he eldest son of a landowner, Anthony Wheeler. He was born with a congenital deformity of the left eye which was blind. Possibly because of this physical defect he developed an interest in medicine and desired to become a doctor. However, because of the law of primogeniture [the first born son gets all the land] his father tried to dissuade him and insisted that he stay home to take care of the estate. Not to be denied from his dream, George W. Took two slaves and a drove of turkeys to Richmond, VA where he allegedly sold the turkeys, sent the slaves home, and, with the money from the sale, paid his way to Lexington, KY.

In the mid to late 1840's G.W. Wheeler enrolled in the old Kentucky Medical College which was then part of Transylvania College [oldest college west of the Alleghenies] and attended there for an unknown period of time [I haven't researched old enrollment registers yet.] In the 1850 Morgan Co. Census George W. Wheeler, age 30, and a "phys" is living with Thomas B and Rebecca Keeton. G.W.W. may have heard stories of Dr. Daniel Drake who taught in the medical department at Transylvania from 1817-18 and 1823-27 before moving to UofL 1839-49. Dr. Drake died in 1852, and by that time Dr. George Washington Wheeler was associated with Ambrose Arnett in their Morgan Co practice. Ambrose was mainly a farmer. Although he'd not attended a medical school, he had read several medical books apparently and showed an interest in medicinal herbs and other potions. In the listing of Ambrose's estate which was probated in 1854 there is mention of "saddle bags and medical books--five."

During this early period of his practice Dr. Wheeler developed an orally administered powder that relieved the symptoms of fever [aspirin?*] Because typhoid fever was endemic during this period, his remedy was widely sought out and he developed "fame" as a fever doctor according to H.G. Arnett's journal [H.G.A was Ambrose's son]. His grandson-in-law, Albert Moore [editor of the Salyersville Independent], "heard his mother tell of the 'saddle-bags' full of venison and other wild game he [G.W.W.] brought home as payment for his fees." Dr. Wheeler apparently lived in Magoffin County [created out of Morgan in 1860] until his death in 1895 at about 79 yo. George W. Wheeler is buried on the Whitaker farm in Magoffin Co.

He married Mary [Nancy according to Wm. Hurst] Emily Williams in 1853 in Morgan Co, KY. Emily was born 1834-36 [26 yo in 1860 Magoffin Co Census] and at 17-19 was nearly twenty years younger than George W. They had the following children:
1. Mary Elizabeth Wheeler (1854) - married John Moore
(ch: Albert Moore (1885-1988) - m1. Anna Cooper [ch: Jean Moore], m2. Eliz. Gardner [Albert was for many years the editor of the Salyersville Independent]; Henry Clay Moore, Bill Moore, Ben Moore [Federal Judge in Charleston, WVA], George Moore)
Jean has more information about this family.
2. Georgianne Wheeler (1857) - married ___ Whitaker (ch: Edna, Emma, Mollie, Ralph)
3. Sarah Wheeler - married ___ Litteral (ch: Brinson, Wiley, Rude, sisters)
4. Florence Wheeler - married 22 Feb 1905 J.S. Williams
5. Clay [Possibly Anthony Clay acc. to Wm Hurst notes] Wheeler - married ____ (ch: Reggie, George, Gay, Lady, Emma)
6. Thomas Charles Hallec Wheeler - mar. 11 Jun 1881 Victoria Florence McCormick
(ch: Robert)
7. Edgar Wheeler - married 15 Oct 1910 Grace Caudill (ch: Ancel)