Person:Earnest Wheaton (1)

Ernie Wheaton was the founder, and owner of Wheaton Van Lines, which he founded in Mansfield, Ohio.

The family moved to Mansfield in 1906. Ernie's father was a country doctor, who died when Ernie was still in grade school. As a youth he had experience in the trucking business, and then after attending New York University, School of Commerce, Accounts and Finance, he moved to Cleveland, Ohio, because Marjorie Karns was attending nurses training there. The couple had met previously in high school in Mansfield.

Ernie returned to Mansfield in 1921, and married Marjorie in 1922. He again worked in the trucking / storage business. Along with some partners, he bought the company he was previously associated with, and began a successful business career. He associated with Aero Mayflower in Mansfield for a while, then resigned in 1933, and moved to Indianapolis, Indiana, where he rejoined the company. In 1937 he was elected Vice President and General Manager of the company. In 1945 he sold his interest in the company, and formed a new moving van company which initially operated in 22 states, and later it became a nationwide company. He served on many national business boards during his career.

In circa 1973 this compiler was contacted by Ernie Wheaton, and asked to meet and discuss the Karns Family genealogy, at Ernie's office. It has been forgotten as to how he knew I had Karns ancestry. At the time, I was acquainted with his daughter Connie, and his son-in-law, Jim, therefore I knew who Ernie was. However, I had no idea that Mrs. Wheaton was born a KARNS, and thus a distant relative! Quite a surprise! Mrs. Karns was also a Pershing descendant, which this compiler is not.

We began to meet from time to time in Ernie's office, and I learned that he had hired a professional genealogist in New Philadelphia, Ohio named Dorothy Glazier. It was many years later, and after Dorothy's death that I learned that her husband may have been a Glasser, and thus related to the family in Tuscarawas County, who were from WALDGREHWEILER (a village central to this WeRelate project).

We also communicated with other Karns researchers. I had been corresponding with Loren Karns, Jr. (who has a WeRelate.org page) since 1964. Also an early contact was Kermit Karns, of Kansas City (then) who is still living. Dorothy Glazier would send the rest of us copies of her results, and we would all collaborate on digging deeper into the past.

Ernie had been at the research game for a long time. One of the letters he copied to me from the Wabash Circuit Court had a date of 1946! He and his wife had been poking around in old rural Wabash County cemeteries for a long time! He had also traveled to Tuscarawas County, and photographed some Karns and Pershing tombstones.

--White Creek 20:37, 14 August 2012 (EDT)

1. ↑ "KARNS - Pershing" by Earnest Wheaton.

   The book is at the Indiana State Library, in Indianapolis, Indiana.

2. ↑ Indianapolis Star newspaper
   27 Mar 1998.
3. ↑ "KARNS - Pershing" by Earnest Wheaton.
4. ↑ Crown Hill Cemetery website.