William Wheeler WILLIAMS

                   Descended from Puritan ancestry, who settled in MA about 1630.
At an early age he moved from the Poquetanuck home to Suffield, CT on the Connecticut River, near the MA border. Subsequently he moved with his family to Canadaigua, some 30 miles north of the present city of Rochester. Here he procured a tract of land at the falls of the Genesee River. This property was soon transferred to his brother Joseph and he bought land in the Western Reserve (Ohio).
When emmigration to the Western Reserve began, Wheeler (as he was called), determined to go there, so in the spring of 1798, at the head of a party of settlers which he was taking from Conn, he arrived in what is now Cleveland. He brought his wife and five children with him, the eldest only 12 years old, the youngest only two.
The sight of the future city (Cleveland), at the mouth of the Cuyahoga was by no means alluring, as is was susceptible to chills and fever. The most enterprising took up a position 6 or 7 miles to the S, where the air was better. They called this place Newburgh and this is now within Cleveland boundries. There was good water power there and Wheeler and Major Wyatt (who came to Cleveland at the same time) took advantage a falls there and built a gristmill in 1799, and in 1800 a sawmill. This was the first in the region. The fall of water here was about 40 or 50 feet, and the flow was sufficient to generate enough power for their needs. The mill proved a genuine blessing to that pioneer community. Its completion was celebrated in what was called an "appropriate manner". The citizens of the community (about 10 families) enjoyed the luxury of bolted flour made in their own mills from wheat raised by themselves.
An early history of Cleveland speaks of Wheeler as "a busy and energetic citizen of whom we shall hear much". He became a prominent figure among the settlers, filling various offices. In different accounts he is referred to as W.W.W., Wheeler W., William Wheeler. In 1802, when the inhabitants irganized their government, he was chosen one of the three Trustees, also one of the two Overseers of the Poor. In 1806, he was one of the patrons of the first school teacher, to whose school he sent four children. The teacher's salary was $10/month.
Newburg is near Cleveland.

According to Church archives (Kirtland) he was in Kirtland at one point. It says that he was born in Colchester, New London, CT. He arrived in Kirtland about 1799.