3. John Wheeler (John , Henry ) was born about 1675 in Virginia . He died in Bertie Co., North Carolina.
Information on these families are sketchy at best. Most of these early lines are not proven and are only speculation based on the records found. He appears to be the John Wheeler shown as a witness on a deed recorded in Chowan Precinct, N.C. on 16 August 1717.
John married Mrs. John Wheeler.
They had the following children:
+ 6 M i William Wheeler + 7 M ii Martin Wheeler
4. Henry Wheeler 1 (John , Henry ) was born about 1680 in Virginia. He died in 1727 in Bertie Co., North Carolina.
Henry Wheeler paid taxes on 200 acres of land in Isle of Wight Co., Va. in 1694. No record of the marriage of Henry Wheeler has been found but the will of Tully Emperour of Lower Norfolk and Princess Anne Counties, Va. in 1723, names his daughter, Ann Wheeler. (Later, Henry and Anne Wheeler named a son "Emperour", using the custom of naming a son with the mother's maiden name.) Most people of that time were farmers and the most important cash crop was tobacco. Tobacco used up the land in a few years and the farmer had to clear new ground to plant more. Having heard that a new territory was being opened for settlement, Henry and his family moved a little south into the new state of North Carolina.
Their new home offered a mild climate and excellent farm land. It was sparsely populated, and by 1732, the population was estimated at 30,000 white people in the whole state. So when Henry Wheeler moved to the area, it must have been considerably less. North Carolina's white population has been described as comfortably poor, living at "near subsistence level," but still enjoying extensive landownership, which precluded extreme poverty.
It is not known exactly when they moved but he was there by 1713-14. According to Raymond Winslow, North Carolina researcher, the Colony was strapped for money during the Tuscarora War. Winslow states " Wartime needs were partially met by raising levies of corn from the province's taxpayers. At that time a special sort of tax list called "corn list" came into use, showing the number of bushels of corn received from each person named therein". "There was no entries from devastated Craven Precinct, two districts of Chowan Precinct report no names and Hyde and Beaufort precincts seem to be under-reported." This would explain why a lot of the early residents of Bertie Co do not appear. Henry Wheeler's name appears on the 1715/1716 "Corn List" as "Heanery Whelr."
Deed Book 1 of then Chowan Precinct shows Henry Wheeler "held and firmly bound unto Robert Sharer of the upper parish of Isle of Wight Co., Va. in the full and just sum of 10,000 pounds of good and Merchantable Leaf Tobacco and Cast this 23 April 1715. To secure the debt, the said Wheeler conveys to the said Sharer 200 acres on ye south side of Meherrin (Roanoke) River which is part of 300 acres granted to the said Wheeler". The deed books go on to show Henry Wheeler buying and selling between 1600-1700 acres of land before his death. One of the deed abstracts reads as follows:
DB#B1: Thomas Kirby Sr of Albemarle County, planter, and Ester Kirby to Henry Wheeler of same. 13 July 1716. for __ pounds. 120 acres more or less at the mouth of Poplar Neck branch on Turkey Creek, joining Mill Path, ye mouth of Mill Swamp and the creek and is part of 1200 acres on the south side of Meherring river granted to the sd Kirby 9 Jan 1712/13. Wit: Richard Washington, Richard Horn (his mark]. Reg 6 Aug 1716As the population grew, the need for courthouses nearer the population centers grew. This necessitated dividing the old counties and establishing new counties with their own new courthouses. Today the area where Henry Wheeler settled is located in Northampton Co., North Carolina. When Henry Wheeler died, sometime between 24 June 1726, and Nov. 1727, he left a will which was probated at the November Court in Bertie Precinct, N.C. It had been written on 24 June 1726 and named his wife Anne and son Emperour as executors. His will read as follows: (The misspelled words are as they appear in the will.)
"In the name of God amen one thousand seven hundred twenty six I
Henry Wheller being very sick and weak in body but in sound and
perfect memory do mak and ordine this my last will and testiment.
first I give my soul to God that give it me in full hope of ye resirection
to be buried **bserve a Christen like manner in ye earth from whence
it came and for what worldly state it hath pleased God to bless me
with in of the righines **** ye grante I *** my body this world. I
give as ***** ***** I give and bequeth to my well beloved wife - Anne
Wheller - ye plantation whereone she liveth in widow*** **** **** my
(torn) Henery Wheller with half of land thereunto belonging and ye
other half to my son Emprer Wheller.
Item - I give and bequeth to my wife one young horse called *** and one
old horse for ye worke of ye plantation and one black mare. I give
and bequeath to my son Henery one grey mare and ye colt of ye said
mare to my son John Wheller and a sorrell colt to my son Henery. I
likewise give and bequeath to my son Emprer Wheller fifteen hundred
pound of porke to buy him *** . I likewise give and bequeath to my
wife ** mill as long as she lives widowed and then to my son John
Wheller and ye land at ye mill. My will is ** my sons shall be free at
ye age of eighteen years. I likewise give and bequeath to my daughter
Anne Wheller one mare and ye first colt she brings to my daughter
Sarah Wheller. My will is that my chattle shall be equally divided
amongst my children at ye discretion of my wife and what part there is
to lay out by my wife for ye *ese of ye h**ses and p***e* and ye like.
This I do ordine and constitute my last will and testiment and make
and ordine my wife and my son Emperor executors of this my last will
and testiment as witness my hand and selle (seal) ye twenty fourth day
of June of ye year above written.From his will above and the following inventory of the estate of Henry Wheeler, it seems safe to assume that he was fairly well to do, perhaps even wealthy, and certainly comfortable, at the very least. From the last articles in the list it also seems apparent that he was also a religious and educated man.
"A true and perfect inventory of the goods and chattles of Henry
Wheeler, dec'd. To one new feather bed and four old feather beds
and bedsteads and their furniture. To 5 pewter dishes and 2 basons
and one tankard and plates and 2 dozen & 4 spoons. 2 old ** 2 spice
mortors & pestle and 1 iron kittle 3 iron potts 1 brass skillett 1
brass skimmer 1 frying pan To 1 flesh forks 1 old broad ax 2 old
harrow axes 1 old grubbing hoe 3 old weeding hoes 1 cutting knife
To 5 harrow hoes 1 coopers ax 1 ** **** 1 jounture stoch 3 irons 1
*** stock & irons To ** round shaves one tap * bitts stock 1 old
carpenters ** 3 chisels 2 gouges 3 drawing knives To 1 handsaw 1
cross cutt saw 2 augers 1 old froe 1 box iron and heaters 2 pair
small ** To 2 files 1 *** 1 rasp 1 branding iron 1 *** 1 pair of
hand bellows 1 hand plain To 1 old narrow hoe 3 gimlets 2 pocket
knives a small parcel of *** * tools a gun To 1 old stock *** 1 iron
spindle 2 pair of *ithers 2 pair of *** stones 1 grind stone 1 cow
belle To 1 pair of *** 1 pocket compass * glass bottles 1 earthen
jugg *** one shell *** To 2 chests lock & key 1 table 2 woolen
spinning wheels and linen wheels pair of cards To 5 old chears 2
washing tubbs 2 old pigins 3 trays 1 meal sifter 1 b*** ** *** 2
ropes To 1 mill spindle 3 mill *** 1 boxing *** 1 half bushel a small
parcel of cotten & wool To 2 razors with a hone & a ragg stone 1
pair of money scales To a small parcel of flax *** ***** To 2
wearing coats 1 jacket 1 hat 1 pair of breaches 1 cast *** 2 hives
of bees To 10 cows 2 steers and young cattle 4 sheep 10 geese 42
hoggs 2 horses 4 mares 3 heides To 1 pair of stone spoon molds 1
old bible 1 testement 1 psalter 1 new primer 2 old primers To 2
small **** four old sermon books"
Henry married Anne Emperour daughter of Tully Emperour and Ellenor about 1700 in Virginia. Anne was born about 1685 in Princess Anne Co, Virginia. She died after 1727 in Northampton Co., North Carolina.
On page 114 of Bertie Co., N.C. Deed Book C, Ann Wheeler and Emperor Wheeler sold to Barnabe Mackinne (Mckinne), March 22, 1728/29, 30 pds. for 350 acres land on north side Morrattock River "the plantation whereon both do now live ... the remainder of a tract formerly granted to William Bracewell by patent March 4, 1711/12 for 640 acres and resurveyed to contain 700 acres and by Bracewell sold to Henry Wheeler by Wheeler devised to Emperor Wheeler except 160 acres formerly sold to Matthew Ruskins, 160 acres sold to Peter Jones, 100 acres sold to Barnabe Mackinne. Wit: Thomas Craighill, Barnabe Mckinne, Jun., William Opie. E. Mashborne."
Henry and Anne had the following children:
+ 8 M i Emperour Wheeler + 9 M ii Henry Wheeler + 10 M iii John Wheeler 11 F iv Anne Wheeler 1 was born about 1709 in Albermarle Co., Virginia?. She died after 1727 in Bertie Co., North Carolina. 12 F v Sarah Wheeler 1 was born about 1712 in Bertie Co., North Carolina.