This week’s writing prompt is wheels. Although the writing prompt could be taken as being related to transportation, trains, and railroad workers. Those that owned, operated, or worked at a service station, or stories related to ancestors that took road trips. I have chosen to write about my Wheeler ancestors.

The surname Wheeler is an English occupational surname, meaning wheelwright or maker of wheels. It originates from the Middle English words wheler and whegheler, ultimately derived from the Old English words for wheel. Wheels were essential in medieval times, and wheelwrights were in high demand. It was given to those who made and repaired cartwheels. While two-wheeled carts were common, four-wheeled wagons and carriages also existed, and even solid wheels were used in some areas.

In the 1600s England, wheels were primarily made of wood and were crucial for various aspects of life, including transportation, agriculture, and domestic industries. Wheelwrights, skilled artisans, crafted these wheels, using materials like oak, ash, and elm, and sometimes bone or horn.

Types of wheels:

• Wagons and Carts: Early colonists in British North America, including England, relied on wagons and carts for transportation, often importing wheels from England and constructing their own wheel bodies. 
• Spinning Wheels: Domestic industries, particularly the textile industry, heavily relied on spinning wheels for processing fibers into thread. The great wheel (also called the walking wheel) was a common type for wool spinning. 
• Agricultural Wheels: Wheels were essential for agricultural machinery like plows and carts used to transport harvests. 

“Medieval wheelwrights were the unsung heroes of transportation in their time, crafting sturdy and reliable wheels that kept medieval society on the move. Their skillful craftsmanship played a crucial role in enabling trade, travel, and the functioning of medieval economies.”

— Dr. Richard Jones, Historian of Medieval Crafts and Technology.

We have no records showing that my direct Wheeler ancestors were wheelwrights in their lifetime, but we can deduce that at some point my ancestors were given the surname Wheeler because they were makers of wheels.

I actually have two sets of Wheeler ancestors, both on my maternal side.

The first Wheeler ancestor was my seventh great-grandmother, Sara (Saartje) Wielaar/Wheeler (she married Willem Sluiter/Sluyter). The daughter of Edward (Evert/Edmond) Wheeler (his surname is also listed in Dutch records as Wiler, Wieler, and Wielaar) and Josina Janse (Josyntje) Gardenier.

Although Edward Wheeler married a woman of Dutch ancestry, Josina Janse (Josyntje) Gardenier, and his first name and surname are spelled in a Dutch fashion in church records, he was not Dutch. He was born before 1668 in New England. His marriage record of 13 Oct 1689 in Albany, Albany, New York, states he was from New England. In 1689, “New England” generally referred to the northernmost British colonies in North America, encompassing what is now Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut.

If he had been born in England, the marriage record would have stated that fact. So, we can assume he was of a Wheeler family that lived in one of the New England states at the time.

Some list him as the son of John Wheeler and Mary Morgen. Others list him as the son of John Wheeler and Sarah Larkin.

John Wheeler and Sarah Larkin did have a son named Edward Wheeler, who was born on 17 July 1669 in Concord, Middlesex County, Massachusetts. He also died in Concord on 17 February 1733. He married Sarah Merriam on 23 November 1697. This Edward Wheeler is obviously not my ancestor Edward Wheeler.

The second, John Wheeler, was born on 14 March 1627 in Clerkenwell St James, Middlesex, England, and died 16 December 1691 at age 64 in New London, New London, Connecticut. Mary Morgen was his second wife. Not much is known about her. He had a total of eleven children, only two of which are linked to his second wife, Mary Morgen. Records do not show that he had a son named Edward. The parentage of my ancestor Edward Wheeler is unconfirmed, but The Wheeler Family History, published in 1914, and written by Raymond David Wheeler and Gordon Boyce Wheeler, places him as a possible son of John Wheeler (c: 14 Mar 1627 in Clerkenwell, St. James, Middlesex, England) who immigrated to the British American Colonies.

Some list him as baptized 17 April 1663 in Evesham, Worcestershire, England, as the son of an Edward Wheeler, but I have seen no documentation for this connection. As well as the fact that he was born in New England.

The parentage of my ancestor Edward Wheeler remains unproven and unknown. Based on his Dutch church marriage record located in the Dutch settlement of Albany, it stated he was from New England. This is typically assumed to indicate the person’s place of birth, suggesting that he was born to English parents in New England.

My second Wheeler ancestor is my tenth great-grandmother Hannah (Anna) Wheeler. She was baptized on 15 February 1618 in Cranfield, Bedfordshire, England. She married in New England to James Bennett. They lived in Concord, Middlesex, Massachusetts.

Hannah Wheeler was the daughter of Thomas Wheeler and Ann Halsey. Thomas Wheeler, Sr., was born about 1590. He was called “eldest son” in his father’s will. He married on 5 May 1613 at Cranfield, to Ann Halsey. They settled in Concord, Massachusetts, and then migrated to Fairfield, Connecticut, where they both died, he in 1654 and she in 1659.

Thomas Wheeler, Sr., was the son of Thomas Wheeler the elder and his first wife (name unknown). His father Thomas Wheeler, the Elder, was also known as Thomas Wheeler of Bourne End. He lived in Cranfield, Bedfordshire, England.

Thomas Wheeler was frequently called either “the Elder” or “of Bourne End” in the records of Cranfield. This was to distinguish him from his oldest son, Thomas Wheeler, who was referred to as “of Wharley.” There was also a third Thomas Wheeler baptizing children in Cranfield at the same time who was referred to as Thomas Wheeler of the Town End or “of Austen Allen”.

In his father Thomas’ will, he received a bequest as ‘my eldest son Thomas’ as there was a second son Thomas, referred to in the will as ‘my youngest son.’  The father was “of the Blake Howse” when he wrote his will but was formerly referred to as “of Wharley (End)” earlier in life when he lived there. The son Thomas, the eldest son, was then also known as “of Wharley End” before he emigrated to British Colonial America.

Thomas Wheeler the elder, was a yeoman of Bourne End, Cranfield, Bedfordshire, and was born about 1560-65, probably at Cranfield, Bedfordshire, where he lived and died. He was probably the son of John Wheeler of Cranfield (who made his will 9 February 1566/7 and died shortly thereafter) and Alice ____.

In the 1600s, Cranfield, Bedfordshire, was a relatively small, rural village with a strong agricultural foundation. Its economy was largely reliant on farming, particularly sheep farming, which was a major industry in the region. The village was known for its abundance of wool and was a significant contributor to the local and national wool trade

Our Wheeler ancestry goes back to at least 1399 in Cranfield, Bedfordshire, England.

Thomas (the elder) lived variously at Warley or Wharley End, and “Borneend”. In the survey of 1623 he had 29 acres, consisting of homesite of 7 1/4 with “Ley close adjoyning”, Grove Close of 2 1/2 acres, over 4 3/4 acres of “The Brache”, and 14 1/4 acres “Tadd Croft and Tyn Meade.” He also held lands from the Manor of Redlands. His will mentions Bourne End House (nearby to Washingley Manor House and Hill Green Farm depicted in 1765 on Jeffrey’s map of Bedfordshire as a mansion house, and the most impressive building at Bourne End).

Thomas Wheeler probably married twice. Evidence for the two marriages are two surviving sons both named Thomas (called Sr. and Jr. in later records to differentiate them) and children born over a period of about thirty years. Thomas appears to have married first to an unknown named wife, and his second wife was mentioned in his will as Rebecca. (1)

He was buried at Cranfield on 11 Feb. 1634/5 (from Bedfordshire Parish Registers) as Thomas Wheeler “of the blakehowse”. He left a will naming his wife Rebecca and eleven children. (1)

About 1637, five of Thomas’s sons, namely Thomas, Sr., Timothy, Joseph, Ephraim, and Thomas, Jr., and two of their sisters, Elizabeth and Susannah, emigrated to New England and settled in the Concord, Massachusetts Bay Colony.

My first direct Wheeler ancestry:

1. Edward Wheeler and Josina Janse (Josyntje) Gardenier.
2. Sara (Saartje) Weiler/Wheeler and Willem Sluiter/Sluyter.
3. Edward Sluyter and Lea Van Schuyven.
4. Sara (Saartje) Sluyter and Roelof Litts/Lits.
5. Lea Litts and John (Johann) Greatsinger.
6. Hannah Elizabeth Greatsinger and David M. Prindle, Sr.
7. Daniel Prindle and Sarah Jane “Jennie” Doman.
8. Anna Cora Prindle and Joseph Edward Cole. (my great-grandparents).

My second direct Wheeler ancestry:

1. John Wheeler and Alice ____.
2. Thomas Wheeler (the elder) and first wife.
3. Thomas Wheeler, Sr. and Ann Halsey.
4. Hannah Wheeler and James Bennett.
5. Thomas Bennett, Sr. and Elizabeth Thompson.
6. Thomas Bennett and Sarah Hubbard.
7. Deliverance Bennett and Mary Briggs.
8. Eunice Bennett and Stephen Gray.
9. Sarah Gray and David Canfield, Jr.
10. Esther Canfield and Amos Prindle.
11. David M. Prindle, Sr. and Hannah Elizabeth Greatsinger. (see #6 in first direct Wheeler ancestry list).

Famous kin of Thomas Wheeler, Sr. and Ann Halsey:

Dr. Hawley Harvey Crippen. He was an American physician hanged for the London murder of his wife Cora Henrietta Turner (aka the actress Belle Elmore). Crippen is said to be Britain’s second most infamous criminal after Jack the Ripper and the first suspect captured with the aid of wireless telegraphy when he and his mistress, who was disguised as a boy, fled across the Atlantic from England to Canada. The ship’s Captain recognized the fugitives and wired the British authorities who then sent a messenger on a faster ship to notify Canadian authorities who apprehended the pair. Unknown to the pair of fugitives, the trans-Atlantic chase was followed by millions of people via the newspapers. Crippen is the subject of author Erik Larson’s book Thunderstruck. He was descended from Hannah Wheeler and James Bennett.

There has been some forensic work done in the early 2000s, that seems to proof that he did not kill his wife. DNA has shown that she was not the body found; it was actually a male. You may read more about this at Who Was Hawley Crippen – S8 Ep3: Executed in Error. Also, at the time of his trial, there was a letter sent to him that was supposed to be from her, showing that she was alive and well and living in America at the time. His guilt is still an unsettled matter. His relations today want his name cleared. The courts in the UK have refused so far to accept the new evidence.

Other famous kin include singer and songwriter Harry Chapin. Singer, songwriter and actress Fergie. Mayflower Madam Sydney Biddle Barrows. 21st Governor of Connecticut John Treadwell. Founder of the Mormon Church Joseph Smith. 8th Prime Minister of Canada Sir Robert Laird Borden. 46th Vice President of the United States Dick Cheney. Actress Kyra Sedgwick.

I do not know of any famous kin descended from Edward Wheeler and Josina Janse (Josyntje) Gardenier. Although via the Gardenier lines, we were related to Hannah Hoes Van Buren, the wife of the eighth President of the United States, Martin Van Buren.

References:

1. Threlfall, John Brooks, 50 Great Migration Colonists to New England and Their Origins. (Madison, WI, 1990): pages 504-508. FamilySearch.

To learn more about the occupation of Wheelwright:

1. Medieval Britain – Discover Britain’s Castles, Kings, and Chronicles. Medieval Wheelwright.
2. Wheelwright – Wikipedia.
3. Re-Inventing the Wheel: Wheelwrighting at Colonial Williamsburg. Material Matters. Winterthur Program in American Material Culture.

To learn more about Cranfield, Bedfordshire, England:

1. Parish History. A short history of Cranfield, Bedfordshire. Cranfield Parish Council.
2. Cranfield – Wikipedia.
3. Cranfield History, tourist information, and nearby accommodations. Britain Express. Passionate about British Heritage.

To learn more about Dr. Hawley Harvey Crippen:

1. The notorious case of Dr Crippen. By John J Eddleston. The History Press.
2. Was Dr Crippen innocent of his wife’s murder? BBC News.
3. Review: Dr Crippen’s victims revisited. scottishlegal.com.
4. Hawley Harvey Crippen. Wikipedia.

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