JOSEPH L. WHEELER.
Joseph L. Wheeler is a well-known farmer of Audubon township and the proprietor of three hundred acres of land in that township. Mr. Wheeler received his early education in Cook county, Illinois, and after leaving school farmed with his father until he was thirty-two years of age. He then bought the old homestead farm and began farming for himself. Mr. Wheeler bought two hundred acres of land. He is one of the large farmers of Audubon township. He feeds about three carloads of hogs a year. Mr. Wheeler also raises heavy draft horses. He raises about ninety-six acres of corn, although last year he had a hundred and thirty-five acres. He raises from fifteen hundred to five thousand bushels of small grain, and is entitled to rank as one of the influential and prominent agriculturists in Audubon county.
Joseph L. Wheeler was born on July 4, 1861, in Cook county, Illinois. He is the son of George and Salina (Royer) Wheeler. George Wheeler was born in Canada. His wife was a native of New York state. Although George Wheeler was born in Canada, he was reared in New York. He was a small child when the family moved to Illinois. They located in Cook county. At the time they were offered forty acres of land where the Cook county court house now stands, in exchange for a cook stove. After his marriage George Wheeler continued to live in Illinois until 1882, when he came to Audubon county and settled on a farm where his son Joseph L. now lives. He bought the land from Nathaniel Hamlin, the first settler in Audubon county. He purchased a hundred and sixty acres at first at twenty dollars an acre, and increased his holdings until he owned two hundred and eighty-eight acres. Early in life he had learned dentistry and during the time he lived in Illinois he practiced this profession. While living in Illinois he owned eighty acres of land. During the period of the Civil War George Wheeler tried to enlist, but was rejected. He and his wife had six children, Fernando, James L., Sarah, Oscar, George and Victoria. George and Victoria are deceased. Fernando lives in Wyoming. Sarah married Robert Hamlin. Oscar is a resident of Audubon county.
Joseph L. Wheeler was married on July 4, 1883, to Clara Barchard, daughter of Ira and Annie (Flannery) Barchard. To this union nine children have been born, as follow: Clarence Earl, Clara Ethel, Ira Verne, Royal Leonard, Elda Evelyn, Frank Raymond, Robert Russel, Vivian Irwin and Joseph Lauren. Of these children, Clarence Earl died when young. Clara Ethel married Elmer Boehme, and they have two children, Earl and Evelyn. Ira Verne married Myrtle Johnson, and they have one child, Gerald. Royal Leonard died when small. Ethel Evelyn married J. E. Walker. Frank Raymond died when small. The remainder of the children are single and live at home.
Mrs. Wheeler was born in Cook county, Illinois. Her parents were natives of Cook county and Pennsylvania respectively. Her father grew to manhood in Cook county, and lived near Chicago. He was a detective. For a number of years he was connected with the office of United States marshal. Later in life he worked as a private detective. He was deputy sheriff of Cook county between 1875 and 1880. Ira and Annie (Flannery) Barchard were the parents of eight children, Emilie, Clara E., Clarence C., Ira, Frank, Anna, David and Mamie. Frank and Mrs. Wheeler are the only members of the family who are still living. Mrs. Wheeler's father died in 1906. Her mother died in 1875.
Mr. Wheeler's father died on February 1, 1901. His mother died in August, 1910.
Mr. Wheeler is a member of the Masonic lodge at Exira. He is also a member of the Eastern Star. Mrs. Wheeler is likewise a member of the Eastern Star. Joseph L. Wheeler is identified with the Republican party. Mr. Wheeler considers himself a Republican of the stand-pat faith, and has been loyal to the traditional principles of this party.
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Transcribed from History of Audubon County, Iowa Its People, Industries and Institutions With Biographical Sketches of Representative Citizens and Genealogical Records of Many of the Old Families, by H. F. Andrews, editor, Indianapolis: B. F. Bowen & Company, 1915, pp. 676-678.
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