Person:Ignatius Wheeler (3)

Research Notes

• It has been reported that his middle name was "Loyola" [1] - needs proof.

Records in Harford County Include

• 1788 May 14 - Harford County - Patented Certificate 98 - "Bell Farm", Colonel Ignatius Wheeler, 1160 Acres - MSA S1199-101
• 1793 Jan 9 - Harford County - Pat. Cert. - "Deer Park", Colonel Ignatius Wheeler, 1717.25 Acres - HA-P:219
• 1796 - Harford County - Unpat. Cert. - "West Purchase", Colonel Ignatius Wheeler, 111.75 Acres - HA-U:514
• 1799 Aug 31 (after his death) - Harford County - Pat. Cert. - "Addition to Bell Farm", Grantees:Monica Rutledge, Tracey McAtee, Henrietta Wheeler, Francis Ignatius Wheeler, Mary Ann Wheeler, Bennett Wheeler, Ignatius Wheeler, Elizabeth Wheeler, Surveyed for: Colonel Ignatius Wheeler, 141.25 Acres - HA-P:19

Records in Charles County Include

• 23 Dec. 1789 22 Jan. 1791 27 Dec. 1792 10 Jan. 1793 Commissions issued to the following persons apointed Justices of the Peace [and Orphans Courts]: Ignatius Wheeler [junr.] Harford County ... [p. 69, 170-171, 312, 316] [] only in 1789. [2]
• 1 Aug. 1790 Indulgence granted to the following persons: Joseph Wheeler & Ignatius Wheeler, Writing of Consent dated 26 July. [p. 128] [3]

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3} Preston, Walter Wilkes. History of Harford County, Maryland: from 1608 (the year of Smith's expedition) to the close of the War of 1812. (Baltimore, Maryland: Press of Sun Book Office, 1901)
   224.

   COL. IGNATIUS WHEELER
   A very prominent man in Harford county in Revolutionary times was Colonel Ignatius Wheeler, who lived on his estate called Deer Park, near the present Ady Post Office, in the Fifth election district. He was first lieutenant of Company No. 16 of Harford militia, the other officers of which were William Webb, captain; William Fisher, Jr., second lieutenant; John Webb, Jr., ensign. Besides Deer Park, which is a large tract, Colonel Wheeler owned the fertile estate called Belle Farm, comprising a large part of the present Pylesville section, one of the finest portions of the county, now as well as in early days. A large portion of Belle Farm is now owned by the Jenkins and McAtee families, who are direct descendants of Colonel Wheeler, and the estate has thus remained in the Wheeler heirs. The farm called Garden Spot, belonging to the late Joshua Rutledge, near the Rocks of Deer Creek, belonged to Colonel Wheeler, who was an ancestor of Mr. Rutledge. In the Maryland Legislature for the sessions 1786 and 1787, Colonel Wheeler was one of the delegates from Harford county. He died on his estate of Deer Park in August, 1793, and his will, dated July 13 of that year, is recorded in the office of the Register of Wills of Harford County in Liber A. J. No. R, folio 217.
   ... Colonel Wheeler lies buried at St. Ignatius Church, Hickory.
   
   [Footnote] Mr. P.H. Rutledge, a descendant of Col. Wheeler, assisted in the preparation of the above.

2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2} .

   W.B. A.J No R, folio 217
   ... To my dau Monica Wheeler, my dau Tracey Wheeler, my dau Henrietta Wheeler, , my son Francis Ignatius Wheeler, my dau Mary Ann Wheeler, my son Bennett Wheeler, my dau Elizabeth Wheeler, my son Ignatius Wheeler - I appoint John Lee Gibson and Joseph Wheeler as trustees to make division of my estate equally among my children.
   - To my wife - 1/3 of my estate.
   Witnesses: John Archer, David Clark, Thomas Wheeler.
   -----
   [Note: This is just an abstract of the will - need to add full transcript]

3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1 3.2} Wheeler, Albert Gallatin. The Genealogical and Encyclopedic History of the Wheeler family in America. (American College of Genealogy , 1914)
   530.

   ... 9051. IGNATIUS WHEELER, son of Ignatius (9028) and Elizabeth (Rozier) Wheeler. Born 1744; died at Deer Park, Harford County, Md., Aug., 1793. Married Henrietta Maria (Neale) Smith, who died May 18, 1807, widow of Roger Smith. ... Ignatius Wheeler was commissioned Colonel Sept., 1778. ...

4. ↑ ^4.0 4.1 Papenfuse, Edward C; Alan F Day; David W Jordan; and Gregory A Stiverson. A Biographical dictionary of the Maryland legislature, 1635-1789. (Baltimore [Maryland]: Johns Hopkins University Press, c1979-1985)
   2:881.

   WHEELER, IGNATIUS, JR. (ca. 1744-1793).
   BORN: ca. 1744, in Baltimore County; eldest son.
   NATIVE: fifth generation.
   RESIDED: in Deer Creek Hundred, Harford (formerly part of Baltimore) County, on his plantation, which was later known as "Deer Park."
   FAMILY BACKGROUND.
   FATHER: Ignatius Wheeler (?-1786), Esq., of Harford County, son of Benjamin Wheeler (?-1741), who moved to Baltimore County from Charles County ca. 1715.
   MOTHER: Elizabeth Rosier (Rozer), possibly the daughter of Notley Rozer (?-1727) of Prince George's County and wife Elizabeth Whetenhall Rozer (?-1733).
   BROTHERS: Bennett; Joseph (?-ca. 1803), who married Ann.
   SISTERS: Monica; Mary, who married John Lee Gibson; and Elizabeth, who married (first name unknown) Mitchell.
   
   MARRIED by September 9, 1769, Henrietta Maria, widow of Roger Smith (?-1768) of Charles County, daughter of Henry Neale (ca.1691-ca. 1742/43) of Charles County and wife Mary Gardiner (?-1765). Henrietta Maria was the stepdaughter of John Lancaster (?-1760). She was the great-granddaughter of James Neale (ca.1615-1684); Luke Gardiner (1622-1674); and William Boreman (ca. 1630-1709). Her brothers were Richard (?-1772); Henry; James (?-1772); and Gerard. Her sisters were Sarah, who married Richard Brooke; Mary, who married Richard Gardiner; and Teresa, who married Raphael Lancaster.,
   
   CHILDREN.
   SONS: Francis Ignatius (1782-1836), who married Mary Ann McAtee; Bennett (1784-1866), who married Frances; and Ignatius (1791-1866).
   DAUGHTERS: Monica (1773-1807), who married Jacob Rutledge; Teresa (Treacy)(1774-1815), who married in 1799 Capt. Henry McAtee (1768-1852); Henrietta, who was mentally incompetent; Mary Ann (?-1812), who married Samuel Brown; and Elizabeth (1789-1858), who married Samuel Brown after her sister Mary Ann's death.
   
   PRIVATE CAREER.
   EDUCATION: Literate.
   RELIGIOUS AFFILIATION: Roman Catholic; substantial contributor to the building of St. Ignatius Church in Hickory, Harford County.
   SOCIAL STATUS AND ACTIVITIES: Esq., by 1780.
   OCCUPATIONAL PROFILE: planter.
   
   PUBLIC CAREER.
   LEGISLATIVE SERVICE: 5th Convention, Harford County, 1775; Lower House, Harford County, 1782-1783, 1783, 1784, 1785, 1786-1787, 1787-1788.
   LOCAL OFFICES: commissioner under the act to procure flour and provisions for the army, Harford County, December 1779-at least 1780; contractor to procure horses for the army, Harford County, 1780, 1781; justice, Harford County, 1784-1789, 1791-1793; commissioner of the tax. Harford County, commissioned December 1792.
   
   MILITARY SERVICE: 1st lieutenant, Captain Webb's Company of Militia, Harford County, enrolled October 14, 1775, commissioned April 26, 1776; colonel, Deer Creek Battalion, Harford County Militia, commissioned April 9, 1778, resigned by June 29, 1780.
   
   WEALTH DURING LIFETIME.
   PERSONAL PROPERTY: assessed valued at £1,499.18.4, including 33 slaves and 16 oz. plate, 1783; 44 slaves, 1790.
   LAND AT FIRST ELECTION: at least 678 acres in Harford and Charles counties (378 acres in Harford County and 300 acres in Charles County by personal acquisition), plus his wife's life estate in two tracts in Charles County, at least 160 acres in Harford County leased from the proprietor, and possibly control over some of his father's land north of Deer Creek, Harford County.
   
   SIGNIFICANT CHANGES IN LAND BETWEEN FIRST ELECTION AND DEATH: sold the 160 acres of leased land in Harford County in 1777, the 300 acres of Charles County land in 1779, and 100 acres in Harford County in 1780; purchased probably 200 acres in Harford County, 1780-1783; with Henrietta sold her interest in two tracts near Port Tobacco, Charles County, 1781; paid taxes on 827 acres of his father's land north of Deer Creek,
   Harford County, by 1783; bought leases on certificates of survey to confiscated proprietary reserve lands in Harford County totalling ca. 916 acres, 1785-1789, and patented an 1,160-acre tract of reserve lands (probably including these purchases), 1788; inherited his father's lands north of Deer Creek (of which he was already in possession) and ca. 2 acres of additional land in Harford County, 1786; sold 57 acres in Harford County, 1787; purchased 319 acres, which with other land in Deer Creek Hundred was resurveyed in 1786 into a 1,717-acre tract called "Deer Park," for a net gain of ca. 45 acres.
   
   WEALTH AT DEATH.
   DIED: on July 15, 1793, at "Deer Park," Harford County; buried at St. Ignatius Church, Hickory, Harford County.
   PERSONAL PROPERTY:
   TEV, £6.953.1.10 current money (including 47 slaves, plate valued at £9.12.0, books, and a saw mill);
   FB, £730.18.0 current money. The estate had sperate debts of £1,344.0.0 and desperate debts of £3,806.0.0.
   LAND: at least 3,020 acres in Harford County.

5. ↑ Passano, Eleanor Phillips. An Index of the Source Records of Maryland: Genealogical, Biographical, Historical. (Baltimore, Maryland: Private Printing, 1940)
   343, 434.

   p 343 - ... Wheeler, Col. Ignatius of Revolution; buried 1793 in St. Ignatius R.C. churchyard, Harford Co. ...
   
   p 434 - Harford County. ... St. Ignatius Roman Catholic Church, 1779. Early records of baptisms, marriages and burials lost. List of few Catholics to take up lands and settle at Deer Creek. Hist. of Harford Co. Preston. P. 160. (Col. Ignatius Wheeler, prominent in Revolution, buried there in 1793.) MHS; DAR. ..

6. ↑ St. Ignatius Church in Hickory, oldest in archdiocese, turns 200, in Baltimore Sun. (Baltimore (independent city), Maryland, United States)
   27 Sep 1992.

   ... The history of St. Ignatius Church is a story of struggle -- first religious repression, then lack of money, and later structural flaws that resulted in the temporary closing of the church. It began with the Jesuits, who were among the first Maryland settlers. Since Catholics were not permitted by Maryland law to build places of worship until after the American Revolution, a room was set aside in a private home where an itinerant priest would stop occasionally to say Mass for the community. By 1743 in present day Harford (then still Baltimore) County, the Jesuits established the Mission of St. Joseph in Churchville. The Rev. Charles Sewall, S.J., was in charge of the mission in 1779 when he bought two acres in Hickory which would become the site of St. Ignatius Church. Construction began in 1786 and was funded largely by Col. Ignatius Wheeler Jr., for whose patron saint the church is named. The first Mass was celebrated on Sept. 27, 1792. In his history of the church, county historian Clarence Joerndt wrote in "Saint Ignatius, Hickory and Its Mission" that the pewholders as of Jan. 1, 1819 numbered 36. Pew rents started at $12 per year but could be paidin commodities -- five bushels of rye or 15 cords of wood. ...

7. ↑ ^7.0 7.1 A123887, in Daughters of the American Revolution. Genealogical Research System.

   WHEELER, IGNATIUS
   Ancestor #: A123887
   Service: MARYLAND
   Rank(s): CIVIL SERVICE, COLONEL
   Birth: 1744 MARYLAND
   Death: 8- -1793 HARFORD CO MARYLAND
   Service Source: DAR, UNPUBLISHED REV RECS OF MD, GRC, S1, VOL 68, PT 2, P 43; ARCH OF MD, VOL 11, PP 6, 66, 67; CLEMENTS & WRIGHT, MD MIL IN THE REV, P 175
   Service Description:
   1) ALSO 1LT, SIGNED FREEMAN ASSOCIATION, DELEGATE,
   2) COMMITTEE OF SAFETY HARFORD CO

8. ↑ 116012963, in Find A Grave
   [sources provided, but headstone does not exist].