegate to the Farmers’ National Convention in 1803. He resigned from the Senate on November 12, 1806, having been elected the 12th Governor of Maryland, a position he served in from 1806 to 1809.
After his tenure as governor, Wright served as clerk of Queen Anne's County, Maryland, in 1810, and was elected to the Eleventh and Twelfth Congresses to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of John Brown. He was re-elected to the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Congresses and served from November 29, 1810, to March 3, 1817. He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1816 to the Fifteenth Congress, but was elected to the Seventeenth Congress, serving from March 4, 1821, to March 3, 1823. He was not a candidate for renomination in 1822.
In his later life, Wright served as district judge of the lower Eastern Shore district of Maryland from 1823 until his death.
Wright owned slaves.[1]
Wright was married to Sarah De Courcy.[2] Together, they were the parents of:
Wright died on September 7, 1826, at Blakeford in Queen Anne's County. He is interred in the private burying ground of the DeCourcy family at Cheston-on-Wye in Queen Anne's County.