Hoyt Henry Wheeler Explained

Hoyt Henry Wheeler
Office:Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Vermont
Term Start:March 16, 1877
Term End:September 30, 1906
Appointer:Rutherford B. Hayes
Predecessor:David Allen Smalley
Successor:James Loren Martin
Office1:Associate Justice of the Vermont Supreme Court
Term Start1:1869
Term End1:1877
Predecessor1:John Prout
Successor1:Walter C. Dunton
Office2:Member of the Vermont Senate from Windham County
Term Start2:1868
Term End2:1869
Alongside2:David Goodell
Predecessor2:Daniel Kellogg
Homer Goodhue
Successor2:David Goodell
Vacant (After Hoyt's resignation)
Office3:Member of the Vermont House of Representatives from Jamaica
Term Start3:1867
Term End3:1868
Predecessor3:Abijah Muzzy
Successor3:Joel Holton
Birth Name:Hoyt Henry Wheeler
Birth Date:30 August 1833
Birth Place:Chesterfield, New Hampshire
Death Place:Brattleboro, Vermont
Resting Place:Morningside Cemetery
Brattleboro, Vermont
Party:Republican
Spouse:Minnie L. Maclay (m. 1861-1904, her death)
Profession:Attorney

Hoyt Henry Wheeler (August 30, 1833 – November 19, 1906) was an associate justice of the Vermont Supreme Court and later a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Vermont.

Education and career

Wheeler was born on August 30, 1833, in Chesterfield, New Hampshire, a son of John Wheeler and Roxana (Hall) Wheeler. He was raised and educated in Chesterfield and Newfane, Vermont, including attendance at the Chesterfield Academy, where he later taught. He also taught at schools in Dummerston, Vermont, Newfane, Townshend, Vermont and Westminster, Vermont. Wheeler began to study law while teaching, and learned under the tutelage of attorneys Charles K. Field, Jonathan Dorr Bradley and George Bradley Kellogg. He was admitted to the bar in 1859, and practiced in Jamaica from 1859 to 1867, first in partnership with John E. Butler, then as senior partner with Lavant M. Reed. A Republican, he was a member of the Vermont House of Representatives in 1867. He was a member of the Vermont Senate from 1868 to 1869. He was an associate justice of the Vermont Supreme Court from 1869 to 1877, succeeding Justice John Prout.

Federal judicial service

Wheeler was nominated by President Rutherford B. Hayes on March 15, 1877, to a seat on the United States District Court for the District of Vermont vacated by Judge David Allen Smalley. According to contemporary accounts, Wheeler had not sought the appointment, but received it because he had made a favorable impression on Hayes when Hayes visited Newfane. (Hayes's family was originally from nearby Dummerston.) He was confirmed by the United States Senate on March 16, 1877, and received his commission the same day. He retired in October 1906, following the confirmation of James Loren Martin as his successor.

Death and burial

Wheeler died in Brattleboro on November 19, 1906. He was buried at Morningside Cemetery in Brattleboro.

Family

In 1861, Wheeler married Minnie L. Maclay of Lockport, New York. They had no children, but raised as their own a nephew, John Knowlton, the son of Mrs. Wheeler's sister Elizabeth and her husband Benjamin L. Knowlton.

Honors

In 1886, Wheeler received the honorary degree of LL.D. from the University of Vermont.

Sources

Books

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