WHEELER, 



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GENERAL DESCRIPTION. 



The town of Wheeler was formed from Bath and Pratts- 

 burgh, Feb. 25, 1820, and was named from Capt. Silas 

 Wheeler, the first settler. A part of Avoca was taken olF 

 in 1843, and a part of Urbana in 1839. It lies in the 

 interior of the county, northeast of the centre, and has a 

 high, rolling surface, in many places of great variety and 

 picturesqueness, and richness of soil, particularly in the 

 valleys. The farms are among the finest in the county, 

 and under a high state of cultivation, the soil being a clayey 

 and shaly loam, well adapted both to pasture and tillage. 

 The principal streams are the Five- and Ten-Mile Creeks, 

 and some small lateral tributaries. 



EARLY SETTLEMENT. 



Capt. Silas Wheeler, in honor of whom the town was 

 named, was the first permanent settler. He was a native 

 of Rhode Island, but then recently from Albany Co., N. Y. 

 He was a soldier of the Revolution, and was with Benedict 

 Arnold in his perilous march through the forests of Maine, 

 and at the assault of Quebec stood near Montgomery when 

 he fell. He was four times taken prisoner, — twice by land 

 and twice upon the high-seas as a roving privateersman. 

 After his second capture upon the coast of Great Britain 

 he was confined in jail at Kinsale, Ireland, and condemned 

 to be hanged as a pirate. He escaped by the aid of a 

 friendly Irishman and of the distinguished orator and 

 statesman, Henry Grattan. Mr. Grattan procured for him 

 a passport, protected him from press-gangs and the police, 

 and secured for him a passage to France, whence he re- 

 turned to America. He settled in the town of Wheeler 

 (then included in Bath) in 1799. 



Capt. Wheeler's first trip to mill is worthy of record, as 

 it gives an insight into the hardships and privations of the 

 new settler. There were at this time three mills in the 

 neighboring towns, viz., at the Friends' settlement, at 

 Naples, and at Bath. The mill at Bath was not running 

 for want of something to grind. Capt. Wheeler's first busi- 

 ness was to make a cart, which he did after the most primi- 

 tive style 5 the wheels were sawn from the end of a log of 

 curly maple, the box was made to correspond, and with a 

 yoke of oxen attached to this vehicle he started for Naples. 

 Two pioneers went before with axes to clear the road, while 

 the captain with his bovine vehicle, bounding over logs and 

 stumps, and floundering through the bushes, followed. 

 The first day's march was six miles, the second brought 

 them to their destination. Capt. Wheeler was famous 

 throughout all the land for his anecdotes, and many an 

 otherwise weary hour has been beguiled by listening to his 

 adventures. He died in 1828, aged seventy-eight, with his 

 son, Grattan H. Wheeler, on the property now owned by 

 440 



his grandson, G. H. Wheeler. The Gulf road to Bath was 

 jopened by Capt. Wheeler, and the Kennedyville road was 

 opened a year or two afterwards. His children were two 

 twin daughters, Ruth and Sarah, and a son, Grattan H. 

 Wheeler. 



Col. Grattan H. Wheeler;, the son of Capt. Silas Wheeler, 

 was an extensive farmer and lumberman. He was always 

 interested and largely identified with public affairs, also 

 a successful politician. Besides filling with energy and 

 public spirit various town offices, he represented his dis- 

 trict in the Assembly from 1823 to 1827, and mainly 

 through his efforts in the Legislature the property qualifi- 

 cation of town officers was materially modified. He after- 

 wards held the office of State Senator, and while discharg- 

 ing its duties, was elected Representative in Congress, in 

 which capacity he served from 1831 to 1835. Col. Whee- 

 ler was a useful and benevolent citizen. At one time he 

 owned 3000 or 4000 acres of land. He died on the farm 

 on which his father settled, about 1851. His children by 

 his first marriage were Sallie, Silas, and Grattan H., and by 

 his second marriage, Fannie, Eliza, Ruth, Adelia, William, 

 and Addison. 



Nathan Rose, who married Ruth Wheeler, settled in 

 1804, and made the first clearing on that part of the 

 property now owned by 0. F. Marshal, known as the 

 Rose farm, on the west side of the creek. He was a 

 farmer by occupation, and a great lover of hunting and 

 fishing. The game taken on such occasions he often 

 divided with his neighbors. He moved to Michigan in 

 the spring of 1834. His children were Polly, Wheeler, 

 Fanny, Sarah, Fruman, Rebecca, Palmer, Gardner, Fred- 

 erick, Mahula, Dollie, and John. 



William Holmes, who married Sarah, daughter of Capt. 

 Silas Wheeler, settled and made the ^rst clearing on the 

 farm where Ira P. Barney now lives, about 1804. He 

 was a shoemaker by trade, but devoted his time chiefly to 

 improving his farm. He died on the same farm. His 

 children were Betsey, Henry G., Lucy, Samuel, Polly, Ruth, 

 Harriet, and Silas. 



Levi Gray was the first settler on the farm now occupied 

 by E. Hathaway. He was the first postmaster in the town, 

 about 1816, on the same farm. The mail was then car- 

 ried on horseback from Bath to Geneva. He was justice 

 of the peace before the town of Wheeler was erected, and 

 the first town clerk in the town of Wheeler. His children 

 were Samuel, Daniel, Jane, Frank, Harry, Eunice, Larron, 

 Elizabeth, Lucretia, and Richard. 



GEN. OTTO F. MARSHAL. 



Otto Frederick Marshal was born in Ziesar, kingdom of 

 Prussia, on the 14th of August, 1791, and came in com- 



