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Born: June 30, 1819
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Died: June 4, 1887
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Complete HarpWeek Biography:
William Wheeler was a congressman and vice-president of the United States. He
was born in Malone, New York, to Eliza Woodworth Wheeler and Almon Wheeler, a
family whose lineage could be traced to early Puritan New England. In 1827 Almon
Wheeler died without leaving an estate, forcing Eliza Wheeler to board students
in order to support her own children. Young Wheeler worked his way through the
same academy as the boarders, then matriculated at the University of Vermont for
two years (1838-1840). His poverty during his college years once compelled him
to live on bread and water for six weeks and, along with an eye affliction,
caused him to leave the university. Back in Malone, he took up the study of law
and became a member of the New York bar in 1845. Later that year he married Mary
King. He built a prosperous law practice before he retired after six years to
become a bank manager, then trustee and business manager of the Northern Railway
in 1853.
Wheeler also entered politics in the mid-1840s, migrating from the Whig to the
new Republican party in 1855. He served as Franklin county district attorney,
1846-1849; state assemblyman, 1850-1851; state senator, 1858-1860; and U.S.
representative, 1861-1863 and 1866-1877. In 1874 he was appointed to a special
Congressional committee charged with investigating a disputed Louisiana election
and proposed the compromise solution, known as the "Wheeler
adjustment." He built a reputation for integrity, but was undistinguished
as a legislator and little known outside of New York. When the Republican
National Convention nominated him for vice president in 1876, the presidential
nominee, Rutherford B. Hayes, wrote to his wife: "I am ashamed to say, Who
is Wheeler?" After an unexceptional term as vice president, Wheeler retired
from public life. he died in 1887, leaving most of his estate to Christian
missions abroad.
Source consulted: Dictionary of American Biography; William A. DeGregorio,
The Complete Book of Presidents. |
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