Wheeler Stories

Wheeler Machine in the fields.

The Wheeler Machine

Wheeler Machine patented by Cyrenus Wheeler. HON. CYRENUS WHEELER, JR., was a well-known inventor of harvesting machinery, ex-Mayor of the city of Auburn, N.Y. He was born on March 21, 1817, at Seekonk, Bristol County, Massachusetts.

Cyrenus Wheeler Jr. is my 3rd cousin, 4x removed

Shubael Wheeler Will Signature 1812

While most of the Wheeler men fought during the American Revolution in its fight against British rule, one took the extra step to write about it. Shubael Wheeler was that man with his many letters to his wife Chloe and a long poem about why we fought. He wrote it on the back of a payroll document of Captain Hodge’s company, which he served in, on November 29, 1776.

Shubael Wheeler Will Signature 1812

He signed it “Shubael Wheeler – The Poet of the Revolution”.

Junius Brutus Stearns, “Hannah Duston Killing the Indians” (1847). Oil on canvas.

Hero Or Killer? The story of “Hannah Duston’s Revenge”

It was during the time of King William’s War (also known as the Second Indian War) between 1688–1697. On March 15, 1697, the settlement of Haverhill in the Massachusetts Bay Colony where Hannah, her husband Thomas Duston Jr., and their 9 children lived, was raided by a war party of Abenaki from Quebec. It would later be called “Raid on Haverhill”. During this raid, 27 colonists, 15 of them children, were killed.

Her husband Thomas is my 1st cousin, 9x removed. His mother was Elizabeth Wheeler, a daughter of Lt. John Wheeler the first Wheeler of our Wheeler line in America. The same Wheelers that had two cousins accused of witchcraft are detailed in the “Wheeler First Cousin Witches of Salem” story on this page. These were Elizabeth’s nieces.

But this is the story of Hannah (EMERSON) and Thomas Dunston.

The “Wheeler First Cousin Witches of Salem”

The Salem witch trials occurred in colonial Massachusetts between early 1692 and mid-1693. More than 300 people were accused of practicing witchcraft—the devil’s magic—and 20 were executed. David and Sarah Wheeler (WISE) had eight sons and three daughters.

Witchcraft at Salem Village. Engraving. The central figure in this 1876 illustration of the courtroom is usually identified as Mary Walcott.

One of those daughters was accused of Witchcraft. Henry and Abigail Wheeler (ALLEN) had eight sons and four daughters. One of those daughters was accused of Witchcraft.

Henry and David were brothers and sons of John and Agnes Wheeler (YEOMAN), the original Wheelers in America of our family line.

Their names?

Lydia Wheeler
Abigail Wheeler

St. Edmund Salisbury England (c1589 – c1670) Great Migration Immigrant 1639

John Wheeler Famous Descendants

William Constant Wheeler The Burlington Free Press 19 Oct 1934

Comfort Wheeler and son William Constant Wheeler

That’s the story of Comfort Wheeler, who was born on March 13, 1766. And that of his son William Constant Wheeler, usually referred to as “Constant,” who DIED Feb 1, 1941. That’s 174 years, 10 months, 20 days between those dates.

Former Ingalls-Wheeler-Horton Homestead

The Ingalls-Wheeler-Horton homestead was built in 1731 by Benjamin Ingalls, who occupied it with his wife Mercy Ingalls, until his death about ten years later. Mrs. Ingalls then married Colonel Philip Wheeler, who had been living in North Rehoboth on Anawan Street, a little north of Fairview Avenue.

Colonel Phillip Wheeler is my 6th great-granduncle