Gibson County Indiana

JAMES WHEELER,
REVOLUTIONARY WAR VETERAN

    James Wheeler of Buckingham
County, Virginia, served as a volunteer soldier
in the American Revolutionary War. He served
until the end of the war.  One of his
commanders was Henry Lee, father of Civil
War General Robert E. Lee.  He settled in
Gibson County, Indiana in the early 1800's.
He is buried there near Princeton, Indiana in a
private family plot.

James Wheeler is believed to be the son of Charles Wheeler
of Buckingham County, Virginia. James was born about March 1753.
James married Elizabeth Welch in Buckingham County, Virginia 21
June 1786. They were married by Rane Chastain, a notable preacher
of the gospel in Buckingham County, Virginia.



Tartts History
of Gibson County, Indiana:

James Wheeler, who also had a large family.
A wife, five sons and 4 daughters1. He was a
peculiar sort of a man, fond of fun, and
occasionally enjoyed taking part in a hand to
hand fight, and at gatherings such as log
rollings or muster days. Wheeler was sure to
imbibe quite freely and then get into a
minunderstanding with someone, which
would generally result in a fist fight. Wheeler
though a man of small stature was very spry
and active and mostly came out victorious. He
settled in the timber east about five miles
from Princeton in the summer of 1805 where
he erected a cabin, cleared a small tract of
land, but his subsistence for himself and
family for the first year was gained principally
by hunting, as he arrived too late in the
summer to make a crop. He became quite a
noted hunter, and proved himself to be quite
a valuable acquisition to the settlement.
He was foremost in repelling
any Indian aggressions and frequently boasted
that he was not afraid of the redskins, and he
proved it, because on the breaking out of
Indian troubles he promptly enlisted, as did
three of his sons, and participated in the
battle of Tippicanoe. The war over and peace
declared, he returned to his country home,
where he lived the quiet life of a farmer for a
number of years, and he and his wife died
after filling in usefulness their allotted time.
They left numerous descendants who still
reside in the county....."

    James Wheeler is buried five (5) miles
southeast of Princeton, Indiana in his own
private burial plot. In 1926 the patriotic
organizations of Gibson County placed a
tombstone in front of the original one; there is
also a footstone.

 "In memory of James Wheeler who served in
the revolutionary war five years, ten months,
died the 2nd, buried with the full honors of
war, 4th July 1843, Aged 90 years".




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Roy Wheeler <rwheeler@itctel.com>
(© 1997 Roy Wheeler )

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