Wheelock, Eleazar Lewis Ripley ^63,64

   Events:

1. War of 1812; 1812. ⁶²

2. Black Hawk War; 1832, Illinois. ⁶²

3. Military Service; 1833. ⁶² Colonel

4. Founder; 1834, Wheelock, Robertson County, Texas. ⁶⁵ WHEELOCK, TEXAS. Wheelock is fifteen miles northeast of Bryan in south central Robertson County. The town's founder, Eleazer Louis Ripley Wheelock, first became interested in the area in 1823 while on a business trip to Mexico, and in 1826, after meeting with Sterling C. Robertson, he decided to move to the impresario's grant. In 1833 the Wheelock family left their home in Illinois for Texas, and a year later the town site was laid out. Wheelock built a blockhouse for protection from Indians, who raided in the area until 1843. Wheelock originally planned to name the town Lamar, after Vice President Mirabeau B. Lamar, but in 1837 the name Wheelock was chosen, after Wheelock, Vermont, which had been named for E. L. R. Wheelock's grandfather, the founder of Dartmouth College. In the late 1830s several attempts were made to make Wheelock the state capital, and in 1837 the town was one of the sites considered for the University of Texas. The town of Wheelock flourished economically from the early 1840s to the late 1860s. In 1841 it had twenty businesses, including several general stores, a number of land and freight offices, a horse track, some cock-fighting pits, a cotton gin, and numerous saloons. The main economic activities were cattle ranching and cotton farming, and, although cotton has declined, cattle ranching remains one of the primary economic activities in the area today. By 1845 Wheelock was one of the best-known towns in Central Texas, partly because it was on the main stage and mail routes through the area. A post office was established in 1846. Wheelock was named the county seat in 1850. Sam Houston, a frequent visitor during the town's heyday, stopped there during his last campaign for governor. Owensville became county seat in 1856, and that reduced the political importance of Wheelock. Many of the men from the area served in the Confederate Army during the Civil War; the defeat of the Confederacy brought with it the loss of wealth and citizenship to many of the town's residents. More importantly, the rapidly expanding rail network of the 1860s bypassed Wheelock, causing further isolation. As a result, many residents began to move away, many of them to Hearne, which was named for the Wheelock man who donated the land for the rail station in that town. In 1890 Wheelock had a population of eighty-five, three churches, and mail delivery from Hearne. A bank was established in Wheelock in 1915. In 1947 the town had a post office, six businesses, and a population of 150. In 1988 one business remained, and the population was estimated at 125, where it remained in 1990.

5. Will; November 12, 1844. ⁶⁶ The Republic of Texas County of Robertson
Know all men by these presents that I E. L. R. Wheelock of the County aforesaid being sound of mind and weak in body do constitute this my last Will and Testament.
First and request the constituted authority to respect the same as such- First I constitute and appoint by beloved wife Mary and George Ripley Wheelock as my legal Executors or either of them in case the other is incapable of acting from disability or non acceptance and request them to be governed by the following instructions and request the same being my last will and testament.
First that they will pay all of my just debts, and for that purpose will dispose of my property that I am possessed of; I give and bequest my balance to my beloved wife Mary in trust for her two sons William H. Wheelock and David P Wheelock which is in Texas to be used and enjoyed by her during her life, with the exception of such Land as may be necessary for a home for them not exceeding a third of a League of Land when they arrive at the age of twenty one years old. I wish my headright to be the last sold in case they should be compelled to sell any lands to pay my debts which fraud might introduce against my estate as I wish my headright to be ultimately equally divided between my sons William and David Which I have not previously sold giving to each a due portion of timber and prairie. I do this conceiving that by bringing them to the country and What I have all ready done for them meaning my son George Ripley Wheelock and daughter Annette W Killough is equivalent for what I can do for David and William out of my Estate in Texas but I bequeath five dollars to my son George R. Wheelock and daughter Annette on testimony of respect. I further that this property that is mine or due to me either lands or money in the United States shall be collected or sold and after paying the expenses to be equally divided into five parts and paid over to my beloved wife Mary and my four children by her. In case my executors should conceive it the interest of my heirs to continue the village of Wheelock They are at liberty to do so to the amount of one hundred acres of land which they are authorized to sell for that purpose as they think proper.
I hereby request that proper probate -------- ------- ------ my executors but to give them all the advantages which the law will permit entirely confiding in them prudence and economy as to my heirs.
I wish my son William to learn a trade and my son David to remain and support his Mother. Now having all my earthy requests I resign my soul to my great Creator believing through the redeeming grave of our Lord that I shall be safe dying in peace and good will toward the human family.
Witness my hand and Seal
12th of Nov 1844
E. L. R. Wheelock

6. Biography; 1974. ^62,65 WHEELOCK, ELEAZAR LOUIS RIPLEY (1793-1847). Eleazar Louis Ripley Wheelock, soldier and surveyor, was born on March 31, 1793, in Hanover, New Hampshire, the son of Colonel. Eleazar Wheelock, Jr., a Revolutionary War veteran, and Thankful (Pennock) Wheelock. At the age of thirteen he moved with his family to Boat Run, Ohio. After the deaths of his parents he entered the United States army and served first in the Ohio Militia and later as an ensign in the New York Twenty-first Infantry Regiment, seeing active duty during the War of 1812. After the war he settled in Illinois, where he became a successful businessman and in 1818 married Mary Prickett. Their daughter and four sons were all born in Illinois, but as early as 1820 Wheelock began to invest in Texas real estate. In 1823 he made his first visit to Texas, where he spent a year surveying the town of Tampico. During a second visit in 1823 he met Sterling C. Robertson in San Felipe and returned home determined to settle his family in Robertson's Colony. In 1832 he answered the call of Governor Reynolds of Illinois for volunteers and served in the Black Hawk War. Throughout his adult life he was active as a militiaman in several states and had risen to the rank of colonel by 1833, when he brought his family to Texas and established the town of Wheelock in what is now Robertson County. There he served as a surveyor, land agent, lawyer, rancher, farmer, and soldier. During the Texas Revolution he organized and captained a company of Texas Rangers. During the years of the Republic of Texas he served as a regional land commissioner. From 1836 through 1845 he was either advisor or leader on all expeditions that went out from Robertson and Milam counties against the Indians. During one of these raids his son in law was killed and he and his daughter taken prisoner, but like his friend Sam Houston, he was a defender of Indian rights. Toward the end of the Republic he served as Indian commissioner under President Anson Jones. In 1837 he organized the Texas University Company and gave land generously for its support. The coeducational institution died aborning due to Indian raids. In the spring of 1845 the Mercer Colony contracted with Wheelock as subagent to aid in surveying sixteen townships on the west side of the Trinity River. By September he had traveled nearly 1,700 miles within the grant and had been captured by Indians several times. He supported Robertson in his winning dispute with Stephen F. Austin over the control of Robertson's Colony. After statehood Wheelock expanded his business interests to include plans for silver and copper mining and traveled to Washington, D.C., to gather financing and support for this venture. In 1847 Sam Houston and the other members of the Texas delegation to Congress wrote to President James K. Polk on his behalf. On his way home Wheelock died unexpectedly in Edwardsville, Illinois, on May 14, 1847, at the home of his brother-in-law.

   Marriage Information:

Eleazar married Mary P. Prickett on March 22, 1818 in St. Clair County, Georgia ⁶¹. (Mary P. Prickett was born about 1793 and died before 1883.)