If these
WALLS could talk
John Wheeler House is part of Historic Murfreesboro
A
Story by Sarah Davis Photos by Thadd White Murfreesboro
The Wheeler House, located at 407 East
Thought to have been built in 1810 as
(chartered by the General Assembly
Broad Street, is one of the more imposing
a store for William Hardy Murfree (origin
of North Carolina in 1787) in Hertford
sites on the Murfreesboro Historic Tour.
of the name of the town) and his business
County, one observing the architecture of
With 18-inch brick walls and the only brick
partner, George Gordon, the building was
buildings, some pre-dating its beginning,
dependency remaining in Murfreesboro, it
purchased by John Wheeler in 1814 and
must often think beyond the brick and
stands out architecturally, but it also stands
expanded and remodeled as a house.
mortar (Indeed, the oldest commercial brick
out because of its residents and their place
building in North Carolina still stands today
in local, State, and national government.
visitor
to
historic
Wheeler descendant James Elliott Moore, writing for the occasion of the Wheeler
in Murfreesboro and remains in use, now
Additionally, many have been writers,
Reunion in 1980, calls Murfreesboro
as the Rea Museum) to the inhabitants and
leaving a legacy of literature, both fiction
“unique to Southern towns” because it
muse, “If these walls could talk . . . .”
and non-fiction.
was settled primarily by merchants and
In at least one case, maybe they do.
Thanks to the John
Wheeler family, those walls have talked.
mariners from New England. Wheeler, who came to Murfreesboro in 1796, could be numbered among merchants
and
mariners
from
New
England, but his journey to Hertford County and Murfreesboro was a bit more circuitous than most. Born in Essex County, New Jersey, to Dr. John Wheeler, a loyalist sympathizer during the Revolutionary War, young John found himself moving frequently - first to Newark, New Jersey, for protection by the royal army, then to Long Island, New York, and later to St. John’s, New Brunswick, before eventually returning to the United States and New York City. There, in business as a bookseller, he made the acquaintance of Zedekiah Stone from Bertie County.
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