Sereno Wright
1779-1858

Bryant Number(s): 763
Type of Memorial: Marble headstone with sandstone base
Stonecarver: Woodard

Inscription:
Once, in the flight of ages past,
There liv'd a man and who was he!
Mortal where er thy lot be cast
That man resembles thee.
--x--
Here lies the body of Sereno Wright.
A poor worm of the dust and food for worms,
Reader the same fate awaits thee too;
And soon, too soon, that such a being ever liv'd.
Will not be known.

This monument which is erected to his memory was made under his
own direction, in the month of August, 1855, at the age of 76
years and 5 months.

He was born at Northampton,
Mass. On the 26th of March
1779.
Died Dec. 19th 1858
Aged 79 years. 8 Months
and 23 days.

Woodard

Commentary: If early Granville had a Renaissance Man, it would have been Sereno Wright. Sereno was a New Englander who moved to Granville in 1815 from Vermont, where he had been a printer and newspaper publisher. He arrived in Granville ready to deploy an array of talents, and quickly claimed a position as a teacher in the young town. By 1818 he had also opened a general store, located in his home, and the same year he became Granville’s postmaster, a position of some importance in a 19th-century frontier town. In just a few years more, his former vocation as a printer and publisher must have called to him, for he launched Granville’s first newspaper, The Wanderer, in 1822.

The Wanderer offered its readers a fare of village news, excerpts from religious publications, poetry, advertisements, and personal notices, some of which were indeed quite personal. For example, if a married woman left her spouse, she could expect her husband to post a public notice in the paper, stating that he would henceforth reject all responsibility for her debts!

Despite airing such interesting content, and despite Sereno’s willingness to accept either cash or produce in payment for a subscription, The Wanderer was not a financial success. It ended its run in 1823, claiming less than two years of publication. Sereno found other outlets for his abilities, including ten years’ service as the Treasurer of Licking County; and a briefer but equally successful role as fundraiser on behalf of the Granville Male Academy building (now called the Old Academy, which still stands at the southwest corner of South Main and West Elm Streets).

Sereno’s instincts for excellence expressed themselves late in life when he oversaw the design and carving of his own marble headstone, three years before it would be needed.

Find a Grave link: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/10846259/sereno-wright