William Erastus Wheeler (1826-1901)
Mexican War Veteran; Surveyor; Sheriff; Edwardsville Mayor
William
Erastus Wheeler was born in Edwardsville on March 3 or 14, 1826. He
was the son of Captain Erastus and Mrs. Julia McMullen (nee Butler)
Wheeler.
Captain Erastus Wheeler was a native of Onondaga County, New York,
where he was born. He served through the War of 1812 as a Private,
taking part in the Battle of Lundy’s Lane. A few years after he cast
his fortune with the new State of Illinois in 1818, locating at
Edwardsville. He served as Captain in both the Black Hawk and
Mexican Wars. Captain Wheeler was a typical pioneer, one who was
very likely to be “master of his own fate.” He was an able Justice
of the Peace for many years, a financier of marked ability, and
acquired title to a considerable portion of the land on which the
eastern portion of Edwardsville was built. He married Julia
McMullen, nee Butler, a native of England, who came to Edwardsville
a few years previously from New York City. She was a school teacher,
accomplished, mild-mannered and dignified, and always retained her
English accent. The children of Captain and Mrs. Erastus Wheeler
were: Lucy A., who married at the age of sixty; Mr. Alvin Wheeler of
Davenport, Iowa; Eliza, who married John Leavitt; Julia, who married
John Olive; William Erastus; and John S., who married Miss Lizzie
Arthur. The family lived in a house built of hewn logs near the spot
where the St. Boniface parsonage was constructed.
William Erastus Wheeler finished a meager school course provided at
the
age of fourteen years, but all of life was a school to him, and at
its close he was a highly educated man in many ways. When he had
decided upon a vocation, he learned surveying under the instruction
of the well-known Beniah Robinson, and soon became exceedingly
proficient in the work, to which his country-man George Washington,
had devoted many years of usefulness. His work associated him with
much history making, and he located and laid down part of the State
line separating Kansas and Nebraska. He also located the line of the
Indianapolis and St. Louis Railroad (Chicago & Alton) between Alton
and East St. Louis. He knew Madison County like a book, established
many of its landmarks, and was more familiar with landlines within
its boundaries than any other man of his time. He was considered an
expert civil engineer and authority on surveying.
Served in the Mexican War as Sergeant in Company D, 2nd Illinois
Infantry. His father, Erastus Wheeler, served as Captain of the
Company.
At the age of twenty, William went with his father to the Mexican
War. He first served as Private in Company I, 1st Regiment of
Illinois Infantry, organized May 13, 1846 in Alton. He then served
as Sergeant in Company D, 2nd Illinois Infantry, where his father,
Erastus Wheeler, served as Captain. He was in the Battle of Buena
Vista, and in the thickest of the fight, his regiment held an
important position in repulsing a desperate cavalry charge of the
enemy. When the Civil War plunged the nation into desolation, Mr.
Wheeler organized a company of men at Edwardsville, to support the
cause of the Union, and tendered the services of himself and his
company to Governor Yates, but the company was not put into
commission for political reasons.
William was elected Sheriff of Madison County in 1862, and as such,
was ex-officio tax collector of the entire county. He showed great
executive and financial ability, and on account of his services, he
was afterwards put in charge of the county’s financial affairs as
chairman of the Board of County Commissioners. During his term, he
re-organized the financial affairs of the county, and put it upon a
sound footing.
As mayor of Edwardsville, 1891-1893, he applied to the city’s
administration the same ability shown in other affairs. He was
ardent and honest, seldom seeking office. He was always in close
touch with the agricultural interests of the county, and in his
later years was operating as landlord over nine hundred acres of
land, most of which had been cleared by him. He was a prominent
member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and was affiliated
with the fraternity for 52 years.
On April 7, 1859, Mr. Wheeler married Miss Piety F. Hatcher of
Ridgely, Madison County, Illinois. Her father, Creed Haskins
Hatcher, a prominent farmer, was a native of the Green River country
in Kentucky, and had left his native State in 1856, where he had
been a slave holder, to locate in Illinois. His wife was Ann
Wickliffe Gill, a native of Virginia. They were married in Kentucky,
where Mrs. Wheeler was born in 1842.
The children of Mr. and Mrs. William Erastus Wheeler were: Anna
Wickliffe, the wife of Charles H. Burton of Edwardsville; Lillie
Julia, wife of Erskine Mansfield of Columbus, Ohio; Margaret
Elizabeth, wife of C. R. Dodds; William Erastus Jr. of East St.
Louis; and Daisy, wife of W. A. Yule of Pittsburg. Mrs. Wheeler’s
large home in Edwardsville was noted for its hospitality and social
charm.
For the last twenty years of his life, Mr. Wheeler gave up business
activity, and in the quiet of his home and fireside, sought a high
order of literary pursuits. He was a student of the Bible, as well
as of Shakespeare, Byron, and other classics. His retentive mind
enabled him to store a wealth of interesting and valuable
information, though he avoided making any show or display in that
direction. He was a man of strong convictions, dignified and
courteous in his manner, and of the greatest courage, morally and
physically. Of handsome and commanding appearance, his six feet of
height made him a notable figure in any gathering.
For the last ten years of his life, it had been William’s custom to
pass the winters in the South for the benefit of his health. Most
winters were spent in Citronelle, Alabama, where he made many
friends.
William Wheeler died on May 18, 1901, in Edwardsville, after a long
illness. The Edwardsville Lodge of Odd Fellows was in charge of the
services, and an address was made by Circuit Judge Burroughs. The
pallbearers were: Major W. R. Pricket, Judge William H. Krome, A. P.
Wolf, E. W. Mudge, J. T. Crocker, A. L. Brown, William H. Hall, and
W. M. Warnock. Burial was in the Woodlawn Cemetery in Edwardsville.
Sources:
Alton Evening Telegraph, May 18, 1901
Centennial History of Madison County, IL, 1912