Wadsworth Grant Wheelock (1835 - 1897)

Born 12 Feb 1835 in Hinesburg, Chittenden, Vermont, United States

Ancestors

Husband of Martha A (Trott) Wheelock — married 10 Jul 1853 in Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts, United States

Descendants

Died 24 Aug 1897 at age 62 in Janesville, Rock, Wisconsin, United States

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Biography

Wadsworth was born in 1835 to John Wheelock and Lucretia Washburn.

In 1850, at age 15, Wadsworth taught school in Elmore. The next year, he taught at Walden.

In 1852, Wadsworth moved to Boston, where he became a salesman at Elisha Preston and Co. at No. 6 Longwharf. They were wholesale dealers in West Indian goods.

In 1853, Wadsworth married Martha Trott in Boston. They had five children.

In 1854, they moved to Janesville, Wisconsin, where Wadsworth began working at his brother's dry goods store. In 1855, Wadsworth became the proprietor.

In 1877, son Charles moved to South Bend, Indiana, where he began selling fine china. Note that South Bend is 202 miles southeast of Janesville.

In about 1882, son George joined son Charles in South Bend.

In 1887, Charles sold out to George and moved to Peoria, and opened another branch of the Wheelock Store. Peoria is 162 miles south of Janesville.

In about 1888, son Arthur opened a branch of the Wheelock Store in Rockford, Illinois. Rockford is 35 miles south of Janesville.

In 1897, Wadsworth passed away in Janesville.

The US Biological Dictionary and Portrait Gallery of Eminent and Self-Made Men, Wisconsin Volume, Chicago : American Biographical Publishing Company, 1877, page 369

Wadsworth G. Wheelock, Janesville.

The subject of this biography, a native of Hinesburgh, Chittenden county, Vermont, was born February 12, 1835, and is the son of John and Lucrecia (Washburn) Wheelock, and traces his descent in a direct line from Ralph Wheelock, who immigrated from England to America in the year 1637, and settled in Watertown, Massachusetts. Peter Wheelock, one of the intermediate links of the chain of lineage, was one of the first settlers of Vermont, and drew his baggage thither on a hand-sled. Since then the family has become numerous and influential, and some of its members distinguished. They have been noted as devout and exemplary members of the church of the Pilgrim Fathers, to which many of them still adhere, having carried branches of it from the granite hills of New England which have taken root and flourished in the more genial soil of the western prairies.

Our subject received a fair academic education at the literary institutions of Hinesburgh, Jericho and Morrisville, Vermont, but, like many another New England youth, was dependent upon his own efforts for support while pursuing his studies. This he did by working on a farm a few months in the summer and teaching a district school (boarding around) during the winter months. At the age of fifteen he taught his first school at Elmore, Vermont, and the year following taught in Walden in the same State, where he had a school of sixty pupils, some of them quite large, and many pursuing the study of the higher mathematics.

At the age of seventeen years he left his native State and settled in Boston, Massachusetts, where he obtained a situation in the establishment of Elisha Preston and Co., No. 6 Longwharf, wholesale dealers in West Indian goods, where he remained some three years, becoming not only an apt and accomplished business man, but earning for himself an enviable reputation as an honest, upright and efficient employee.

In 1854 our subject followed the tide of immigration to the West, and settled in Janesville, Wisconsin, where for a short time he clerked in the store of an elder brother, who had preceded him to the Badger State, and in 1855 he became the sole proprietor of the establishment, and has carried on the business with a faithfulness and skill which has found its reward in ample success. He has accumulated a liberal competence and possesses a comfortable and happy home, and cherishes for himself and his family all the feelings and moral associations that belong to that blessed word.

On the 10th of July 1853, he was married to Miss Martha A. Trott, a charming and accomplished young lady of Boston. The union proved happy and they have grown up leaning upon each other, like the olive and the vine, bearing each other's burdens, and thus fulfilling the law of love. They have a family of four boys, named in the order of their birth: Charles Edward, George Henry, Arthur Washburn and Frank Wadsworth. The eldest is a graduate of the Janesville high school, and intends pursuing the business of merchandising; the others are now attending school.

In religious faith and connection Mr. Wheelock adheres to the church of his fathers, and is an active member of the Congregational Church of Janesville, contributing liberally of his means toward the support of the gospel ministry and all the charitable and benevolent institutions of Christianity. He is a deacon of the church, and has been trustee and superintendent of the Sunday-school, a zealous member of the Young Men's Christian Association, and an office-bearer in that most worthy order, the Sons of Temperance. In every relation of life his bearing and conversation are blameless and exemplary. While he is unswerving in his loyalty to the church of his choice, he is, nevertheless, charitable to all denominations of Christians.

While his character is marked by a manly frankness and honesty on the one hand, it is not less distinguished on the other by modesty and delicacy. In his gifts for religion or charity he lets not his left hand know his right hand's doings; but his deeds are seen in the fruit which they bring to perfection. His manners are quiet, dignified and courteous; his heart is always warm, though he is rarely demonstrative. He is noted as a peacemaker, his word being generally an end of all controversy, and he is esteemed as one of the best and most useful citizens of Janesville.

The South Bend Tribune (South Bend, Indiana) 5 Aug 1889, Monday, page 4

Mr. George H. Wheelock leaves tonight for New York, where he will meet his father, W. G. Wheelock, of Janesville, Wisconsin, and brothers, Charles G. Wheelock, of Peoria, Ill., and Arthur W. Wheelock, of Rockford, Ill. All are engaged in the crockery business and they go together to buy goods.

1860 Federal Census in Janesville, Wisconsin:

• WG Wheelock 25 Liquor Dealer born Vermont
• Martha A 24 born Massachusetts
• Chs E 1 born Wisconsin
• Eliza Culler 24 Svt [Servant] born Ireland

1870 Federal Census in Janesville, Wisconsin:

• WG Wheelock 35 Crockery Dealer born Vermont
• Martha A 34 Keeps House born Massachusetts
• Chas 12 born Wisconsin
• Geo 7 born Wisconsin
• Arthur 5 born Wisconsin
• Frank 2 born Wisconsin
• [mother-in-law] Sarah Perry 60 born New Hampshire
• Mary Smidt 18 Domestic born Germany
• Irene Poller 58 Nurse born New York

1880 Federal Census in Janesville, Wisconsin:

• Walter Whelock 45 Crockery Dealer born New York [actually Vermont]
• wife Martha A 44 born Massachusetts
• son George 16 born Wisconsin
• son Arthur W 14 born Wisconsin
• son Frank W 10 born Wisconsin
• mother-in-law Sarlon [actually Sarah] Perry 64 Servant born Wisconsin [actually New Hampshire]
• Martha Cook 19 Servant born Wisconsin

Sources

• 1835 Vermont Birth Record for Grant Wadsworth Wheelock, son of John Wheelock and Lucretia Washburn
• 1853 Massachusetts Marriage Record for Wadsworth G Wheelock and Martha A Trott
• 1860 Federal Census
• 1870 Federal Census
• 1880 Federal Census
• 1897 Wisconsin Death Record for Wadsworth G Wheelock gives spouse as Martha A Trott, and parents as John Wheelock and Lucretia Washburn
• Findagrave profile