Here is an Autograph Letter Signed by Civil War Pennsylvania Veteran and Post-War Railroad Executive

GEORGE HENRY WHEELER

(1843 - 1908) 

·       CIVIL WAR PRIVATE IN COMPANY L, OF THE 2^nd PA HEAVY ARTILLERY REGIMENT 1864-1866, AND PVT. IN "F" CO. 110^th PENNSYLVANIA INFANTRY 1861-1866, and

·       POST-WAR PRESIDENT and DIRECTOR OF THE CHICAGO CITY RAILWAY COMPANY.

The Letter is written to and docketed by Respected Public Official

HON. THOMAS L. R. MORGAN

·       PROMINENT JURIST, ATTORNEY AND LEGAL FIGURE IN SYRACUSE, NEW YORK, DURING THE MID-TO-LATE 19^th CENTURY, and

·       LAW PARTNER WITH HIS UNCLE, THE FAMOUS CIVIL WAR MAJOR GENERAL AND STATESMAN HENRY WARNER SLOCUM, PRACTICING IN SYRACUSE, NY. 

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES: GEORGE H WHEELER

Birth: 3 Dec 1843, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, USA

Death: 23 Aug 1908 (aged 64), Erie, Erie County, Pennsylvania, USA

Burial: Veterans Memorial Cemetery, Erie, Erie County, Pennsylvania

Plot: Section E, Row 10, Grave 3

George H. Wheeler (or G.H. Wheeler) appears in a few distinct historical and genealogical contexts:

1. Civil War Veteran Pension Records

U.S. government pension reports from the 1890s detail a George H. Wheeler who was supported by medical examinations in Scranton. A Dr. Beach of Scranton, PA, provided official medical testimony regarding his health (locomotor ataxia and rheumatism) to help secure his increased government pension around this timeframe.

2. Street Railway & Corporate Directories

In late 1898 and 1899, financial publications like the Commercial and Financial Chronicle tracking the expanding electric streetcar lines in the Lackawanna Valley (which connected Forest City, Carbondale, and Scranton lines) frequently list prominent transit executive George H. Wheeler. While he was heavily associated as a President/Director of the Chicago City Railway Company, his name appears heavily in regional Pennsylvania street railway documentation.

Civil War Service Summary - George H. Wheeler

PENNSYLVANIA 2ND HEAVY ARTILLERY & 4th ARTILLERY 112TH INFANTRY Second Artillery.

Cols., Charles Angeroth, August A. Gibson, James L. Anderson, William M. McClure, S. D. Strawbridge; Lieut.-Cols., J. H. Oberteuffer, S. D. Strawbridge, Benjamin F. Winger; Majs., William Candidus, James L. Anderson, David Sadler, Thomas Wilhelm, Edward S. Rowland, Benjamin F. Winger, David Schooley, William S. Bailey.

The 112th regiment, 2nd heavy artillery, whose members were principally from the counties of Franklin, Allegheny and Monroe, was mustered in at Philadelphia in Jan., 1862, for three years. On Jan. 9, three companies were ordered to Fort Delaware and the remaining companies moved to Washington on Feb. 25, when they were assigned to duty at Bladensburg, Md., where the command was reunited on March 19, and in November, two independent companies from Fort Delaware were added to the regiment. The regiment remained at Bladensburg until March, 1864, when it was ordered to the forts near Chain bridge. So large a number of recruits were added to the originally large regiment, that in April, the 2nd provisional heavy artillery was organized from the surplus, the two regiments numbering 3,300 men.

The 2nd was attached to the 9th corps and participated in the Wilderness campaign, fighting at Spottsylvania and Cold Harbor. The 1st regiment joined the Army of the Potomac at Cold Harbor on June 4, when it was divided into three battalions and attached to the 18th corps. The 2nd battalion shared in the charge at Petersburg on June 18, by which the ground was gained that became the front line of the army. The provisional regiment joined the 1st on Aug. 26, 1864, having been on duty at Petersburg and active at the explosion of the mine, where it lost heavily. Its ranks were by this time reduced to 400 men. In a charge on Sept. 20, the 1st and 2nd battalions lost 200 men, after which they were stationed with the remainder of the regiment near Fort Harrison until December.

In Jan., 1865, a large number of the men re-enlisted and the regiment joined in last charges upon the enemy's works, afterward entering the city with the army. For the remainder of the year the regiment was occupied in detachments in preserving peace and order in the southern part of Virginia. Returning to City Point, Va., it was there mustered out on Jan. 29, 1866. Fourth Artillery.-In the latter part of April 1864, this regiment was organized from surplus men of the 112th (2nd Pa. artillery), and after participating in the Wilderness campaign and in the operations before Petersburg until Aug. 26, 1864, it was disbanded and returned to the regiment from which it was taken.

Source: The Union Army, vol. 1

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES: HON. T. L. R. MORGAN

Thomas L. R. Morgan was a prominent attorney and legal figure in Syracuse, New York, during the mid-to-late 19th century. He held respected public and judicial offices.

In 1858, he partnered with his uncle, the famous Civil War Major General and statesman Henry Warner Slocum, to establish a law firm in Syracuse.

While he practiced law in Syracuse earlier in his life, the name T.L.R. Morgan is highly prominent in nearby Upstate New York history. He served as a long-time school superintendent. In 1898, a pivotal red brick schoolhouse was constructed in East Rochester, NY. Decades later, it was replaced by a modern facility named directly in his honor: the T.L.R. Morgan Building (which houses the T.L.R. Morgan Middle School). 

The documents measure 8½” x 11” and is in very fine condition.

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