James Henry Wheaton was the youngest child and only son of James M. and Desire Stevens Wheaton. He was born in 1839 in Grass Lake Michigan on property his father had purchased in 1834 and cleared soon after for his farm and a home for his young family. After his father tragically died in 1847, being only thirty-nine years old and leaving his widow to raise their three young children alone, James and his two elder sisters, Sarah born in 1831 and Emily about 1835, Desire married George Fream of Lodi Township, Washtenaw County, MI, in June of 1850. George joined the family in Grass Lake immediately afterwards and James lived with them and Emily who was fifteen years old at the time.
James was a teenager when he and his family left Grass Lake and moved to Chelsea, Michigan. His eldest sister Sarah and her husband, Henry J. Speer, who married in September of 1847, were early settlers there. Desire, George and Emily moved in next door to them before 1860. James was working for a local farmer and probably spent much of his time with him since he was enumerated the same year with his family as their hired hand. He left his employer sometime soon afterwards when the Civil War broke out. He volunteered and entered service as a soldier in Co. D, 1st Michigan Infantry, on May 1, 1861.
On November 15,1862, in Washtenaw County, Michigan, James married Eleanor Francisco, the daughter of Henry A. and Catherine Overacker Francisco of Grass Lake, Michigan. Their only child, a daughter they named Catherine in honor of her maternal grandmother, and known as "Katie", was born in November of 1863, only ten months before her father was killed in battle at Poplar Grove Church, Virginia, on September 30, 1864. Her mother who presumably didn't remarry, raised their daughter alone but was fortunate to have had a loving one in Katie who, after marrying Malcolm S. Carney of Decatur, Van Buren County, Michigan, sometime prior to 1886, welcomed her into their home where she became a permanent resident.
Through his daughter Katie and her husband Malcolm, James was posthumously honored with four grandchildren: Lucille, b. in August of 1886; Aileen, b. in August of 1895; his namesake and the Carneys' firstborn son, James Wheaton Carney, b. on the 25th day of November, 1897. Three years later Katie gave birth to their last child, Malcolm S. Carney, Jr., his father's namesake, in January of 1900.
James Henry Wheaton's Service record found in "Michigan in the War, By Michigan, Adjutant, General's Dept., Michigan Adjutant General's Office, John Robertson":
Wheaton, James H., Chelsea
Entered service May 1, 1861, as a private in Co. D, 1st Michigan Infantry (3 months). He was mustered out on August 7, 1861. He re-enlisted on Aug. 19, 1861, as a sergeant in Co. F, 1st Michigan Infantry, and commissioned as a second lieutenant on July 14, 1862. He was wounded at Bull Run, Va., on August 30, 1862, and promoted to captain on Jan. 1, 1864. He was killed in action near Poplar Grove Church, Virginia.
James Henry Wheaton was the youngest child and only son of James M. and Desire Stevens Wheaton. He was born in 1839 in Grass Lake Michigan on property his father had purchased in 1834 and cleared soon after for his farm and a home for his young family. After his father tragically died in 1847, being only thirty-nine years old and leaving his widow to raise their three young children alone, James and his two elder sisters, Sarah born in 1831 and Emily about 1835, Desire married George Fream of Lodi Township, Washtenaw County, MI, in June of 1850. George joined the family in Grass Lake immediately afterwards and James lived with them and Emily who was fifteen years old at the time.
James was a teenager when he and his family left Grass Lake and moved to Chelsea, Michigan. His eldest sister Sarah and her husband, Henry J. Speer, who married in September of 1847, were early settlers there. Desire, George and Emily moved in next door to them before 1860. James was working for a local farmer and probably spent much of his time with him since he was enumerated the same year with his family as their hired hand. He left his employer sometime soon afterwards when the Civil War broke out. He volunteered and entered service as a soldier in Co. D, 1st Michigan Infantry, on May 1, 1861.
On November 15,1862, in Washtenaw County, Michigan, James married Eleanor Francisco, the daughter of Henry A. and Catherine Overacker Francisco of Grass Lake, Michigan. Their only child, a daughter they named Catherine in honor of her maternal grandmother, and known as "Katie", was born in November of 1863, only ten months before her father was killed in battle at Poplar Grove Church, Virginia, on September 30, 1864. Her mother who presumably didn't remarry, raised their daughter alone but was fortunate to have had a loving one in Katie who, after marrying Malcolm S. Carney of Decatur, Van Buren County, Michigan, sometime prior to 1886, welcomed her into their home where she became a permanent resident.
Through his daughter Katie and her husband Malcolm, James was posthumously honored with four grandchildren: Lucille, b. in August of 1886; Aileen, b. in August of 1895; his namesake and the Carneys' firstborn son, James Wheaton Carney, b. on the 25th day of November, 1897. Three years later Katie gave birth to their last child, Malcolm S. Carney, Jr., his father's namesake, in January of 1900.
James Henry Wheaton's Service record found in "Michigan in the War, By Michigan, Adjutant, General's Dept., Michigan Adjutant General's Office, John Robertson":
Wheaton, James H., Chelsea
Entered service May 1, 1861, as a private in Co. D, 1st Michigan Infantry (3 months). He was mustered out on August 7, 1861. He re-enlisted on Aug. 19, 1861, as a sergeant in Co. F, 1st Michigan Infantry, and commissioned as a second lieutenant on July 14, 1862. He was wounded at Bull Run, Va., on August 30, 1862, and promoted to captain on Jan. 1, 1864. He was killed in action near Poplar Grove Church, Virginia.
Inscription
1st Michigan
Killed at the Battle of Poplar Grove Church 1864
