Marshall Sheldon Wright, Sr. (1890-1974), paternal grandfather of Virginia Wright-Frierson, was born on December 28, 1890, as Marshall Wright Campbell in Toronto, Canada, to Mervyn Campbell (1865-1891) and Ada Wright (1869-1907).  

His father died when Marshall was one year old and his mother moved the young boy with her to the home of her brother Dr. Frank Sheldon Wright in Salmon, Idaho.  There Marshall was adopted by Dr. Wright and his name was officially changed to Marshall Sheldon Wright.   Marshall led an interesting life in the West and eventually became one of the early mapping and surveying engineers to utilize aerial photography.  His surveying took him all over the U.S. during his 52 years in government and while in the private sector, he travelled the world.

An excellent tribute to Marshall, giving some details of his personal life and cataloging his professional accomplishments was given by his son Marshall Sheldon Wright, Jr. (1922-2010) in a Memorial Address given to the Annual Convention of the American Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing in Baltimore, Maryland, on April 4, 1989.  I’ve reproduced the published version of that address below in a .pdf format – just click here      MSWrightSr   and enjoy!