Was a member of this society from 1817 to 1822. He came from Rutland,
where he was born, to Worcester, to execute the purposes of certain
members of the Fire Society, who had become convinced that the business
of _tanning_ was very profitable. They raised thirty thousand dollars to
put into the business—Mr. Wheeler was superintendent and manager—a large
yard was built on Market street, the largest in the county—Mr. Wheeler
built a spacious house on the corner of Main and Thomas streets, and
business went on swimmingly for five or six years, Mr. Wheeler always
assuring the proprietors that the business was very profitable. Some of
the proprietors having had no dividends for several years, succeeded in
raising a committee to investigate the affairs of the company, when it
turned out that the concern was bankrupt. It was a South Sea bubble on a
small scale. Wheeler left town, and the tannery rotted down. “_Sic
transit gloria mundi._”