Milton Wright (November 17, 1828 – April 3, 1917) was the father of aviation pioneers Wilbur and Orville Wright, and a bishop of the Church of the United Brethren in Christ. Family Milton Wright was the son of Dan Wright and Catherine Wright (Reeder), daughter of George Reeder and Margaret Van Cleve. Margaret Van Cleve was one of the earliest women of European ancestry to settle in the Miami River basin. Milton met his future wife, Susan Catharine Koerner, b. 1831, d. 4 July 1889, at Hartsville College in 1853, where he was appointed as supervisor of the preparatory department and she was a literature student. After a long courtship, Milton asked Susan to marry him and accompany him on his assignment by the church to Oregon. She declined, but agreed to marry him when he returned. They married in 1859 when he was almost 31 and she was 28. Both shared a love of learning for the sake of learning. Their home had two libraries — the first consisted of books on theology, the second was a large, varied collection. Looking back on his childhood, Orville once commented that he and his brother had "special advantages...we were lucky enough to grow up in a home environment where there was always much encouragement to children to pursue intellectual interests; to investigate whatever aroused their curiosity." Children Susan and Milton had seven children. Four sons and one daughter survived past infancy. Their first son, Reuchlin, was born in a log cabin in 1861 near Fairmount, Indiana. The second son, Lorin, was born in 1862 in Orange Township, Fayette County, Indiana. Wilbur was born 16 April 1867 near Millville, Indiana. The fourth and fifth children, twins Otis and Ida, were born 25 February 1870 at Dayton, Ohio, but died shortly thereafter, on 9 March and 14 March respectively, but were followed by the Dayton births of Orville on 19 August 1871, and the only surviving daughter Katherine on 19 August 1874. None of the Wright children had middle names. Instead, their father tried hard to give them distinctive first names. Wilbur was named for Wilbur Fisk and Orville for Orville Dewey, both clergymen that Milton Wright admired. They were "Will" and "Orv" to their friends, and "Ullam" and "Bubs" to each other. In Dayton, their neighbors knew them simply as the "Bishop's kids." Because of Milton's position in the church, the Wrights