Wright, Elizur, 1804-1885

American reformer and actuary.

Elizur Wright was the first commissioner of insurance of Massachusetts (1858-1866), a post created after years of lobbying by Wright for insurance reform. He was also a journalist, editor, and abolitionist. See sketch in Dictionary of American Biography.

Abolitionist, actuary, and atheist; b. Elizur Wright, Jr., in South Canaan, Conn., raised in Tallmadge, Ohio, and graduated from Yale. Although he aspired to become a minister, he was more interested in studying science and mathematics and became teacher of mathematics at Western Reserve College; member of American Colonization Society but became an abolitionist by the summer of 1832 and published many essays in the Hudson Observer and Telegraph advocating Immediatism; continued working for abolition throughout the 1840s but his focus shifted to the reform of the life insurance industry in the 1850s and was commissioned by the Massachusetts Hospital Life Insurance Company to gather information on English actuarial practices which led to the publication in 1853 of his Valuation Tables. He also invented the arithmeter, a calculating device and served as a member of the Board of Insurance Commissioners in Massachusetts; later worked to preserve Middlesex Fells which after his death was made into a park in 1894.

Reformer, publisher, and actuary.

Abolitionist, teacher at Western Reserve College, and first insurance commissioner of Massachusetts, of South Canaan, Conn., Hudson, Ohio, and Medford, Mass.

Elizur Wright, Jr., was an abolitionist, and professor of mathematics and natural philosophy at Western Reserve College (Hudson, Ohio).

Biographical Note

Elizur Wright (1804-1885) was born in South Canaan, Connecticut, raised in Tallmadge, Ohio and graduated from Yale. Although he aspired to become a minister he was more interested in studying science and mathematics than Hebrew and decided to accept a position at Western Reserve College in Hudson, Ohio. In 1829, he was appointed Professor of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy at WRC and married Susan Clark.

In the 1830s, Western Reserve College was the location of fierce intellectual battles between Colonizationalists; the anti-slavery movement in favor of sending freed black to an African colony and the Immediatists; the anti-slavery movement in favor of immediate freedom and American citizenship for all slaves. Wright was a member of the American Colonization Society but converted to the Immidiatist's cause becoming by the "summer of 1832, the preeminent immediatist of the West." Wright published many essays in the Hudson Observer and Telegraph advocating Immediatism. He resigned the shortly after his fellow abolitionist, Beriah Green did. The final three years of Wright's four year tenure at WRC, were so divisive that enrollment and funding were negatively impacted and according to one historian, it "retarded the development of the college for the next twenty years."

Although Elizur continued working for abolition throughout the 1840s and 1850s his focus gradually shifted to the reform of the life insurance industry. In the the 1850s, he was commissioned by the Massachusetts Hospital Life Insurance Company, based on his mathematical expertise, to gather information on English actuarial practices. The publication in 1853 of Elizur's Valuation Tables was a significant milestone in the evolution of the life insurance industry. It figured the amount of each premium that should be held in reserve based on the life expectancy of the policy holder to ensure the company would remain solvent. He also invented the arithmeter, a crude calculating device, and served as a member of the Board of Insurance Commissioners in Massachusetts. He was tireless in work in the life insurance industry to ensure that policy holders were protected and that companies remained truthful about their practices as well as solvent earned him the title "the father of life insurance.'

His last reform project was to preserve Middlesex Fells. Elizur owned and lived on land adjacent to the Fells seemed to find comfort in its natural beauty as he aged. It appeared to help him through the deaths of several of his children and his beloved wife. In November of 1885, Elizur suffered a stroke and died at the age of 81. The preservation of the Fells, however was not accomplished in Elizur's lifetime but legislation in 1894 made 2,000 acres of this area a park.