Hoyt Henry Wheeler

Wheeler was born on August 30, 1833, in Chesterfield, New Hampshire, a son of John Wheeler and Roxana (Hall) Wheeler.{{sfn|Genealogical and Family History of the State of Vermont}} He was raised and educated in Chesterfield and Newfane, Vermont, including attendance at the Chesterfield Academy, where he later taught.{{sfn|Annals of Brattleboro}} He also taught at schools in Dummerston, Vermont, Newfane, Townshend, Vermont and Westminster, Vermont.{{sfn|Annals of Brattleboro}} Wheeler began to study law while teaching, and learned under the tutelage of attorneys Charles K. Field, Jonathan Dorr Bradley and George Bradley Kellogg.{{sfn|Genealogical and Family History of the State of Vermont}} He was admitted to the bar in 1859, and practiced in Jamaica from 1859 to 1867, first in partnership with John E. Butler, then as senior partner with Lavant M. Reed.{{sfn|Genealogical and Family History of the State of Vermont}} A Republican, he was a member of the Vermont House of Representatives in 1867.{{sfn|Genealogical and Family History of the State of Vermont}} He was a member of the Vermont Senate from 1868 to 1869.{{sfn|Genealogical and Family History of the State of Vermont}} He was an associate justice of the Vermont Supreme Court from 1869 to 1877, succeeding Justice John Prout.{{sfn|Genealogical and Family History of the State of Vermont}}{{sfn|A Memorial Sketch of John Prout}}

Wheeler was nominated by President Rutherford B. Hayes on March 15, 1877, to a seat on the United States District Court for the District of Vermont vacated by Judge David Allen Smalley.{{sfn|Genealogical and Family History of the State of Vermont}} According to contemporary accounts, Wheeler had not sought the appointment,{{sfn|Annals of Brattleboro}} but received it because he had made a favorable impression on Hayes when Hayes visited Newfane.{{sfn|"Judge H. H. Wheeler"}} (Hayes's family was originally from nearby Dummerston.{{sfn|The Life of Rutherford Birchard Hayes}}) He was confirmed by the United States Senate on March 16, 1877, and received his commission the same day.{{sfn|"Nominations Confirmed: Hoyt H. Wheeler"}} He retired in October 1906, following the confirmation of James Loren Martin as his successor.{{sfn|"Judge Wheeler's Retirement"}}{{sfn|"Mr. Martin's Appointment"}}

Wheeler died in Brattleboro on November 19, 1906.{{sfn|"Judge Wheeler's Funeral"}} He was buried at Morningside Cemetery in Brattleboro.{{sfn|"Judge Wheeler's Funeral"}}

In 1861, Wheeler married Minnie L. Maclay of Lockport, New York.{{sfn|Genealogical and Family History of the State of Vermont}} They had no children, but raised as their own a nephew, John Knowlton, the son of Mrs. Wheeler's sister Elizabeth and her husband Benjamin L. Knowlton.{{sfn|Genealogical and Family History of the State of Vermont}}

In 1886, Wheeler received the honorary degree of LL.D. from the University of Vermont.{{sfn|"Personal: Honorary Degrees"}}

{{Reflist}}

• {{cite book |last=Cabot |first=Mary Rogers |date=1921 |title=Annals of Brattleboro, 1681-1895 |volume=1 |url=https://www.ancestry.com/ |location=Brattleboro, VT |publisher=E. L. Hildreth & Company |pages=961– |via=Ancestry.com |ref={{sfnRef|Annals of Brattleboro}}}}
• {{cite book |last=Carleton |first=Hiram |date=1903 |title=Genealogical and Family History of the State of Vermont |volume=I |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8Cr5seuiQ2wC&pg=PA830 |location=New York, NY |publisher=Lewis Publishing Company |pages=76–77 |ref={{sfnRef|Genealogical and Family History of the State of Vermont}}|isbn=9780806347943 }}
• {{cite book |last=Harman |first=Henry A. |date=October 25, 1892 |title=A Memorial Sketch of John Prout: Published in the Annual Meeting Proceedings of the Vermont Bar Association |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lug9AQAAMAAJ&pg=RA1-PA63 |location=Montpelier, VT |publisher=Argus and Patriot Book and Job Printing |pages=63–67 |ref={{sfnRef|A Memorial Sketch of John Prout}}}}
• {{cite book |last=Williams |first=Charles Richard |date=1914 |title=The Life of Rutherford Birchard Hayes, Nineteenth President of the United States |volume=I |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DRcGBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA6 |location=Boston, MA |publisher=Houghton Mifflin Company |page=6 |ref={{sfnRef|The Life of Rutherford Birchard Hayes}}|isbn=9781623761431 }}

• {{cite news |date=March 17, 1877 |title=Nominations Confirmed: Hoyt H. Wheeler |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/533261288/ |work=Rutland Daily Herald |location=Rutland, VT |page=3 |via=Newspapers.com |ref={{sfnRef|"Nominations Confirmed: Hoyt H. Wheeler"}}}}
• {{cite news |date=July 9, 1886 |title=Personal: Honorary Degrees |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/490430513/ |work=Vermont Chronicle |location=Bellows Falls, VT |page=8 |via=Newspapers.com |ref={{sfnRef|"Personal: Honorary Degrees"}}}}
• {{cite news |date=October 15, 1906 |title=Judge Wheeler's Retirement |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/197245893/ |work=Burlington Free Press |location=Burlington, VT |page=4 |via=Newspapers.com |ref={{sfnRef|"Judge Wheeler's Retirement"}}}}
• {{cite news |date=November 20, 1906 |title=Judge Wheeler's Funeral |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/443312005/ |work=St. Albans Messenger |location=St. Albans, VT |page=1 |via=Newspapers.com |ref={{sfnRef|"Judge Wheeler's Funeral"}}}}
• {{cite news |date=October 26, 1906 |title=Mr. Martin's Appointment |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/364272569/ |work=Brattleboro Reformer |location=Brattleboro, VT |page=6 |via=Newspapers.com |ref={{sfnRef|"Mr. Martin's Appointment"}}}}
• {{cite news |date=November 23, 1906 |title=Judge H. H. Wheeler; His Death on Monday Evening of this Week |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/547114471/ |work=Vermont Phoenix |location=Brattleboro, VT |page=5 |via=Newspapers.com |ref={{sfnRef|"Judge H. H. Wheeler"}}}}

• {{FJC Bio|2561|nid=1389666|name=Hoyt Henry Wheeler}}

{{s-start}}

{{s-legal}}

{{s-bef|before=John Prout}}

{{s-ttl|title=Associate Justice of the Vermont Supreme Court|years=1869–1877}}

{{s-aft|after=Walter C. Dunton}}

{{s-bef|before=David Allen Smalley}}

{{s-ttl|title={{nowrap|Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Vermont}}|years=1877–1906}}

{{s-aft|after=James Loren Martin}}

{{s-end}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wheeler, Hoyt Henry}}

Category:1833 births

Category:1906 deaths

Category:People from Chesterfield, New Hampshire

Category:Vermont lawyers

Category:Republican Party members of the Vermont House of Representatives

Category:Republican Party Vermont state senators

Category:Justices of the Vermont Supreme Court

Category:Judges of the United States District Court for the District of Vermont

Category:United States federal judges appointed by Rutherford B. Hayes

Category:United States federal judges admitted to the practice of law by reading law

Category:19th-century members of the Vermont General Assembly