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A few years ago, Waterford city historian Bob Nye secured a state grant to remove several large trees that endangered gravestones standing in Wheeler Cemetery, an abandoned graveyard on property residential just off Route 32 in Quaker Hill.
The trees were removed and in the spring of 2017, along with Waterford resident Patrick Crotty, Nye was allowed to clear the site of brush and heather.
Only a few years later, the tombstones are again hidden under lush vegetation, illustrating the continuing danger facing many of the city’s abandoned graves.
Due to a high embankment, Wheeler Cemetery is not accessible from Highway 32. To reach the cemetery, you have to cross private property, so this burial site is not accessible to the public.
The tombs are arranged in a long rectangular shape in rows of three or four. Twenty-one of the graves are marked with a headstone while nine have fieldstone markers.
Without a doubt, one of the most poignant burial stories can be found in Wheeler’s Cemetery in Quaker Hill. A four-sided post-type tombstone stands among the stones.
The date of death of four of Guy and Mercy Bolles Wheeler’s children who died in infancy is engraved on either side of the square stone. Each of these heartbreaking deaths occurred between 1788 and 1797.
Two more stones nearby are for Frances, another girl who died in 1816 at the age of 29 and her son Elisha who died that same year at the age of 22. It is difficult to understand the heartache this family endured.
The following inscription has been carved on all four sides of the foundation stone:
Front side of the stone:
Charles
Their son
Died September 10, 1788
1 month old
Right side of the tomb:
Jeanne
Their daughter
Died March 13, 1790
2 months old
Left side of the tomb:
Faith, girl
From Guy and Mercy
Roller
Died October 16, 1793
11 months old
Rear side of the tomb:
Joshua
Their son
Died January 28, 1797
12 months old
The stones next to it:
In memory of
Elisha, son of
Guy and Merrcy Wheeler
Who is dead
1816
Age 22
In memory of
Françoise, daughter of
Guy and Mercy Wheeler
Who is dead
October 22, 1816
29 years old
What sorrow this family has endured time and time again with the death of every child! This gravestone is located in a private family cemetery dating from the late 18th century.
The paternal grandparents of the Wheeler children are buried in nearby graves. Captain Guy Wheeler, who died in 1839 at the age of 87, was buried nearby. His wife, Mercy Wheeler, died at the age of 70 in 1828.
Two other very young children buried here are the two sons of Roswell and Mary Caulkins who died a year and a half apart in 1819 and 1820: Orin, 5 years old and Francis, 2 years 10 days old.
Rebecca Wheeler is the daughter of Zacheaus and Sarah Harris Wheeler. She was born January 9, 1739 and died January 31, 1830. She was the eighth of ten children.
Another young child buried here was Andrew Barros.
André F.
Son of Francis P.
& Marie Barros
Died April 18, 1833
Age 13 months
Sleep alone baby, and
Take your rest
God called you home, he
Seen the best.
History of the Wheeler family
The first Wheeler to settle in New London was John who was born in London in 1627. He arrived in New London with his wife, Mary Wheeler and four children in the mid-1660s. They were among the first settlers: the colony was still in its infancy. John was 40 – – pretty old compared to most 20-year-old newcomers. John’s three siblings who arrived with him settled in various parts of New England, including Stonington.
John has built and settled his family in a comfortable house in the northern part of town on a high hill overlooking the River Thames. Its simple location indicated the prosperity of its owner. It stood next to the homes of the wealthy Saltonstall and Prentis families.
The Wheelers’ lands – large tracts on both sides of what was called Wheeler’s Cove, were located three miles from the town. The Wheelers still lived south of the creek 100 years later. At that time, the region was still considered wild.
Caulkins Notes: July 30, 1695: “Paid an Indian for killing a wolf this morning with Mr. Wheeler’s four shillings in cash. “²
Caulkins mentions that on November 19, 1766, a bear was killed on the Norwich Road near the Wheeler property. He weighed 240 pounds and was “dressed” and brought to town for the market.
Hundreds have tasted bear meat for the first time.
John Wheeler, one of the city’s first maritime merchants and man of means, occupied a prominent place in its maritime affairs. He became part owner of a vessel called the Zebulon and was involved in trade with the West Indies. Another ship, built for him in 1689 for European trade, was sent under the command of Captain Samuel Chester. Wheeler died in 1691 just after the end of the first voyage. The ship was then ceded to its creditors, merchants in London.
When John died, he left behind three sons, three daughters and his wife Elizabeth. His son, Zacchaeus, served in the French and Indian War as a captain and died without heirs. John’s other children, including Joshua and Edward’s families, lived and died in the New London area.
Their descendants were numerous and many continued to live in the Quaker Hill area.
One evening in 1704, Joshua, John’s 21-year-old son, gained a unique place in history. He agreed to accompany Sarah Kemble Knight on horseback to New Haven on her historic journey from Boston to New York.
Sarah had stopped overnight in New London to visit the Saltonstalls and needed another guide to accompany her to New Haven. His previous guide could not travel further. At the request of his neighbor, Joshua accompanied Sarah on the two-day trip.
In his diary, Knight mentions the deplorable state of the roads leading to New Haven.
“The ‘Rodes’ along this path are very bad, cluttered with rocks and mountain passages, which were very unpleasant to my tired carcass.” ⁵
Joshua left her in New Haven where another runner accompanied her on the next part of her trip.
Revolutionary war
In May 1775, the Connecticut colony passed a law regulating and ordering troops to be raised in defense of the colony. During the early years of the Revolutionary War, Connecticut “was literally full of conservatives. They have filled our jails overflowing; many of them were confined to the Hartford courthouse.
The region has been called a “hotbed” of conservative activity. Even before war broke out, Connecticut was forced to pass anti-conservative laws.
New London had its share of anti-revolutionary sentiment.
Zaccheus Wheeler of New London was one of the accused of feelings of betrayal during the War of Independence, such as expressing hope that Britain would win the War of Independence and trying to discourage others from enlisting to support the American cause.
Apparently, Wheeler was accused of acting as an agent of the British cause, so he was forced to publicly declare his loyalty to the revolution in a notice published in the New London Gazette on March 21, 1777. After that, it was no longer written about Zacchaeus. He died in 1803.
Robert Boucher notes that although Frances Caulkins assigned the name “Smith Cove” to this body of water on Quaker Hill, he claims that he probably read almost all of the records pertaining to the lands surrounding this cove during colonial times. The name “Smith’s Cove” never appeared.
This cove was universally referred to as Wheeler’s Cove or another name associated with Alewife Brook. This name was undoubtedly related to John Wheeler, who in the late 1600s had passes on both sides of the cove that separate the inner cove from the outer cove.
Wheelers still lived south of the creek 100 years later. The preamble to the road survey that we all call Old Colchester Road reads “… at the head of the creek commonly known as Wheeler’s Cove. “⁸
Eileen Olynciw lives in Waterford.
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