Arthur Buck Wheelock Biography This biography appears on pages 76-79 in "History of Dakota Territory" by George W. Kingsbury, Vol. IV (1915) and was scanned, OCRed and edited by Maurice Krueger, mkrueger@iw.net. This file may be freely copied by individuals and non-profit organizations for their private use. Any other use, including publication, storage in a retrieval system, or transmission by electronic, mechanical, or other means requires the written approval of the file's author. This file is part of the SDGENWEB Archives. If you arrived here inside a frame or from a link from somewhere else, our front door is at http://usgwarchives.org/sd/sdfiles.htm JUDGE ARTHUR BUCK WHEELOCK. No history of public interests in Sioux Falls would be complete were there failure to make prominent reference to Judge Arthur Buck Wheelock, who for twenty years was city and police justice, retiring in 1912, since which time he has enjoyed the rest to which he is justly entitled. He was born in Royalton, Vermont, April 19, 1832, a son of Peter and Chestina Eliza Smith (Buck) Wheelock. The father was also a native of Royalton, while the grandfather, Peter Wheelock, Sr., was born in Swansea, Massachusetts. He was one of the minutemen of the Revolutionary war. The ancestral line can be traced back to RaIph Wheelock, who came from Shropshire, England, in 1630, and whose son, Eleazer Wheelock, was the founder of Dartmouth College. In taking up the personal history of Judge Wheelock we present to our readers the life record of one who is most widely and favorably known in Sioux Falls and throughout this section of the state. He has now passed the eighty-second milestone on life,s journey, but in spirit and interests seems yet in his prime. In 1833 his parents removed from Royalton to Newbury, Vermont, where he was reared and educated. He remained at home until October, 1853, and then left New England with Milwaukee, Wisconsin, as his destination, having an uncle, J. S. Buck, and his maternal grandmother, Polly Buck living in that city at the time, which fact influenced him in his removal. He was afterward in Missouri and later went to fort Bridger with a freight outfit. Subsequently he returned to Missouri, where he operated a sawmill for two years, and then again went to Milwaukee, whither his parents had removed in 1853. On the twenty-ninth anniversary of his birth — the 19th of April, 1861 — Judge Wheelock enlisted as a member of the old Milwaukee Light Guards, which command became Company A, First Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry. They responded to the president,s call for three months, troops and on the expiration of that period Judge Wheelock reenlisted as a private of the Seventh Wisconsin Light Artillery for three years, or during the war. He was detailed for recruiting service and in September, 1861, was commissioned second lieutenant of the battery. Further promotion came to him in the spring of 1865, when he was made captain of the Seventh Battery, with which he served until mustered out in Milwaukee on the 20th of July, 1865. He was captured at Memphis, Tennessee, and taken to Cahaba, Alabama, August 21, 1864, by General Forrest's command and was held for two months at that place, after which he was exchanged and again engaged in active duty with his regiment. When mustered out of service he was thirty-three years of age, was six feet, two and a half inches in height and had almost Herculean strength. He is still a splendid specimen of physical manhood, bearing his eighty-two years lightly, and while he has retired from office and business life, he is still active and is keenly interested in affairs of the day. After the war Judge Wheelock engaged in railroad building in the west from 1866 until February, 1868, when he came to the territory of Dakota and homesteaded land in Lincoln county, on which the town of Hudson is now located. The village of Hudson was first called Eden, being so named by Judge Wheelock, who donated the land for the town site. Subsequently, however, owing to the feet that its similarity to Egan caused considerable confusion, the name of the place was changed to Hudson. Judge Wheelock devoted about two decades to general agricultural pursuits and in 1888 came to Sioux Falls. He was city and police justice for twenty years, in which connection he rendered decisions strictly fair and impartial, his capable service being indicated by his long retention in office. It was not until 1912 that he retired, being then eighty years of age. He was also at one time a member of the territorial legislature and he has ever been deeply interested in matters affecting the welfare, development and upbuilding of the commonwealth. His political allegiance has ever been given to the republican party since its organization. On the 21st of October, 1869, at Hudson, South Dakota, Judge Wheelock was united in marriage to Miss Cynthia E. Mundy, a daughter of James Martin Mundy, who was a noncommissioned officer of a Minnesota regiment and died at La Grange, Tennessee, in 1861, while defending the Union, being there buried. Judge and Mrs. Wheelock are the parents of two daughters Mary Elsie, a graduate of All Saints School of Sioux Falls, is the wife of Maurice Blair Mayne, of Sioux City, Iowa, by whom she has two children, Kenneth Wheelock and Mary Wheelock Mayne. Alice Muriel was graduated from All Saints School and is a graduate of the Art Institute of Chicago. She resides with her parents. The religious faith of the family is that of the Episcopal church, of which Judge Wheelock has been a member for many years. He likewise holds membership with the Dacotah Club and with the Masonic fraternity, being a Knight Templar and a member of the Mystic Shrine. Sterling qualities of manhood and citizenship have ever characterized his life and won for him the respect, confidence and goodwill of all concerned. Throughout his entire life he has been as true and loyal to his public duties as he was when he followed the old flag on the battlefields of the south, making a most creditable record as a soldier His loyalty to the flag has ever been one of his strong characteristics and patriotism and progress might well be termed the keynote of his character.