Another of our brave soldiers was Dennis Bright. Though retiring in his disposition he has nevertheless acted a prominent part in our local history. He is a native of this county and some of Peter Bright of Valley township, and originally from Reading. When the war broke out, Dennis was in the State of Indiana, where he enlisted in the Fifteenth regiment of Indiana volunteers. For meritorious services he was soon promoted to a lieutenancy. At Cheat Mountain he was severly wounded and for a time disabled. When partially recovered he was detailed on recruiting service; and was afterwards promoted to assistant adjutant general, with the rank of captain on the staff of Gen. Wagner. At the close of the war he returned to his old home and engaged in the business of oil refining in Danville. In the fall of 1871 he was elected to the State Legislature, in the district composed of Montour and Northumberland counties. This was certainly a tribute to his personal worth, as the majority in the district is largely against the Republican party of which he was the nominee; and he was the first Republican member that ever appeared in the Legislature from Montour county. Unobtrusive in his manners, he was not a noisy; but a watchful, working member, exercising sound, practical judgment on all subjects and securing the legislation desired by his constituents. More than all, amid the bold corruption of the time, his honesty and fidelity to duty were never questioned, and no shadow of suspicion ever fell upon his name.
In his political sentitments he has alsays been a Republican, though never a choice a politician. He is now engaged in the hardware trade, in the opera-house block, and is one of the substantial business men of Danville.
