Shubael was born on September 19, 1757, in Rehoboth, Massachusetts, where SO many Wheelers lived and died. His parents were Captain Philip Wheeler Jr. and Mary Wheeler (INGALLS). This is the Captain Philip Wheeler, who died just before the start of the war in a training accident as the head of the Militia. Both he and his son Shubael are written about in my Wheeler story “Former Ingalls-Wheeler-Horton Homestead.” Shubael married Chloe Martin on September 1, 1781, and they had one son and three daughters.
Below are excerpts from a Daughter’s of the American Revolution application of one of Shubael’s ancestors.
“Wheeler, Shubael, Rehoboth.
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- Private, Capt. Isaac Hodges’s company; service from Aug. 12, 1776, to Oct. 1, 1776;
- also, Capt. Hodges’s company in Col. Francis’s regiment; copies of company receipts for wages for service from Aug. 12, 1776, to Nov. 30, 1776, dated Dorchester;
- also, same company and regiment; pay abstract for travel allowance from camp home, etc., sworn to Nov. 29, 1776; said Wheeler credited with allowance for 2 days (48 miles) travel; company drafted from Rehoboth, Attleborough, Norton, Mansfield, and Easton;
- also, Capt. Stephen Bullock’s Company, Col. Thomas Carpenter’s regiment; service to Dec. 23, 1776, 9 days; company marched from Rehoboth to Bristol, R. I., on the alarm of Dec. 8, 1776;
- also, Corporal, Capt. Israel Hicks’s company, Col. John Daggett’s regiment; marched to camp Jan. 2, 1778; discharged March 31, 1778; service, 3 mos., at Rhode Island.”
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He wrote his poem on the back of a payroll document of Captain Hodge’s company, which he served in at the time, on November 29, 1776.
He signed it “Shubael Wheeler – The Poet of the Revolution”.
Shubael Wheeler Poem November 26, 1776
Below is a pdf version
Shubael Wheeler Poet of the Revolution – American Liberty
Shubael died on February 20, 1812. His son and a daughter died in 1806 in their early twenties. They died ten days apart, suggesting some common cause like a cholera outbreak.
Shubael Wheeler Will Signature 1812