Benjamin Franklin Wheeler
Grand Saline, Van Zandt County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Benjamin Franklin Wheeler, namesake for the Ben Wheeler Community, contributed to the development of communications across the region in his mail-carrying career and influenced land ownership in the area. He was born in 1818, in Adair County, Kentucky. He went on to spend many years as a boatman along the Mississippi River and its tributaries, finally marrying his wife, Eliza, in New Orleans. The couple moved to Henderson County, Texas in 1847, but soon moved to Van Zandt County to own land near his sister’s family. During his first years in Texas, he carried mail between Tyler and communities to its west, making him one of the first people to carry mail in and through Van Zandt county. He also had a hand in improving a portion of the Shreveport and Dallas Road in 1853, and carried mail for the Confederacy during the Civil War. After his wife returned to New Orleans, Wheeler married the widow Caroline Watkins in 1865. In addition to his son, James, whom he had with Eliza, he also raised three more children with his new wife. Ben Wheeler and his family lived at Creagleville for most of his life. For a time he owned and operated a liquor dealership in the county. He carried mail between Edom and Canton, and would stop halfway at the home of his friend George W. Clough. In 1876, George Clough made a request for the establishment of a post office in the community. The request was approved and was named Ben Wheeler. The office was operated out of postmaster Clough’s home. Before his death in 1899, Wheeler sold nearly 300 of his acres to churches, friends and family. Benjamin Wheeler’s life and career helped shape the future of Van Zandt county.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Born in Kentucky in 1818, Benjamin Franklin Wheeler spent years as a Mississippi River boatman before settling in Van Zandt County, Texas, in the late 1840s. He became one of the first mail carriers in the region, riding routes between Tyler, Edom, and Canton, helped improve the Shreveport–Dallas road, and carried mail for the Confederacy during the Civil War. In 1876 a friend's request for a post office produced the community of Ben Wheeler, named in his honor.
Why it matters
Wheeler's life traces how the humble work of carrying the mail knit a scattered frontier region together and left a settler's name on the map for good.
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Related people
- · Benjamin Franklin Wheeler
- · George W. Clough
Themes & tags
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