He had nine children. ®134 He died of yellow fever. ®134 An extensive history of his life is in ®134, a copy of which is in the library of David L. Moody, or can be obained from the Tryon Palace, New Bern, North Carolina. He had red hair, blue eyes and small hands and feet. ®136 A Bill of Exchange was drawn on the Clothier General by Raymond Demere in favour of John Wright Stanley, Esq, for 1,562 1/2 dollars, dated Savannah, 1 November 1777. (U.S. Continental Congress, Journals of 328.731 C2 Vol IX p. 1053.) He set up as a merchant, first in Nova Scotia, next in "Isle of Spain”, and then in Philadelphia. He first went to New Berne, North Carolina by land on his way to Charleston, South Carolina. While at the Governors Ball in New Berne he met Anne Cogdill (who had opened the Ball with the Governor) and later married her at the Cogdill house. On 27 Jan 1773-6 he was appointed to the Commission for the relief of Salem, Massachussetts. He was a very large ship owner and builder and lost 14 ships in the Revolutionary War. He was a Captain of ships and probably a Privateersman. Col. J. D. Whitforn stated that John W. Stanly gave various sums of money for the support of the Continental Army. General Nathaniel Green obtained $3000 from him for the Army; it was never repaid. He employed a Mr. Hanks to build the Stanly House in New Berne at a cost of over $30,000. ®136 John Wright and Ann Cogdell Stanly's home in New Bern, NC was completed during the 1780's. It stood at Middle and New Sts. At John's death, he bequeathed the house to his wife Ann Cogdell Stanly for life, then to their children. When the real estate was divided in 1798, the home went to their oldest son John who lived there many years with his wife Elizabeth Franck Stanly and their children. After 1834 the house passed through varied ownerships. During the Civil War it was headquarters of Gen Ambrose E. Burnside who captured New Bern on 14 March 1862 with Union forces; then it became a "Convent of Mercy".
In 1932 the US Government bought the lot on which the Stanly home stood for a Federal Building and Post Office. The house was moved to an adjoining lot on New Street and was purchased in 1935 by the New Bern Library. The house was renovated and used for 30 years as a library with
rental apartments. On 4 November 1965 the Tryon Palace Complex accepted the house and moved it to its present location on George Street near the Tryon Palace.