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The Religious Affiliation of the inventors of the airplane
the Wright Brothers


Orville and Wilbur Wright: The Wright Brothers were the sons of a minister for the United Brethren Church. They themselves may have been merely nominal Protestants as adults. "Wilbur Wright was born in Millville, Indiana, and grew up in Dayton, Ohio. From his father, a clergyman and editor, he learned to love reading, writing, and other scholarly pursuits... He also contributed stories to his father's magazine, Religious Telescope..." Online resource.

Orville and Wilbur Wright, inventors of the airplane, were not Methodists, but have sometimes been mistakenly claimed as such. Their father was Bishop Milton Wright, a bishop in the United Brethren denomination. The United Brethren Church merged with another group in 1946, and that larger group later merged with the Methodist Church to form the United Methodist Church in 1968. But Bishop Milton was the leader of a separate United Brethren group which split from the main body of United Brethren in 1889 - 79 years before the Brethren/Methodist merger. The group led by Bishop Milton remained the only un-merged United Brethren denomination, and its descendant is the modern day United Brethren Church. The Wright Brothers assisted their father in preparing publications for the group. Methodists missed out on being the denominational home of the inventors of the airplane by 79 years and a denominational split.

Webpage created 12 July 2005. Last modified 23 October 2005.
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