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BIOGRAPHIES Pike County IL
James Wheelan, engaged in general farming on section 1, Pleasant Vale Township, was born in Ireland in 1837, and in 1848 accompanied his mother to St. Louis, Missouri. His parents were Richard and Mary (Scully) Wheelan. The father died about 1846, and the mother, as before stated, came to the new world, establishing her home in St. Louis. The voyage was made on a sailing vessel, the General Taylor, which dropped anchor in the harbor of New Orleans after six weeks and four days spent upon the Atlantic.
Mr. Wheelan of this review remained in St. Louis with his mother until 1855, there learning the blacksmith trade, and they then came to Pike County, Illinois, where he began working at his trade, being first employed by Horace Palmer, while later he engaged in business on his own account in New Canton. He followed that pursuit until 1873, when he abandoned the trade and removed to a farm, upon which he resided until 1877. The place upon which he now resides he purchased in 1870, and seven years later he took up his abode thereon, and has since made it his home. He has built here a beautiful residence, fine barns and other substantial buildings, and in fact, all of the improvements on the place stand as monuments to his thrift and labor. He has also purchased a farm adjoining the original property and yet owns this. His landed possessions aggregate two hundred and forty-five acres of rich and productive soil, which he has brought under a high state of cultivation, and from which he annually harvests abundant crops. He carries on general farming and stock-raising, and makes a specialty of shorthorn cattle and a good grade of hogs.
In 1857 Mr. Wheelan was married to Miss Isabelle Brown, who was born in Ireland, and unto this union have been born seven children, of whom four are living: Mary, the wife of John Kendrick who resides near her father's farm; Belle, who is the wife of Warren Spencer and lives upon an adjoining farm; William, who married Anna Brammel, who died, leaving three children, John B., James S., and George S., who with their father reside upon the old farm homestead; and James G., who married Anna Hoverland, also deceased, while he resides with his father. Those who have passed away are: Ella, who became the wife of John Lax and left one child; Alexander H.; Rebecca, who married Ed. Fesler, and both are now deceased, leaving two children, James W., and Ella W., the latter living with her grandfather Wheelan; and Richard. Mrs. James Wheelan died in 1873, and in 1877 Mr. Wheelan was married to Eliza Brown, who was born in Ireland in 1849 and came to America in 1870, making her home in Ogle County, Illinois, with her mother. She afterward came to Pike County on a visit and later most of her mother's family removed to this county.
Contributed by Roger Cramer from "Past and Present Pike County IL".
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