John H. Wheeler, Historian & Diplomat
Murfreesboro, Hertford County, North Carolina
Marker Inscription
John H. Wheeler. Historian, legislator, superintendent U.S. Mint at Charlotte, state treasurer, minister to Nicaragua, born 1806 in brick house 300 yds. N.
Erected by North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources
The Story
John H. Wheeler packed several careers into one life: state legislator and treasurer, superintendent of the U.S. Mint at Charlotte during North Carolina's gold-rush years, and U.S. minister to Nicaragua. He is best remembered as a historian whose writings preserved much of the state's early story. He was born in 1806 in a brick house that stood a short distance to the north.
Why it matters
Wheeler helped North Carolinians understand their own past, shaping how the state's history would be recorded and remembered.
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