{{short description|American businessman and politician}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Obed Wheeler | office = Member of the New York State Assembly<br>from the Dutchess County 1st District | predecessor2 = Thomas Hammond | term_end2 = 1879 | term_start2 = 1878 | successor = Edward H. Thompson | predecessor = Willard H. Mase | term = 1892 | death_place = New York City, New York | birth_date = November 15, 1841 | birth_place = Dover, New York | education = Columbia University (LLB) | battles = American Civil War<br>Battle of Gettysburg<br>Sherman's March to the Sea | branch = {{Flag|United States Army}} | party = Republican | death_date = January 31, 1898 (aged 57) | successor2 = Isaac S. Carpenter }}
'''Obed Wheeler''' (November 15, 1841 – January 31, 1898) was an American businessman and politician from New York who served as a member of the New York State Assembly.
== Early life == Wheeler was born on November 15, 1841. in Dover, New York. In 1858, he went to the Amenia Seminary in Amenia. In 1860, he began attending Yale University, but he left in order to fight in the American Civil War.<ref name="Cook Benton 1907 p306–309">{{Cite book|last1=Cook|first1=S. G.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lzj2CAOmH-kC|title=The "Dutchess County Regiment": (150th Regiment of New York State Volunteer Infantry) in the Civil War|last2=Benton|first2=Charles Edward|publisher=Danbury Medical Printing Co.|year=1907|location=Danbury, Conn.|pages=306–309|language=en}}</ref> His parents were Thomas Wheeler and Rhoda Ann Olney.<ref name="Weeks 1898 p620">{{Cite book|last=Weeks|first=Lyman Horace|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PyRKAQAAMAAJ|title=Prominent Families of New York|publisher=The Historical Company|year=1898|edition=Revised |location=New York|pages=620|language=en}}</ref>
== Career == In September 1862, Wheeler enrolled in the 150th New York Volunteer Infantry Regiment, where he was mustered in as first lieutenant in Company E. In December 1863, he was promoted to captain of his company. He was also made brevet major. He was mustered out with his company in June 1865.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Phisterer|first=Frederick|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xMRdnmpKBeoC|title=New York in the War of Rebellion, 1861–1865|publisher=J. B. Lyon Company|year=1912|edition=Third |volume=5|location=Albany|pages=3755|language=en}}</ref> His regiment's first battle was the Battle of Gettysburg, and he fought in a number of other battles, including Sherman's March to the Sea.<ref name="Cook Benton 1907 p306–309" />
After the War, Wheeler studied at Columbia Law School and, upon his graduation, was admitted to the bar. However, he never practiced law, as he then became a member of the New York Stock Exchange.<ref>{{Cite news|date=2 February 1898|title=Obituary - Hon. Obed Wheeler|volume=38|page=5|work=Poughkeepsie Daily Eagle|publisher=Platt & Platt|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/114057928/}}</ref> He later served as director of the Brooklyn Warehouse and Storage Company, the Schermerhorn Bank of Brooklyn, and the Plaza Bank of Manhattan.
In 1877, Wheeler was elected to the New York State Assembly as a Republican, representing the Dutchess County 1st District. He served in the Assembly in 1878, 1879, and 1892.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Lloyd|first=Will L.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5THmWKSAlucC|title=The New York Red Book|publisher=James B. Lyon|year=1892|location=Albany|pages=170–171|language=en}}</ref>
== Personal life == For many years, he lived in the Murray Hill Hotel in Manhattan.<ref name="Standard Union obit">{{Cite news|date=1 February 1898|title=Obituary - Obed Wheeler|volume=XXXIV|page=3|work=The Standard Union|issue=181|location=Brooklyn|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/541978456/}}</ref> However, his permanent residence was the family mansion in South Dover,<ref name="Weeks 1898 p620" /> and he owned two large farms in Dover Plains.<ref name="Pokeepsie Evening Enterprise obit" /> Wheeler never married. He was a member of the Union League Club, the New York Yacht Club, the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States, and the Grand Army of the Republic.<ref name="Weeks 1898 p620" /> He was also a freemason and a member of the New York Athletic Club. He was a supporter of the Dover Baptist Church.<ref name="Standard Union obit" />
Wheeler died on January 31, 1898, in his New York City apartment from a pulmonary hemorrhage. He was buried in Woodlawn Cemetery.<ref name="Pokeepsie Evening Enterprise obit">{{Cite news|date=1 February 1898|title=Obed Wheeler Passes Away|volume=XV|page=4|work=The Pokeepsie Evening Enterprise|publisher=Enterprise Pub. Co.|location=Poughkeepsie, N. Y.|url=https://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn90066261/1898-02-01/ed-1/seq-4/}}</ref>
== References == {{Reflist}}
== External links ==
* ''[https://politicalgraveyard.com/bio/wheeler.html#628.15.85 The Political Graveyard]''
{{s-start}} {{s-par|us-ny-hs}} {{succession box | title = New York State Assembly <br>Dutchess County, 1st District | years = 1878–1879 | before = Thomas Hammond | after = Isaac S. Carpenter }} {{succession box | title = New York State Assembly <br>Dutchess County, 1st District | years = 1892 | before = Willard H. Mase | after = Edward H. Thompson }} {{s-end}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wheeler, Obed}} Category:1841 births Category:1898 deaths Category:Columbia Law School alumni Category:New York Stock Exchange people Category:People from Dover, New York Category:Republican Party members of the New York State Assembly Category:Union army officers Category:People of New York (state) in the American Civil War Category:New York (state) lawyers Category:Businesspeople from Brooklyn Category:Members of the New York Yacht Club Category:American Freemasons Category:Baptists from New York (state) Category:Deaths from pulmonary hemorrhage Category:Burials at Woodlawn Cemetery (Bronx, New York) Category:19th-century American lawyers Category:19th-century Baptists Category:19th-century American businesspeople Category:19th-century members of the New York State Legislature