Hertford County, NC - Dr. Samuel J. Wheeler, 1810-1879 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Dr. Samuel J. Wheeler Samuel Jordan Wheeler, born at Murfreesboro, N.C. on Oct. 5, 1810 and died at Willow Hall, Sept. 8, 1879 was the founder of a family of some note. He was the second son of John Wheeler and his wife Elizabeth Jordan. Wheeler was educated at Hertford Academy in Murfreesboro. He took a Bachelors' Degree from Columbian College (now George Washington University) and received a M.D. degree from the University of Pennsylvania in 1833. Active in Baptist affairs, Doctor Wheeler is listed as one of the founders of Murfreesboro Baptist Church in 1842 and Chowan Baptist Female Institute (now Chowan College) in 1847. He was an enthusiastic supporter of Chowan: serving as agent for the Institute, as lecturer in anatomy and physiology and as a member of the Board of Trustees. He also served as Clerk of the Chowan Association for a number of years. Brother of a historian and half-brother of a professor, Doctor Wheeler's first literary effort was a history of Meherrin Church which he completed in 1846. Writing from 1855 to 1862 under the assumed name of "Revoir," he was a weekly correspondent to the Petersburg (Va.) Daily Express and also published a serialized history of Hertford County in a local paper. During the 1870's he wrote a series of historical sketches for the Murfreesboro Enquirer, and contributed to numerous newspapers. Doctor Wheeler was owner and editor of the Murfreesboro Citizen until poor health forced him to sell the paper in 1858. Dr. T.C. Parramore, professor of history at Meredith College, Raleigh, N.C. writes "Dr. Wheeler's retiring disposition and rustic habits denied to all but a select few the realization that he was probably the foremost North Carolina antiquarian of his day." Wheeler was also postmaster at Murfreesboro and was commissioned a Colonel; of Cavalry in the Confederate Army at the opening of the Civil War. He was married on April 14, 1836 at Willow Hall to Lucinda Pugh Bond. She was the daughter of Lewis Bond. She was born at Quitana on Nov. 20, 1814 and died Dec. 9, 1879, surviving her husband by only three months. It was only fitting that their tombstones were inscribed, "They were lovely and pleasant in their lives, and in their deaths, they were not divided." Jimmy E. Moore Scanned image of the original text and photo as shown in "RENAISSANCE IN CAROLINA II" by E. Frank Stephenson, Jr. - published 1973. Transcribed by Marianne Ordway __________________________________________________________________ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm This file was contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by Barbara Nichols Mulder ___________________________________________________________________