y 1881, the leadership of the United Brethren was becoming more liberal. Milton Wright, a dyed-in-the-wool conservative, failed to be re-elected to his Bishop's post. The Wrights moved back to the Midwest and the Milton became a circuit preacher once again, operating out of a farm near Richmond, Indiana. He also founded a monthly religious newspaper, The Star, for fellow conservatives. Wilbur constructed a machine to fold the papers for mailing -- perhaps his first original invention. Orville proved just as enterprising, in his own way. He made kites and sold them to his friends, scavenged wood, bones, and junk metal, organized an "army" of neighborhood children, even  staged an amateur circus.

As the liberals in his church began to press for change, Milton Wright sensed there would be a showdown with conservatives. Wanting to get back into the fray, he decided in 1884 to move back to Dayton, the political center of the United Brethren Church. It was the last time he would move his family.