UPDATE: 07/10/2008  ----- Check back often as this is a work in progress.

The Wheeler Family

 

Ancestors of Amanda Wheeler Young Ransdell

 

Note:  The following information on the first five generations of the Wheeler family is from an Ancestry.com posting by K. Plant who does not cite sources.   There are also other Ancestry.com postings on this family, none of which cite sources.

 

 

1st generation—the Immigrant Ancestor:  John Wheeler was born about 1612 in England and died after 1646 in Westmoreland Co., VA.  There are three listings on the Passenger & Immigration Lists Index for John Wheeler, age 23, who came to Virginia from England in 1635.  His wife is unknown.  They had five children, the third of whom is William, born 1642, next in our direct line. 

 

2nd generation:  William Wheeler was born in 1642 in Westmoreland Co., VA, and died after 1692 in Westmoreland Co., VA.  His wife is unknown.  They had 4 children, the youngest of whom is Richard, born 1668, who is next in our direct line.

 

  

3rd generation:  Richard Wheeler was born in 1668 in  Westmoreland Co., VA, and died after 1697 in Westmoreland Co., VA.  His wife is unknown.  They had 5 children, the oldest of whom is William, born 1687, who is next in our direct line.

 

 

4th generation:  William Wheeler was born in 1687 in  Stafford Co.,  VA, and died before 28 Sept 1762 in Westmoreland Co., VA.  He married Elizabeth, last name unknown, who was born about 1691 in Westmoreland Co., VA.  In 1719 William Wheeler was listed on Proprietors’ Deeds or Grant Book No. 5, as receiving 100 acres in Westmoreland Co., VA.  The Last Will and Testament of William Wheeler is dated 18 Nov 1761, and was probated on 28 Sept 1762.  His wife Elizabeth was given land, as well as their daughter Sarah Horton, who also received 10 shillings.  Their daughter Elizabeth Strother received 1 negro.  Their sons Richard and John received 5 shillings each.  Their son Thomas received land at the time of his mother’s death, whenever that would occur.  The oldest of their five children, John, born 1717, is next in our direct line.

 

 

5th generation:  John Wheeler was born in 1717 in Westmoreland Co., VA, and died 6 Oct 1821 in Madison Co., KY.  His wife is unknown.  They had 4 children, the second of whom, Archelaus Wheeler, born about 1745, is next in our direct line.

 

 

6th generation

 

Archelaus Wheeler

(1745-1830)

 

Mildred Lyle[1]

(about 1755-about 1840)

 

       Archaelaus Wheeler was born in about 1745 in Buckingham Co., Virginia, the son of John Wheeler, mother unknown.   He died in Adair County, Kentucky, in 1830.  His will was probated on Monday, January 3, 1831, in Columbia, Adair County, KY.  He married circa 1775-1880 Mildred Lyle (Lyle is undocumented) who was born circa 1750-1760, probably in Virginia, and died between 1840 and 1850 in Kentucky.[2]

 

        Archaelaus and Mildred had 11 children.  The fifth child was:

 

                Allen Wheeler, b. 30 May 1785 in Virginia, d. 30 December 1876

                    in Mercer Co., KY. 

 

          There are many spellings of the name "Archelaus," e.g., Archer, Archibald, Archless, Achilles, Archilles, and even Eschelus.  According to "Wheeler Cousins," there was only one man named Archelaus Wheeler in Virginia during the 1700s.  The earliest record concerning Archelaus Wheeler is his listing in the 1774 Tithables of Buckingham Co., VA where he appeared as "Archer Wheler."[3]

 

          He was in Bedford Co., VA by 21 Nov 1871 as his signature appears on a Legislative Petition of that date from Bedford residents, which petition is on file in the Virginia State Library, Archives Division.  He was listed on the Personal Property Tax Lists of Bedford County from 1782-1791.

 

         In February 1787 Court, Archelaus Wheeler qualified as Constable.  In March 1787 Court, he qualified as Deputy Sheriff.[4]  He, along with other Wheelers, is noted as having served on several juries for Bedford Co.

 

         According to Judge Forest Calico's book "History of Garrard County, KY and its Churches," Archibald Wheeler was living on Paint Lick Creek before 1800, Paint Lick forming the line between Madison and Garrard Counties.  He is listed in the 1792 tax lists for Madison County.

 

          The Second Census of Kentucky, 1800, lists Archless Wheeler in Green County.  In 1801, Adair County was formed from Green, and from that point until his death in 1830, Archelaus Wheeler is found in the records of Adair County.  Through many years he was shown as having 182 acres, however in 1812 he was shown with 150 while his son Benjamin was on 32 acres. 

 

          Archelaus Wheeler's will gave to his wife Mildred all of his estate for her lifetime.  After her death, the land was to be sold and the money divided among his sons.  The remainder of his estate was to be sold and the money divided among his daughters.[5]

 

         Archelaus Wheeler died in about 1830 probably in Adair County, and Mildred died about 1845 in Adair County.

 

 

7th  generation

 

Allen Wheeler

(1785-1876)[6]

 

Mary (Polly) Davis

(1784-1848)

 

          Allen Wheeler was born 30 May 1785 in Virginia, the fifth of 11 children of Archaelaus and Elizabeth Wheeler. [7]

 

            He was married on 1 January 1811 to Mary (also called Polly) Anderson, a widow, formerly Mary Davis, in Madison County, KY.[8]

 

            He appeared on the Madison County tax rolls in 1811 and 1812, then appeared on the Garrard County tax rolls in 1813 with 102 acres of land on Back Creek and the Kentucky River.  In 1820 he is shown with 204 acres.  He was on the Garrard County census in 1820 and 1830; the Mercer Co. census 1840-1870.   In 1841 he purchased 223 1/3 acres on the Chaplin River near the community of Cornishville, Mercer County, KY, and lived there until his death in 1876. 

 

          Allen and Mary were the parents of ten children.  The youngest was:

 

         Amanda Wheeler b. 23 March 1826, m. (1) 6 July 1843 Thomas Franklin Young[9] (with  whom she had a son, Harvey T., born in 1846. Franklin died 1848;  m. (2) 24 Aug 1848  Shelton Ransdell,[10] a widower with 8 children.  (see RANSDELL)

 

            Mary died 24 December 1848 in Mercer Co., KY.

 

            On 22 October 1849, Allen married Cynthia Ann Walker who was born 1 April 1813 in Garrard Co., KY.  He was 64 and she was 36.

 

             In the 1850 Mercer Co., KY census, Allen Wheeler appears as age 65 with his second wife Cynthia 37, and his son Clayton 24.

 

           1860 Mercer Co., KY census, p. 554:  Allen Wheeler 75, Cynthia 49.

 

           1870 Mercer Co., KY census, p. 451:  Allen Wheeler 85, Cynthia 54.

 

          Allen Wheeler died 30 December 1876 and is buried in the Bohon Christian Church Cemetery in Bohon, Mercer Co., KY. 

 

          Cynthia died 4 February 1884 in Mercer Co., KY.

 

 

Additional source of information:

 

Trails West, a Genealogy of the Wheeler Family of Buckingham and Cumberland County, VA, by Roy William Wheeler, Jr.

 

  

End Notes

[1] The name Lyle is not documented; it was supplied by Vickie Beard Thompson, LDS Library.

[2] Descendants of Archelaus Wheeler provided by Juanita E. Wallace.  She states most of her information came from "Wheeler Cousins" compiled by Wheeler Cousins, 1984.

[3] Buckingham Co., VA Tithables, 1774, p. 1.

[4] Bedford Co., VA Order Book 9, pp. 36 and 33.

[5] Will recorded in Adair Co., KY Will Book C, p. 545.

[6] Dates from cemetery records and gravestone at Bohon Christian  Church Cemetery, Mercer Co., KY.

[7] Descendants of Archelaus Wheeler compiled by Juanita Wheeler Wallace, with much information from "Wheeler Cousins."

[8] Madison Co. KY Marriages 1806-1822 compiled by Kathy Vockery, p. 88.

[9] History of KY, Edition 4 (Perrin, Battle & Kniffen, 1887) says Thomas Franklin Young had a first marriage to Jane Springer and they had two children, David and William, but no one seems to know what became of those children.

[10] Mercer Co. Marriage Book 2, p. 160.

 

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© 2004 JANE MARIE HOPSON MCCLURE

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