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Reverend James Ripley Wheelock

Male 1790 - 1841  (51 years)  Submit Photo / DocumentSubmit Photo / Document


Personal Information    |    PDF

  • Name James Ripley Wheelock 
    Title Reverend 
    Born 30 Mar 1790  Hanover, Grafton, New Hampshire Find all individuals with events at this location 
    James Ripley Wheelock Birth.
    James Ripley Wheelock Birth.
    James Ripley Wheelock Birth. New Hampshire VR's
    Gender Male 
    Biographical Information From the New Hampshire Steeples Project: James Wheelock's father practiced law in Hanover NH, and James practiced law in Royalton VT after his graduation from Dartmouth in 1807. In 1816, he quit the law and moved to Middlebury VT to study the ministry with the Rev. Thomas Abbot Merrill. Called by the Newport NH congregation, James Wheelock was ordained in the old meetinghouse on December 2, 1818. During 1819, he added over 100 new members to the church; among them was his new wife, Delia Bass of Middlebury.


    After this auspicious beginning, his sometimes irascible and sarcastic nature started to wear thin on neighbors and church members. On February 21, 1823, a council of clergy was convened at Wheelock's own home to consider eleven charges made against him by a faction of church members. After hearing testimony, the council declared the claims unproven but acknowledged that the Rev. James Wheelock probably did possess a "warmth of temper." In any event, his bonds with the Newport congregation had been severed. He was dismissed but allowed to keep the $750 he had received upon accepting the call to settle.


    Wheelock's "Farewell Sermon" was delivered on March 2, 1823. The sermon was then published ten days later?on the day before the new, brick meetinghouse was dedicated. Interestingly, the dedication ceremony's program does not identify any participants by name. The officiant was probably Dartmouth's president, the Rev. Bennet Tyler, as previously arranged.


    James Wheelock served as interim minister for congregations in New Hampshire, Vermont, and Connecticut, before finding missionary work in Indiana, where doctrinal charges led to a trial and dismissal. During that sojourn, three of his children died. In 1838, he became interim minister in Barre VT, where his wife died after childbirth. A brief, failed second marriage followed, and then Rev. James Wheelock moved to Milton MA to preach occasionally.  
    Occupation Minister 
    Reverend James Ripley Wheelock
    Reverend James Ripley Wheelock
    History of Decatur County, Indiana: Its People, Industries and Institutions, Lewis Albert Harding. B.F. Bowen, 1915 - Decatur County IN, page 250
    Died 24 Nov 1841  Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Siblings 5 siblings 
    Headstones Submit Headstone Photo Submit Headstone Photo 
    Person ID I20521  Nagel
    Last Modified 11 Dec 2014 

    Father James Wheelock,   b. 6 May 1759, Lebanon, New London, Connecticut Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 14 Jan 1835, Burlington, Chittenden, Vermont Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 75 years) 
    Relationship Birth 
    Mother Abigail Kinsman,   b. 1768,   d. 7 Sep 1842, Montpelier, Washington, Vermont Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 74 years) 
    Relationship Birth 
    Family ID F6761  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

    Family Delia Bass,   b. Abt 1800,   d. 26 Jan 1839, Barre, Washington, Vermont Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age ~ 39 years) 
    Married 11 Feb 1818  Middlebury, Addison, Vermont Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Wheelock - Bass Marriage.
    Wheelock - Bass Marriage.
    James Ripley Wheelock marriage to Delia Bass. Vermont Vr's
    Children 
    +1. Delia C Wheelock,   b. Abt 1839  [Birth]
     2. Helen Wheelock,   b. Abt 1820,   d. 25 Sep 1839, Barre, Washington, Vermont Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age ~ 19 years)  [Birth]
    Last Modified 24 Feb 2019 
    Family ID F6826  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart