My Genealogy Hound

JOHN R. WHEELER. For a wide stretch around the town of Farmer the name of Judge Wheeler, for twenty years Justice of the Peace, has been a familiar one, and has always been associated with strict probity and a truly judicial temperament. He is a native of the village of Farmer, and was born on the second day of the last month of the year 1829. He was the son of Nathan B. and Anna (Rappleye) Wheeler, who were natives of Connecticut and New Jersey, respectively.

The ancestors of the Wheeler family resided in New England for several generations, being of English extraction, although the first Wheeler to settle in this country came from Wales. Nathan B. Wheeler, Sr., the grandfather of our subject, came to Seneca County at an early day, and died within its borders. Nathan B. Wheeler, Jr., the father, was born in 1800, and came to this county in 1825. He soon married and settled on a farm of one hundred and six acres near Farmer, and here engaged in the honorable avocation of farming until the day of his death, in 1881. He was a man of ability and character, and his natural gifts of mind and heart were soon recognized by his neighbors, who elected him Justice of the Peace, and retained him in that position for over forty years. He was also a Justice of the Sessions of Seneca County, and an Excise Commissioner. Politically he was a Democrat, and fraternally a Mason, for several years being Master of Farmersville Lodge No. 183, F. & A. M. His wife died about twenty years before his time came.

The parental family included nine children, of whom all but one are now living. Mary is the wife of J. B. Bassett, and is at home in Farmer. John R. is the first son. Jane B. was married twice, the first time Abraham Knight becoming her husband, and the second time Daniel Bryan; she resides in Steuben County. Oscar G. is a banker and farmer. William W. is a resident of Farmer. Harriet is the wife of Norman Campbell and makes her home in Brooklyn. DeWitt C. is a banker at Farmer. Sarah G. is the only one who has gone over to the great majority; and Levi J. is a banker at Trumansburg, N. Y.

Mr. Wheeler, about whom this article is written, was born on the farm, and received the education afforded by the home schools. When twenty years of age, he was taken into a store at Farmer, and after he had gained the necessary experience he formed a business association with Abraham Knight, which continued for ten years. After his partner had retired, at the expiration of this period, he continued the business alone for six years. Then, receiving an advantageous offer, he disposed of it and accepted a position in the office of the Secretary of State at Albany, holding the place for two years. Since that time he has had an office at Farmer. For thirteen years he has been a member of the Seneca County Board of Supervisors, and has been Secretary of the County Agricultural Society, and, as noted before, for twenty years Justice of the Peace.

During the Civil War Judge Wheeler was a strong supporter of the Union, and was in official relations with the general Government, all the soldiers coming from the town of Covert being enlisted by him. He has been a stanch adherent of the Democratic party, and is ready at all times to do his duty in its ranks. In the state conventions of that organization his voice has been heard and his influence felt.

The domestic relations of our subject have been very happy. In 1858 Mary, the daughter of Elbert Dumont, a farmer of the town of Covert, became his wife; she bore him two children, Georgiana May and Charles B., the latter of whom died at the age of twenty years. In religion Judge Wheeler is a member of the Reformed Church. He is also a member of the Masonic fraternity, and has taken an active part in the upbuilding of Farmersville Lodge No. 183, F. & A. M. Of this organization he has been Master, and is much esteemed among his Masonic brethren.