| The John Wheeler House |
In 1814, John Wheeler, a shipper from New Jersey, bought a four-year old brick building, at least one
room of which was used as a store belonging to William Hardy Murfree and George Gordon. Wheeler
made it into a residence. The family resided in this structure until 1867. The house has solid brick,
Flemish bond walls 18" thick, an entrance fanlight, and original cornice. The dining room is the only
remaining residential brick dependency in Murfreesboro.John Wheeler was married three times and had 19 children. A daughter, Julia, married Dr. Godwin Cotton Moore, a founder of Chowan College. A son, Junius Wheeler, taught at West Point and was the author of several outstanding publications on warfare. The most famous son, John Hill Wheeler, was the first native North Carolinian to write the history of N.C. He was educated at the Hertford Academy and Columbian University in Washington, D.C. He was state treasurer, the Superintendent of the U.S. Mint at Charlotte and the first U.S. Minister of Nicaragua. |
