Amador
County
Biographies
STEPHEN C. WHEELER
Forty-eight years have passed since
Stephen Clark Wheeler came to California and the work of transformation has
been almost that of magic, such marvelous changes have occurred during that
period. The best type of citizenship of
the east came here to found the great commonwealth, and their labors have
resulted in the formation of a state which ranks with the best states in the
east. Mr. Wheeler has been a witness of
the wonderful growth and development of California and deserves honorable
mention among her pioneers. He is now
residing on a farm two miles northeast of Plymouth, where he is carrying on
agricultural pursuits, having a valuable and improved property.
A native of Indiana, he was born in
Jackson County, on the 14th of November, 1828, and traces his
ancestry back to Edward Wheeler, who was born in England. He immigrated to America in 1726, locating at
New Haven, Connecticut. There Zebadiah
Wheeler, the great-grandfather of our subject, was born, and New Haven was also
the birthplace of Nehemiah Wheeler, the grandfather who became one of the
heroes of the Revolution. James Wheeler,
the father of our subject, was born in Rutland, Vermont, July 15, 1803, and married
Druzilla Brown, a native of Kentucky, who also was of
English lineage and a representative of an old Virginia family. Her father, Jacob Brown, removed from
Virginia to Kentucky at the time when the “dark and bloody ground” was first
becoming the home of the white race. Mr.
and Mrs. Wheeler had two daughters and a son, but our subject is now the only
survivor of the family. The mother died
in the twenty-eighth year of her age, but the father, long surviving, attained
the age of eight-two years. He was a
farmer and merchant and in his community was known as a very reliable
businessman.
Mr. Wheeler, of this review, was
reared to manhood in Indiana and to the public-school system of that state is
indebted for the educational privileges he enjoyed. At the age of fourteen years he entered upon
his business career as an employee in a flouring mill, continuing in that occupation
until twenty-two years of age. He was
married on the 21st of February, 1850, to Miss Mary Ellen Thompson,
a native of Jeffersonville, Clark County, Indiana, and a daughter of Benjamin
Thompson. One child was born to them in
the Hoosier state, Laura E., who is now the wife of Nelson Hinkson,
of Eugene City, Oregon. In 1852 Mr.
Wheeler with his young wife and their daughter started on the long and
hazardous journey across the plains to California, making the trip in a wagon
driven by oxen. There were fourteen in
the company, and, after six months and eleven days spent upon the way, arrived at
their present location in what is now Amador County. Mr. Wheeler engaged in placer mining three
miles north of Plymouth, and also followed quartz mining for a time. In connection with his father he erected a
four-stamp mill and developed the Wheeler mine, which proved to be a very
profitable property, as they secured thirty thousand dollars in three
months. This mine is now owned by the
Bank of California and is called the Alpine mine, but is not being worked at
the present time.
Mr. Wheeler purchased his farm in
1859, has built thereon a good residence, has planted a fine orchard and made
all the other improvements and accessories necessary to a model farm. His well-directed efforts have brought to him
a comfortable competence which enables him to surround himself and wife with
all the comforts of life and many of its luxuries. In 1872 he erected a ten-stamp mill on his
farm, which he conducted for four years, when he sold it and ceased his mining
operations. In 1891, however, he and his
sons constructed a five-stamp mill, which they conducted for five years,
meeting with a fair degree of success in the enterprise. In 1896, however, he bonded it to Salt Lake
parties for twelve thousand dollars, and they have since erected a twenty-stamp
mill and expended twenty-eight thousand dollars in improvements. Owing to a default in payment all rights were
forfeited and it has thus reverted to Mr. Wheeler, who is in full control of
same.
Through the forty-eight years of his
residence here Mr. Wheeler has given the greater part of his time and attention
to the development of the rich mineral resources of the state, making farming a
side issue. He is a thoroughly informed
and practical miner, being an excellent judge of gold-producing minerals and an
expert in handling the same.
Eleven children have brightened the
home of Mrs. and Mrs. Wheeler during their residence in California, and with
one exception, all are living. These are
Laura E., now Mrs. Hinkson; James Nelson: Norman
Everett; Julia, the wife of Benjamin A. Downey; William T; Orpha
Ellen, the wife of William E. Wise; Arthur Alvin; Mamie D., who is a graduate
of the Normal School of California and a successful teacher; Mabel E., who also
is engaged in teaching; and Cecil, who is the proprietor of a barber shop in
Plymouth. Mrs. Wheeler is a member of
the Christian Church and was one of the brave pioneer women of California who
courageously met all the hardships and difficulties of a frontier life,
assisting their husbands in making homes on the Pacific slope. She has reared an interesting family of
eleven children and is an intelligent and entertaining lady who commands the
respect and good will of all with whom she comes in contact.
Mr. Wheeler is an active member of
the Grange, of the Friends’ Alliance and of the People’s party, being one of
the delegates to the convention which was held in Los Angeles in 1891 to
organize the party. He received the
nomination for county treasurer, but its numerical force was not sufficient to
elect him. He has, however, taken an
active part in many movements which have contributed to the prosperity and
development of this region. He aided in
organizing the school district in which he has so long resided, and his labors
have been effective in promoting the educational standing of the
community. For thirty-eight years he has
been a school trustee and has done all in his power to improve the condition of
the schools. He served two terms as a
member of the county board of education.
He and his wife were worthy pioneer people who fully merited the high regard
of their many friends and deserve mention in the history of their adopted
county.
Transcribed by
Gerald Iaquinta.
Source:
“A Volume of Memoirs and Genealogy of Representative Citizens of Northern
California”, Pages 228-230. Chicago Standard Genealogical Publishing Co. 1901.
© 2010
Gerald Iaquinta.
Golden Nugget Library's Amador County Biographies