1892 Biography - William A. Bright

The well-known business man, Maj. William A. Bright, is a native of Arkansas, and was born in Hempstead county, February 12, 1852. His parents, William L. and Elizabeth (Franks) Bright, were natives of South Carolina and Alabama, respectively. W. L. Bright removed with his parents to Louisiana, when quite young. He taught school at Farmerville for some time, and in 1848, removed to Hempstead county, Ark., where he became a prosperous planter. He was one of the influential men of his section and represented Nevada county in the lower house of the legislature two terms. He was for many years treasurer of Nevada county, and was its sheriff at the time of his death in 1882. Young William A. Bright received the advantages of a good business education, and early in life evinced a natural aptness to business pursuits. At the age of sixteen years he engaged as clerk in a mercantile establishment, and at the age of eighteen began a mercantile business for himself on a limited capital. In this he continued with marked success until December, 1879, when he removed to Little Rock, and in partnership with T. W. Baird, under the firm name of Baird & Bright, opened a wholesale machinery and implement distributing agency, in the interest of which Maj. Bright traveled in Arkansas, Mississippi and Louisiana. The business under this management soon assumed mammoth proportions, and at the time of Maj. Bright's retirement in 1887, was one of the first of its kind in the South. It was while traveling that Maj. Bright conceived the idea of building what is now the Houston Central & N. Arkansas R. R. His plans soon materialized and a company consisting principally of Little Rock business men was organized with Maj. Bright as its president. Only those who know the obstacles which had to be overcome, can conceive the immensity of the undertaking. Eastern capitalists were slow to take hold of a railroad in a section of which they really knew nothing, and of which their impression served to discourage the idea. Notwithstanding this, the road was surveyed and about sixty miles of road had been completed, when, in November, 1889, a trade was effected with Mr. Gould, by which the road changed hands, though Maj. Bright is yet one of its directors. As a more central business point, and a place with a promising future, Maj. Bright, in 1887, removed to Monroe, where he still resides. He is largely interested in the chief enterprises of Monroe, and is doing much toward its development. Maj. Bright was married in 1882, to Miss Ella Meredith, of Hempstead county Ark. Their elegant home is a model of convenience and beauty.

Contributed 2021 Nov 04 by Mike Miller, from Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Louisiana, published in 1892, volume 2, page 319.