J.R. Wheeler, dealer in lumber and coal, was born in N.Y. in 1834; removed to Eau Claire, Wis., in 1854, and engaged in the lumber business. In 1861 he enlisted in the 16th Wis. Inft.; was wounded in the face by a bullet at Shiloh; carries two gun-shot wounds in his legs, and received injuries at Atlanta; was discharged in April, 1865; returned to Wis. and engaged in shipping lumber, and in Nov., 1866, established lumber yards at Denison and Woodbine, and the next year established a yard at Dunlap. He sold the first lumber sold in Crawford and Harrison counties. He established a yard at Blair, Neb., in 1868. He has been a member of the city council of Dunlap for several years. In 1875 he was married in Fremont County, Ia., to N.E. Tyler, and has one child, a son.
