Morris Wheeler

WHEELER

Posted By: County Coordinator
Date: 3/12/2009 at 12:31:05

Morris Wheeler, Morris Wheeler, who is engaged in general farming on Sec 13, Douglas township, his home being within three miles of Madrid, is a native of Oneida county, New York, his birth having occurred on December 11, 1832. He is a son of George Wheeler, who was born in Glastonbury, Connecticut, February 1791. The grandfather, Lazarus Wheeler, was one of the early settlers of the Empire state. George Wheeler was a soldier of the war of 1812, serving as a musician. With is father’s family he removed to New York, Settling in Rome in 1810, and there he was reared to manhood. After arriving at years of maturity he was there married to Denlanna Holmes, whose birth occurred in Hartwick, New York. Mr Wheeler followed farming in Oneida county, and there reared his family, spending his entire life in that locality after his removal from Connecticut to the Empire state There his death occurred on September 9, 1882.
Morris Wheeler, whose name introduces this review spent he days of his boyhood and youth in the Empire state. He was the youngest of a family of eight children, seven sons and one daughter, but only three of the number are now living. He acquired his education in the common schools of Oneida county and in academies of the east, and remained with his father until he was seventeen years of age. He then went to Utica, New York, where he engaged in clerking for several years, following that pursuit until his marriage. Like most young men starting out in life on their own account, he did not desire to travel the journey alone and as a companion he chose Miss Mary Orcutt, the wedding being celebrated in Oneida county, June 6, 1855. The lady was a native of Canada.
In the spring of 1856 Mr Wheeler came with his young wife to Iowa, locating in Madrid, where he engaged in the hardware business for a few years. In the year of his arrival he purchased the land upon which he now resides. This be broke, fenced and improved. He also built upon it, and opened up a good farm, and has for many years carried on general farming and stock raising. He lost his first wife here in August 1862, and after her death he returned to New York and joined the army, becoming a clerk in the quartermaster’s department, in which capacity he served until the close of the war. He afterward worked with his brother in Utica I the stove foundry. For seven years he was a clerk and bookkeeper, and about tat time was again married.
On October 6, 1869, Mr Wheeler was joined in wedlock to Lucy Nourse, a native of New York, born in Herkimer county, where she was reared. She acquired her education in the Whitestown Seminary and on the completion of the regular course was graduated in 1865. She is a daughter of Elisha Nourse, an native of Vermont, in which state he was reared and married After the death of his first wife he was married in New York to Lucy H Newland, who became the mother of Mrs Wheeler. In 1872 our subject and his wife returned to Iowa, locating upon his present farm, on which he has since placed many excellent improvements. The pleasant residence and substantial outbuildings are surrounded by well tilled fields, the neat appearance of the home is very attractive, in front are ornamental trees which cast a grateful shade in summer, and an orchard yields its fruits in season. IN fact, the farm is one of the best equipped in this locality and indicates the enterprise of the owner.
Unto Mr and Mrs Wheeler have been born three children: E M a noted cornetist now in Chicago, being a member of the Second Regiment band, Lucile M a student and teacher of music, now in the Highland Park Conservatory in Des Moines, Iowa and Walter H, who is pursuing his studies n the Agricultural College at Ames, Iowa. When age gave to Mr Wheeler the right of franchise he cast his first presidential ballot for Abraham Lincoln in 1860, and has never yet wavered in his allegiance to the Republican party, but has never aspired to office nor desired to serve in positions of official preferment. Mrs Wheeler was reared in the Baptist faith and she and her daughter hold membership in the church of that denomination at Boone and attend services frequently at Madrid. Mrs Wheeler takes a very active interest in the work and is now serving as a teacher in the Christian Sunday school of Madrid. She is also a member of and president of the Women’s Christian Temperance Union of that place and belongs to the American Female Guardian Society of New York. She is likewise a member of the Iowa State Baptist and the Congress of Mothers, and of other societies tending to promote the moral development of the race. Mr Wheeler was made a Mason in Utica, New York, but is not dimitted form the craft. Forty-six years ago he came to Boone county and has never had occasion to regret his determination to seek a home in this portion of the state, for as the years have passed he has prospered in this work, placing his dependence upon the substantial qualities of an industry that never flags, unfaltering resolution and sound business judgment.

1902 Boone County History Book