Background
Lucy Myers Wright Mitchell was born on March 20, 1845, at Urumiah, Persia. She was the eldest child of the Rev. Austin Hazen Wright, M. D. , and Catherine A. (Myers) Wright. Her paternal ancestors, of English stock, came to New England between 1630 and 1640 and were among the first settlers of Hartford, Vermont, where her father was born. Her mother, of German and New England descent, went in 1843 to Urumiah to teach in the school of the mission of which Dr. Wright was in charge. There they were married in 1844, and there four daughters and a son were born and passed their early years. The father was a scholarly linguist, and the children constantly heard foreign languages spoken. In 1860, the family came to America, but in 1864, at her own request, returned with her father to Persia. After his sudden death, in 1865, she came to America.