Simeon Wheelock
| Lt. Simeon Wheelock | |
|---|---|
| Born |
March 29, 1741 Mendon, Massachusetts |
| Died |
September 30, 1786 Springfield, Massachusetts |
| Occupation | blacksmith, Massachusetts militiaman, Lieutenant |
Simeon Wheelock (March 29, 1741– September 30, 1786) was a blacksmith from Uxbridge, Massachusetts, who served as a minuteman in the Massachusetts militia during the battles of Lexington and Concord in the American Revolutionary War. After the war he was killed while on militia duty protecting the Springfield Armory during Shays' Rebellion.
Wheelock was born to Colonel Silas Wheelock and Hannah Albee of Mendon, Massachusetts, on March 29, 1741. His father was a colonel and a descendant of the Rev. Ralph Wheelock. Many of Simeon's brothers would also serve in the Revolutionary War. Rev. Ralph Wheelock, the original immigrant, and Simeon's great grandfather, had founded public education in America at Dedham, MA in the 1640s
Simeon Wheelock served in the French and Indian War in 1760. He married Deborah Thayer of Mendon on November 28, 1763. They settled in Uxbridge that year, and would have eight children. He worked as a blacksmith in a shop adjacent to his home, which still stands in Uxbridge. Wheelock served as Town Clerk of Uxbridge for five years.
With the approach of the American Revolution, Wheelock was a member of the committee of correspondence in Uxbridge in 1774. As first lieutenant in Capt. Joseph Chapin's company of minutemen, he answered the alarm on April 19, 1775, and fought at the battles of Lexington and Concord. His term of service at this time was for 15 days.
Later, he served as Lieutenant in Capt. Samuel Read's company, in a regiment commanded by Lieut. Col. Nathan Tyler, from the alarm of December 8, 1776 to January 21, 1777, at Providence, Rhode Island.
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