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| Notes for John Wheeler | ||||||||
| from "Three Hundred Colonial Ancestors and War Service by Elizabeth M. Leach Rixford: Page 326 WHEELER ANCESTRY A Genealogy, while primarily an account of persons directly or indirectly connected with a certain family and a recital of their deeds, is, in a secondary sense, a recital of the deeds of those who bear the family name. It is difficult, indeed, to follow a genealogy through its manifold entanglements save by the clues afforded in the use of the family name or names, and it is therefore of primary importance to determine the variants of the original cognomen. The genealogy of the "Wheeler" family would be utterly incomplete, for example, if it did not include also the records of the "Wheler" and "Whaler" families; at the same time it would be incorrect were it to include the "Wheeland" family, which, in spite of the apparent similarity of the first syllable, seems to have sprung from an entirely different source and is the patronymic of an unrelated stock. The name first appears in history in the eighth century, when one of the Saxon chieftains is recorded as bearing the name "Wielher." As the word shows progressive changes from that date onward, there is no great difficulty in tracing the character of that change. Thus, in the great Domesday Book of William the Conqueror, the name appears as "Weleret," the holder of the name being recorded as a landowner. "Hugh le Welere" is mentioned on the One Hundred Rolls in 1273 and "Rich le Whelere" on the Close Rolls in 1348. The spelling "Wheeler" does not appear until later, not until a date which precludes its origin having borne any relation to a trade, such as a wheelwright. Without entering into this question in too much detail, it may be pointed out that three dominant facts stand out from these early historical references. Of these, the significance of the early establishment of the cognomen comes first. No instance, prior to the ninth century, is known of an Anglo-Saxon family bearing on a surname from generation to generation, and there are not more than half-a-dozen in which a surname crops up frequently, every second or third generation. In such cases, these foreshadowed surnames, if such they may be called, are found in families strongly established, holding positions of quasi-chieftainship in their respective localities. When, therefore, the name "Wheler" is traced from the eighth century to the Norman Conquest, when it is found to have survived triumphantly the revolutionary overthrow of tenure in that Conquest and to have maintained its individuality until the period of the definite establishment of surnames, there is strong evidence of the solidity and enduring worth of the family that bore so honored a name throughout a period of such storm and stress. In Colonial records alone, the variations in spelling the old "Welhari" name are as follows: "Weler" and "Weeler", "Wheler," "Whelir" and "Whelor;" "Whalor" (which has nothing to do with "Wheelar," and "Wheeler);" "Whealer" and "Whealor;" "Wheller," and "Wheter" (which is probably a misspelling). The third striking point is the meaning of the name "Wheeler" itself. For this, it is evident, determination must be made from the earliest form on record. How significant is this early appearance has been mentioned, a fact all the more remarkable when it is remembered that surnames do not appear in general use until the eleventh and twelfth centuries. This early spelling "Wielher" is evidently a compound of two Anglo-Saxons words "wel" or "Wiel" meaning "prosperous" or "Fortunate," from which derivation the modern word "Weal" and "wealth" may be traced; and the Anglo-Saxon word "hari" or "heri" a warrior, a root traceable in the modern word "hero." The present spelling of the family name "Wheeler," therefore, is a spelling of words which in their modern form would be "Weal-Hero" or in the Anglo-Saxon words "welhari." The meaning of the family name, therefore, is clearly "the lucky warrior," or "the prosperous hero." In America, prior to the year 1650, it may confidently be affirmed that no other one surname was borne by as many families as the name Wheeler. Numerous families bearing that name were domiciled in Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia. In the New England Colony Savage says that in the year 1640, there were in Concord alone thirty-five families bearing the name, and Hudson says that there were more families of that name in town than of any other. The principal reasons for the emigration of the Wheelers from England naturally closely paralleled the causes which led to almost all the emigration at that period. Chief among these reasons was the infamous Act of 1593, which said "all persons above sixteen years of age, who obstinately refuse to attend divine service at some established church, should be committed to prison, without bail, until they should conform and make public confession of conformity, in terms prescribed by the statute itself." "This atrocious statute," said Edward Everett, "in its final result peopled New England." Hopes that relief from the iniquities of this Act would be realized upon the accession to the throne of James in 1603, were grievously dashed when James himself said, "no bishop, no King; I will make them conform themselves; or I will harry them out of the land, or else do more." (P. xvi) Charles I ascended the throne in 1625 and the following nine years were troublous ones for England. The struggle with the Crown for the maintenance of the constitutional rights of Englishmen and the conflict between the liberty of the people and the royal prerogative, in addition to a religious movement became part of the great political strife which resulted in Civil War and culminated in the death of the King. In 1627, many people of large means refused on constitutional grounds to pay the "Ship Money tax," or forced loan of Charles I because it was not levied with the consent of Parliament. As early as 1629, Charles had summoned and prorogued four Parliaments because each had dared demand redress against the King's illegal acts--redress against the extortion of gifts and forced loans; against the arbitrary commitment to prison and the degradation of the judiciary. Charles resolved to govern without Parliament. For eleven years no Parliament sat at Westminster. For eleven years the king taxed his people without representation, and confined in the Tower those who questioned his right. The people of England rose in one mighty protest against such tyranny. They found their leaders in Elliot and Pym and Hampden. Political and constitutional liberty was dead, except as it lived in the hearts and memories of the Englishmen, who could not forget Rune-mede and Magna Carta. All of these things resulted in a steady stream of emigration of Separatists and Puritans, who sought toleration in Holland, and especially in America, recognizing the "special hand of Providence in raising this plantation." Green says that "between the sailing of Winthrop's expedition (1629) and the assembly of the Long Parliament (1640), in the space of ten or eleven years, two hundred emigrant ships had crossed the Atlantic, and twenty thousand Englishmen had found refuge in the West. Individuals of the name of Wheeler appear in Massachusetts, Maryland, Virginia, Connecticut and Pennsylvania as early as 1629, in some places and in considerable numbers during the next five years in all the others except Pennsylvania. The Concord settlers came from Odell, Bedfordshire, twelve families according to Walcott embarking at London, May 9, 1635, in the ship "Susan and Ellen" under the leadership of Rev. Peter Bulkeley, and later with the Rev. John Jones in the ship "Defiance," landing Oct. 3, 1635. (P. 491), Ephraim Wheeler married Ann Turney. He may be the brother of Thomas, No. 2700. Referred to as Sergeant. It is thought that he came from England with Rev. John Jones' Company in the ship Defiance, Oct. 3, 1635. He was made "freeman" at Concord, Mass., March 13, 1639. In 1644, he joined the portion of the Concord population that followed Rev. Mr. Jones to Fairfield, Conn., taking with him his wife and one or two children, and was granted a home lot of 3 acres at Pequonnock. He became a large landowner and a leading citizen, and was one of the wealthiest citizens of that county. His will dated Sept. 22, 1669, mentions his wife, Ann, and his children as follows: bequeaths "lands and housings" to 3 sons, Samuel, Timothy and Ephraim; and to Isaac, Mary and Ruth, 10 shillings each, they having previously had their share; to Hannah 15œ; to Rebecca, Judith and Abigail, 30œ each. The inventory taken Oct. 28, 1670, amounted to œ1026-18-6. His widow in 1681, paid tax on 706 acres of land. One of his daughters married Samuel Treadwell. Children: 1. ISAAC WHEELER, b. abt. 1638, d. soon. 2. ISAAC WHEELER, b. Dec. 23, 1642, at Concord, Mass. 3. MARY WHEELER. 4. RUTH WHEELER. 5. HANNAH WHEELER. 6. REBECCA WHEELER, m. Samuel Gregory. 7. JUDITH WHEELER. 8. ABIGAIL WHEELER, d. Feb. 7, 1712; probably unm. 9. SAMUEL WHEELER. 10. TIMOTHY WHEELER, b. 1660. 11. EPHRAIM WHEELER. Reference: "Wheeler Family," by A. G. Wheeler, 1914 Pt. 1, pp. 11, 12, 13, 15. See Gregory Ancestry. 8 | ||||||||
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