John Hill Wheeler

John Hill Wheeler (1806-1882) was a planter, slaveowner, attorney, politician and historian who served as North Carolina State Treasurer (1843-1845) and as United States Minister to Nicaragua (1855-1856).

In cases that gained national coverage in the 19th and 21st centuries, Wheeler also has become known for his association with two of his women slaves who gained freedom: Jane Johnson walked away from him with her two sons in 1855 when she was in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, a free state, with Wheeler and his family en route to his posting in Nicaragua. She was hidden by abolitionists and remained free. Hannah Bond escaped from his North Carolina plantation about 1857, settling in New Jersey. She came to prominence in 2001-2002, when a novel she wrote as "Hannah Crafts" was authenticated (revealing her connection to Wheeler) and published, becoming a bestseller. Her identity was fully documented in 2013.

John Hill Wheeler was born in 1806 in Murfreesboro, North Carolina, where his family were planters. His birthplace, the John Wheeler House, is included in the Murfreesboro Historic District on the National Register of Historic Places. Wheeler earned a bachelor's degree at Columbian College (now George Washington University). He read law under John Louis Taylor and was admitted to the bar in 1827. The following year he continued his studies and received a master's degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Wheeler was first elected to the North Carolina House of Commons in 1827, from Hertford County at age 21, and served four years. Years later he was elected to the House again, but from Lincoln County. He gained a patronage position under President Andrew Jackson, who appointed Wheeler as superintendent of the federal mint in Charlotte, North Carolina (1837-1841).

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