The Chapin family and the other families who settled in early America established governmental and educational systems that are a foundation to what we have today. My 9th great grandfather, Rev. Ralph Wheelock is noted to be the first school teacher in America in a tax supported school system.
The connection to the Wheelock line for me comes though my great grandmother Rhoda Albee Chapin.
Notable cousins to this line are:
- Benjamin Ide Wheeler, President University of California, Berkeley.
- Dr. Eleazer Wheelock, D.D., founder of Dartmouth College.
- John Hall Wheelock, 20th Century poet.
- Douglas Harry Wheelock, NASA Astronaut.
- Warren Henry Wheelock (AKA Bobby Wheelock), American baseball player for the Boston Beaneaters and other teams.
- Lucy Wheelock, educator and founder of Wheelock College.
- Gary Wheelock, American baseball player for Seattle Mariners.
- John Wheelock Willey, first mayor of Cleveland, Ohio.
- General Eleazer Wheelock Ripley, American General during the War of 1812.
- Colonel Eleazer Louis Ripley Wheelock, founder of Wheelock, Texas, Republic of Texas pioneer, Indian agent, organizer of University of Texas.
- Matt Damon, American actor, screenwriter and producer.
- Emily Elizabeth Dickenson, poetess.
- Merrill G. Wheelock, American Architect: designed old Masonic Temple in Boston.
- Sidney Harper Marsh, First president of Pacific University in Oregon.
- Alli DeFrancesco Miller, Marathon swimmer. First Italian woman to swim the English Channel.
These references are sourced from Wikipedia...
The first American schools in the thirteen original colonies opened in the 17th century. Boston Latin School
was founded in 1635 and is both the first public school and oldest
existing school in the United States. The first tax-supported public
school was in Dedham, Massachusetts, and was run by Rev. Ralph Wheelock.
Ralph Wheelock
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ralph Wheelock (1600–1683) was an
English Puritan minister,
American colonial public official, and educator. He is known for having been the first
public school teacher in America.
Early life and education
Ralph Wheelock was most likely born on 14 May 1600
[1] in Donington,
[1] Shropshire, England. He was educated at
Clare Hall,
Cambridge University alongside
John Milton and John Elliot. He enrolled in 1623, obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1626, and a Master of Arts in 1631.
[2] He participated in the radical Puritan movement that was centered at Cambridge University at the time.
Marriage and family
On 17 May 1630, in the church of Wramplingham St Peter and St Paul,
Wramplingham, England,
[3] Wheelock married Rebecca Clarke.
[4] The two had three children in England: Mary, baptized in
Banham,
County of Norfolk, 2 September 1631; Gershom, baptized in the village of
Eccles, County of Norfolk, 3 January 1632/33; and Rebecca Wheelock, baptized in Eccles as well, on 24 August 1634.
[5]
The family sailed to the
Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1636, 6 years after the settlement of Boston, and at the peak of the "
Great Migration".
[6] Ralph's wife, Rebecca, reportedly gave birth to their daughter, Peregrina, on the voyage. He and his family settled in
Watertown, Massachusetts upon arrival. After moving to the town of
Dedham
in 1637, which Wheelock had a major role in establishing, children
Benjamin, Samuel, Record, and Experience were born. The family lived
there for over a decade.
In 1651 Wheelock and his family moved to
Medfield, Massachusetts,
which he founded and where he spent the remaining 32 years of his life.
Eleazar Wheelock was born to Ralph and Rebecca at Medfield. One of
Eleazar's grandchildren, also named
Eleazar, would go on to become the founder of
Dartmouth College, in
Hanover, New Hampshire.
Career
Ralph Wheelock joined the dissenting religious movement known as Puritanism while attending
Clare College. On 6 May 1630, he was ordained priest at
Peterborough Cathedral by
Francis White, Bishop of the Norfolk Diocese.
[7] His ordination comes almost four months before the signing of the
Cambridge Agreement,
where 12 men agreed to the sale of Massachusetts Bay Company shares to
those interested in in emigrating to the new world. It is probable that
Wheelock served clerical duties at the parish in Eccles where his
children Gershom and Rebecca were baptized.
[7]
Wheelock participated in a plan to create a new settlement further up the
Charles River
from Watertown, Massachusetts, to be called Contentment (later renamed
Dedham). In 1638, Wheelock became one of the earliest settlers and a
founder of Dedham. He was granted a tract of land in the west end of
town, 1 mile from meeting and school house. The lot staddles today's
Channing Road from Havern Street down to the Charles River. He lived
there with his wife for over a decade, and played a leading role in the
affairs of the town. In July 1637, Wheelock signed the "Dedham
Covenant", effectively the founding constitution of Dedham. In 1639, he
and six others were chosen to be town
selectmen. He was also appointed to assist in the surveying the boundaries of the town. He most likely had a hand in the planning of
Mother Brook, the first English canal in New England that was started in 1639.
On 13 March 1638/9, Wheelock was declared a
freeman.
[8] In 1642, he was appointed the clerk of writs at the
General Court,
which was the central court of the Bay Colony with powers granted by
the British Crown. Two years later, in 1645, he was appointed one of the
commissioners authorized to "solemnize" marriages, which at the time
was a civil rather than religious duty.
On 1 February 1644 a Dedham town meeting voted for the first free
(public) school in Massachusetts, to be supported by town taxes. Ralph
Wheelock was the first teacher at this school, and hence the first
tax-supported public school teacher in the colonies. Three years later,
in 1647, the General Court decreed that every town with 50 or more
families must build a school supported by public taxes.
[9]
As Dedham became increasingly populous in the late 1640s, it was
decided to forge a new township up the Charles River out of a tract of
land that was then part of Dedham. Wheelock was appointed leader of this
effort, and in 1649 he and six others were given the duties of erecting
and governing a new village, to be called New Dedham, later renamed
Medfield. Wheelock almost certainly wrote the document called "The
Agreement" which, for a time, every new settler of Medfield had to sign.
The Agreement stated that the signatories were to abide by the town
ordinances and laws, maintain orderly conduct, and resolve differences
between themselves peaceably.
The first house lot in Medfield (12 acres) was granted to Ralph
Wheelock. The house lot was at the intersection of North and Main
streets on the west side of North and extended almost to Upham Road
(which used to be called Short Street). His planting field was directly
across Main Street from his house lot and ran along Pleasant Street,
extending almost to where Oak Street is today.
[10]
Ralph served on the first Board of Selectmen (1651). He subsequently
served on the Board of Selectmen in 1652-1654, and again in 1659. In
1653 he took up a collection for
Harvard College.
Wheelock held the position of representative to the General Court in
Massachusetts for Medfield in the years 1653, 1663, 1664, 1666, and
1667. Ralph Wheelock was the first schoolmaster of the public school in
Medfield, which was founded in 1655. He remained schoolmaster for around
8 years.
[11]
Death and legacy
Wheelock died 11 January 1683/84,
[12] the 84th year of his life. His wife, Rebecca Clarke Wheelock, died on 1 January 1680/1 in Medfield.
[13] Both are buried in unmarked graves in the old section of Medfield's Vine Lake Cemetery.
Ralph Wheelock played an active and important role in the settling of
the Massachusetts Bay Colony. He was instrumental in establishing two
new towns, and held virtually every office of importance in both of
them. Furthermore, he was at the forefront of establishing the
educational foundations of the country.
His descendants would also prove to play an important a role in
settling New England and the rest of America. His son, Benjamin, was a
founder of the Town of
Mendon, Massachusetts.
Among his great-grandchildren were founders of several New England
towns, as well as Eleazar Wheelock, the founder of Dartmouth. Succeeding
generations would push farther west, settling the frontiers in New
York, Michigan, Illinois, Nova Scotia, and Texas, establishing
impressive credentials as teachers, writers, soldiers, founders of
towns, and creators of business.
[14]
