Edward P. Wheeler

EDWARD P. WHEELER, D. D. S. In point of continuous service Doctor Wheeler is the oldest dental practitioner in Pawnee County, and since first opening his office his work has been characterized by a high degree of skill and by a thorough progressiveness in adapting to his work all the mechanical facilities and the increased knowledge of the profession.

Doctor Wheeler came to Larned, Pawnee County, with his parents when he was a child. His father, Eugene Wheeler, who was born in Montreal, Canada, in 1848, has been a business man in Larned since 1876, and none of his early contemporaries is still in the field. Thus he is the dean of Larned business men.

Eugene Wheeler was educated in the Catholic Friars School in Montreal, learned watchmaking, and in 1868 moved to Chicago, where he followed his trade. In 1870 he went to Geneseo, Illinois, where he established himself in business. Thus it was with considerable experience, though with limited capital, that he came to Pawnee County in 1876 and engaged in the jewelry business. He is still operating and is one of the successful men of the county. Politically he is a republican, and has served as a member of the Larned City Council. He also belongs to the Blue Lodge of Masons.

He married Helen Curley, who was born in 1855, a daughter of John Curley, an early settler of Geneseo, Illinois, from Waterbury, Connecticut. The other children in the Curley family were: Mrs. Mary Pickett, of Chicago; Mrs. Bridget Stuckee, of Chicago; William G., a jeweler at Geneseo, Illinois; James, a wholesale grocery merchant at Geneseo; John, now deceased, had a notable career beginning as a soldier in the Union army, serving for many years as musical director of the band of the John Robinson Circus, and later acting as night editor of the Chicago Record-Herald.

Dr. Edward P. Wheeler was educated in Larned, attending the grade schools. There was no high school in existence when he was ready for attendance. Under his father he learned watch making, and also acquired a practical knowledge of telegraphy. He entered dentistry first as an apprentice for two years in the dental office of Dr. H. E. Lindas of Larned, and in 1895 entered the Kansas City Dental College, where he was graduated in 1898. He at once opened his office in Larned and has been steadily engaged in attending to his clientage there far nearly twenty years. He is a dental inspector of the public schools of Larned, and has delivered many lectures on oral hygiene before the Parents-Teachers Association and other organizations. He is a member in good standing of the Central Kansas District Dental Association, the Kansas State Dental Association, and the National Dental Association.

Doctor Wheeler has prospered in a business way as well as in his profession. He owns a modern five-room home at 309 West Sixth Street in Larned. Politically Doctor Wheeler is a republican, having cast his first presidential vote for William McKinley. Fraternally his chief interest is in Masonry. He is past master of the Lodge, past high priest of the Chapter and past eminent commander of the Knights Templar, and has represented all of them in the Grand Lodge. He also belongs to the Modern Woodmen of America.

Doctor Wheeler was married in 1907 to Miss Lavena Heaton. Her father, J. G. Heaton was a pioneer and a prosperous farmer in Ash Valley Township of Pawnee County. Mrs. Wheeler was born in Pawnee County and was educated in the country schools and the Larned High School. She is of Revolutionary ancestry and is past regent of Fort Larned Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution. She is also past president of the Portia Club.

Pages 2356-2357.