William Wheeler ca. 1832-

William  W. Wheeler, Jr.
Born: ca. 1832, Illinois
Died: probably before 1870 as he does not appear on the census
Buried: unknown

Married: Elizabeth Jane Renfro ca. 1857

Records:
1840 - Illinois, Wayne Co., census:
1 male 5 to 9 - could be William
1 male 15-19 - could be Martin
1 male 20-29 - Thomas
2 females 15-19 - one could be a sister and one could be Thomas' wife
1 female 50-59 - probably William & Thomas' mother

1850 - Sep. 5 - Illinois, Wayne Co., District 11 - census:
Wheeler, Thomas, 36, farmer, personal estate $300, b. KY - this is probably William's older brother
E. 27, female, b. IL
W.R. 5, male, b. IL
C. 8/12 (?), male, b. IL
Wheeler, W.W. [William W.] 19, farmer, b. IL, attended school within the year

1854 - Feb. / March - Illinois, Hopewell Baptist Church:
[Page header] A new list of names of the members of Hopewell Church in 1854 . . .
Nathan Renfro 10x [William's father-in-law?]
Elizabeth Renfro 11 departed this life Oct (?) 1856 . . .
Mary Renfro 25 by experience . . .
Wm. Wheeler, 30 by experience

[The numbers are the number on the list, not people's ages.  Experience means that he was admitted on the strength of his conversion experience.  It is possible that he was baptized into this church. Other members were admitted through letters of transfer from other congregations.]

Hopewell Baptist Church was a Primitive Baptist Church organized August 5, 1820, at the home of George Close, with nine members: James Bird, Susan Bird, Anna Blissitt, Stephen Coonrod, John Coonrod, Naomi Close, James Taylor, William Watkins and Polly Watkins. Elders Benjamin Keith and William Hanks composed the presbytery which organized the church.

The messengers, chosen in 1821, to petition for membership in the Muddy River Association, were James Taylor and William Watkins. This church was a member of the Muddy River (1821), Little Wabash (1825) and Skillet Fork (1840) Associations during its existence.

Elder William Watkins was serving as pastor in about 1840. The only records of the church which have been discovered begin in 1845, with an account of trouble resulting in a division in the church caused by Elder John Kimmel. In July 1846, Elder Isaiah Walker was ordained, and served the church as pastor or moderator. He was followed by Elders Felix Potter, William Thomas, John Hunsinger, Nathaniel Williams, Lewis Hunsinger, James D. Jones, Isham Caudle and Jeremiah Wooten up to the year 1874.

In 1845, the church was meeting in a schoolhouse near William McCullough's. In March 1850 the church agreed to build a meeting house after the model of Mt. Pleasant's, and appointed members to select a site. Jacob Baird and wife gave two acres of land, in 1855, on which the church erected a building. It was located about a mile east of Barnhill, in Barnhill township.

A three-day centennial service was held in August 1920, with Elder/Pastor M.L. Gwaltney and Elders A.J. Coale, Charles Jones, A.D. Hancock and others in attendance. The church was shown as a member of the Skillet Fork Association as late as 1934.

Families found on membership rolls: Atterberry, Baird, Bird, Blissit, Buckels, Butler, Carter, Caudle, Churchwell, Clark, Close, Coonrod, Copeland, Corley, Day, Doris, Eskridge, Felix, Friend, Gray, Hall, Harl, Hodge, Hodges, Howard, Jerrels, Kennedy, Kimmell, King, Lock, Martin, McCullough, Meeks, Murphey/Murphy, Musgraves, Nunn, Odell, Palmer, Pendleton, Potter, Reed, Renfro, Reynolds, Rhodes, Simpson, Smith, Taylor, Tombs, Upchurch, Wade, Walker, Watkins, Wheeler, Wilson, Wood - this is an incomplete list due to the loss of the majority of the records.

1860 - July 27 - Illinois, Wayne Co., Twp. 3, Range 8 East [Barnhill] - census:
Wheeler, Wm. W. 28, farmer, personal estate $1000, b. IL
Elisabeth 22, b. IL
Wm. Nath. 2, b. IL
Elija 1/12, b. IL

1860-1865 - Illinois, Hopewell Baptist Church:
[Page header] A List of Names of the members of Hopewell . . . Wm. Wheeler 20

Again, the 20 refers to the number on the list, not William's age. The membership lists were "working lists" so the date of the list ranges from approximately 1860 through 1865.  Names were crossed out when people were dismissed, excluded or died. There is nothing indicating that William left the church, such as "dismissed" so, he probably died.

1865 - Illinois, Wayne Co. - state census:
William Wheeler family - seems to be a different family
1 male 30-40
2 females under 10
1 female 10-20
1 female 30-40

1989 - Feb. 5 - Letter from J.E. "Gene" Wheeler to Robert G. Wheeler - While doing my research, I discovered the work done by W.R. Jones as mentioned in the recent newsletter. As you saw, Jones confirmed that your ancestor William W. Wheeler (Jr.) was the brother of my ancestor John Wesley Wheeler and they were sons of William W. Wheeler.

Children:
William Nathan
Elijah D.  b. 1860 md. Laura West, 6/30/1889, she was from Indiana and the daughter of James & Nancy J. (Cabbage) West
John Wesley, b. 1861, d. 1944 md. 1884? Susan Rachel Upton
  • Viola M. b. 1888 md. Ren Rockett, children: John L., Cletus C., Thelma E.
  • William Everett b. 1889
  • Matilda Florence b. 1899, d. 1981 md. James Green, children: Wesley C., Rachel, Allie B., George R., Estelle L. 
Charles W. is he a brother? md. Emma West, 1888

Revised 6/8/2019

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