William V. Wheeler

In 1853, the Wheeler family moved first to Richmond, Indiana and later to Dublin, Indiana. William remained close to his maternal aunt, Elvira Stubbs Pray and her family, consisting of her husband, a well-known Quaker preacher, and their children: Martha (Mattie), Rachel, Sybil and Rhoda. The Bible that William carried into the Civil War was a gift from these cousins and the family is mentioned very frequently in his Civil War diary, in fact, much more frequently than his immediate family.

In 1863, at the age of 18, William enlisted in the Ninth Indiana Cavalry, and saw extensive action throughout the remainder of the Civil War. A newspaper account states that "He was with Thomas and Schofield in the campaign against Hood, the Confederate general, and took part in the battles of Spring Hill, Franklin, and Nashville. After the Defeat of Hood at Nashville, young Wheeler, for thirty days and nights ... was constantly on the move, following Hood in his retreat into Mississippi. In the battle of Spring Hill, young Wheeler was in the thickest of the fight. His horse was shot under him, and, using the dead animal as a breastwork, he kept up the fight, narrowly escaping with his life." While in the swamps of Mississippi, Wheeler contracted a near fatal fever which left him with chronic rheumatism for the rest of his life.

In May, 1865, Wheeler was discharged from the army and in 1866, moved to Indianapolis where he became a wagon delivery driver for the Layman-Carey Hardware Company in Indianapolis. He eventually advanced to become the head of the sales force of the firm.

In 1868, Wheeler experienced a religious conversion. A letter to his cousin Rachel Pray tells of his despondency and confesses to her his feelings of sinfulness and despair. He declares his conversion from his "unworthy life." He also mentions a drinking problem, saying that since his conversion, "when I feel cast down instead of going to strong drink for consolation I get down on my Knees [sic] and ask Jesus to help me and he always [sic] does."

Wheeler became a charter member of the Trinity Methodist Episcopal Church and during the summer of 1868, became an licensed, evangelical lay preacher leading Wednesday night services and preaching for a few months when the church was between pastors. He often offered sermons "under the big beech tree inside the entrance to Greenlawn Cemetery" which was located at the corner of West Street and Kentucky Avenue. "But there was no flourish about him. There was no oratory in his heart-to-heart talks ... " read a newspaper editorial at the time of his death. "He did not talk about the doing good. He did not picture the beauty of holiness and expound the joys of right living; he just went ahead and did and lived these things ... "

In 1872, William married Mary Jane Howard (1848-1907), who was also involved in evangelistic work. Four children, Walter Howard, Sybil May, Hetta Ada, and William Raleigh were born to the union. The girls preferred to be called by their middle names. Walter managed Crown Hill Cemetery and founded Memorial Park. William R. became an innovator and entrepreneur in the early days of automobiles. May did medical research and helped to isolate the typhus bacterium. Ada studied piano in Germany and taught at the Jordan Conservatory. All married and raised equally accomplished families.

In 1893, the Meridian Union (a local chapter of the Women's Christian Temperance Union) began a ministry for friendless women--a euphemism for prostitutes--and called it The Door of Hope. The Meridian Union was mostly composed of? women? from Wheeler's home church, and Mary Wheeler became the treasurer of the new home for unwed mothers.

Wheeler sought to serve the poor by serving the entire family and went each day to court proceedings to seek out those men who, although in current difficult circumstances, were seeking a way to improve their lot, reasoning that if he could help the men straighten out their lives, their families were sure to receive the benefits. Under Wheeler's superintendency the mission's programs grew to include a Sunday school, home visits to families, a sewing school, a mothers' club, Marion County Workhouse visits, and Sunday afternoon visits to City (now Wishard) Hospital.

Wheeler's visible role in his church, his status in the Grand Army of the Republic as a veteran of the Civil War, and his membership in other organizations connected him to the power structure of his day. He knew and was known by many of the important people in turn-of-the-century Indianapolis and had their respect and confidence, as well as that of the poor whom he served.

In September 1907, Mary Wheeler died. Shortly after this, Wheeler experienced a recurrence of heart trouble and his own health began fading. Although bedridden for more than a year, Wheeler, with the help of his assistants Rena Dowler, William Roll, William and Mary Knode, Ed Selvage, George Duncan and Wheeler's sister, Rebecca Wheeler Cooney, managed the mission until his death on Christmas day in 1908.

His death was headed page one of the Indianapolis News that Christmas. On Sunday morning, December 27, the poor gathered at the mission to say good-bye to the man they called "Brother Wheeler" in the familiar place where he had served them. That afternoon a second funeral was held at the Central Avenue Methodist Episcopal Church and on the morning of December 28, a third and private family funeral was held at the Wheeler home. The following week the mission's name was changed to Wheeler Mission with a resolution by the mission's Board of Directors' which read in part, "a likeness of its founder should be placed on the chapel wall and that the directors pledge themselves to an increasing devotion to make the mission worthy of its name."

William V. Wheeler, 1845-1908

0fficers of the the Ninth Indiana Cavalry

Union Soldiers at the Battle of Nashville

Central Avenue Methodist Episcopal Church

The Grand Army of the Republic met in Indianapolis the year the Door of Hope was founded. The GAR was a popular national organization and was particularly strong in Indiana. Wheeler was probably one of the 3,000 local volunteers that helped organize the event.