Gypsy Heart
Gold Member
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Humphrey Wheeler may be mentioned as the third settler in point of arrival in New Haven Township, Michigan. He had been a former resident of Chenango Co., N. Y, from whence he emigrated to Oakland County in 1836, and to New Haven in the spring of 1838. He removed to and settled on eighty acres section 15, which had been given to Mrs. Wheeler by her father.
A cabin twelve by sixteen feet in dimension was immediately constructed, covered with troughs and having a floor made of hewn logs. The box of a sled was dismembered and did duty as a floor after some remodeling. During the construction of this modest dwelling Richard Freemen extended the family a cordial hospitality.
The family of Mr. Wheeler were victims to chills and fever, which prevented the accomplishment of a large clearing the first year. At this time a pilgrimage of four miles was necessary to procure water for household use. Indians were frequent visitors, and bears caused much consternation among the cattle.
The following incident is given by John N. Ingersoll in "Sketches of Shiawassee County":
As an illustration of the trouble which the pioneer settlers encountered from the close visits of these varmints, James B. Wheeler, Esq., relates the the fact that when his father, Humphrey Wheeler, came into the county, in 1838, settling in what is now New Haven, he drove with him from Pontiac three good-sized hogs; and on the second night after his arrival the entire family were roused from their slumbers by the excessive squealing of one of the porkers, and on going out to discover the cause found a wolf in close contact with the hog, the latter evidently getting the worst of it.
The wolf made its escape and the hog was saved, only, however, to be carried off the next night by a bear, the last of his pigship. This same bear, a bold and plucky fellow, was just afterwards supposed to have been captured by baiting and a spring rifle, set for him by the renowned John Pope.
It was on a Saturday night, and early next morning John was seen wending his way to Corunna, with the carcass of old Bruin and two significant jugs, loaded on a stone boat, drawn by oxen of 'Pharaohs lean line.
In 1855, Mr. Wheeler erected the spacious hotel familiarly known as "Wheeler's Tavern," in which be became well known as the genial host until his death, in June, 1860. He was the earliest supervisor of the township, and filled other important civil offices.
Owosso Evening Argus of Novemeber 10, 1902 reported the fire of the old Wheeler Tavern and thus the New Haven Township ghost was laid.
People are scoffing at the idea that ghost ever existed there if ghosts can be said to exist but among the older residents of the township there is a feeling of positive relief that the gloomy old tavern is out of the way. With its uncanny reputation the old house was a sinister bulk in the dismal gloom, at night, and many are living today who saw lights flashing from room to room in the windowless shell, and heard Anton Brussos dying cry, just as he gave it 40 years ago when he was set upon and stabbed to death by thieves.
The Wheeler Tavern stood on State Road, 100 yards north of the New Haven Township Hall, on the east side of the road, and was an important stopping place for travelers in the 1850s and 60s.
Some say the reason that the due North/South State Road jogs over a half mile, was to pass nearer the old tavern.
The building was a long. rambling stucture, and was built of rough hewn logs, with a great open fireplace in one end, and the liquor room in the other. A room for the general reception of travelers occupied the center, and the sleeping rooms were upstairs."
"Anton Brusso was on his way from Saginaw to Owosso the winter of 1860, and stayed at the Wheeler tavern. The day had been cold and the road rough. Anton, a white haired but vigorous old giant, ate heartily and drank deeply. Incautiously he showed his roll of bills, and the eyes of the furtive taproom loungers glittered covetously."
"At mdnight the house was aroused by a hoarse, strangled cry, and Brusso was found dying with a knife in his chest. His money was gone. Two men rushed down the long hall one of them still carrying a lighted candle in his hand. They were the thieves; no one dared stop them, and they reached their waiting horses in safety."
"When the Michigan Central railroad was put through, Landlord Wheeler found his occupation gone, as travelers then rode the rails. He sold the tavern to be used as a farm house. It changed owners frequently after that.
At midnight the tenants often awoke from a sound slumber to hear the strangled death cry, the hurrying feet, and see the candle beams flash along the wall. The house was deserted for longer periods after each family moved out, and finally through lack of repair became unfit to live in."
"Men who bear the best of reputations in New Haven still tell, though rarely and only to close friends, of the sounds and sights attending the murder. The cry was always first, then the rush of light flashing from window to window. Whether their imaginations ran away with them or the transgressors were really forced to atone for their crime by reenacting it, when some resident of the township burned it down a few days ago, there was open rejoicing."
The above episode, if indeed it ever happened, occurred in the frame building which recently burned. The log house which the Wheelers formerly occupied, burned in 1853 when the frame building was burned.
The Brusso affair, Owosso people state, did not occur while the Wheelers owned the place.
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The Wheeler Tavern Counterfeiting Mystery
No history of pioneer hotels is complete without its unsolved mystery. This one was recalled by the Saginaw Courier Herald reported in November 15, 1902, the burning of the old Wheeler Tavern, or "Half Way House" between Chesaning and Corunna.
According to Owosso reporter who claimed that way back in the old rough days of the lumber camps one Sol Tobias was said to have been the leader of a gang of counterfeiters making the Wheeler house its headquarters; turning out a lot of bogus silver and thousands of dollars worth of bills.
A United States Deputy Marshall hired out to Wheeler as a bartender to learn the secrets of the gang. He joined the counterfeiters and worked with then for 2 years. Then he disappeared. What became of him remains unknown. He was never heard from again at his home in Cleveland, Ohio.
Other detectives tried to make arrests and one succeeded in capturing the worst of the gang. They were taken to Ann Arbor where there was a strong jail.
Mary Gage, a sister of one of the counterfeiters, went to Ann Arbor and hired out as a domestic in the sheriff's home. One night Charley Gage filed the window bars and Mary passed them from the corridor to the open air.
Gage was retaken, but was freed for revealing Tobias' hiding place. Tobias was captured again, but did not serve long.
Another report suggested that a murder had been committed in the old tavern and that the victims cries had been heard; and the death scene reenacted many times for luckless guests.
After reading these stories in another paper, the editor of the Chesaning Argus commented: "We are informed upon good authority that the murder story is wholly without foundation." No murder - no ghost; but the fire was real...Wheeler Tavern "burned to the ground."
Humphrey Wheeler may be mentioned as the third settler in point of arrival in New Haven Township, Michigan. He had been a former resident of Chenango Co., N. Y, from whence he emigrated to Oakland County in 1836, and to New Haven in the spring of 1838. He removed to and settled on eighty acres section 15, which had been given to Mrs. Wheeler by her father.
A cabin twelve by sixteen feet in dimension was immediately constructed, covered with troughs and having a floor made of hewn logs. The box of a sled was dismembered and did duty as a floor after some remodeling. During the construction of this modest dwelling Richard Freemen extended the family a cordial hospitality.
The family of Mr. Wheeler were victims to chills and fever, which prevented the accomplishment of a large clearing the first year. At this time a pilgrimage of four miles was necessary to procure water for household use. Indians were frequent visitors, and bears caused much consternation among the cattle.
The following incident is given by John N. Ingersoll in "Sketches of Shiawassee County":
As an illustration of the trouble which the pioneer settlers encountered from the close visits of these varmints, James B. Wheeler, Esq., relates the the fact that when his father, Humphrey Wheeler, came into the county, in 1838, settling in what is now New Haven, he drove with him from Pontiac three good-sized hogs; and on the second night after his arrival the entire family were roused from their slumbers by the excessive squealing of one of the porkers, and on going out to discover the cause found a wolf in close contact with the hog, the latter evidently getting the worst of it.
The wolf made its escape and the hog was saved, only, however, to be carried off the next night by a bear, the last of his pigship. This same bear, a bold and plucky fellow, was just afterwards supposed to have been captured by baiting and a spring rifle, set for him by the renowned John Pope.
It was on a Saturday night, and early next morning John was seen wending his way to Corunna, with the carcass of old Bruin and two significant jugs, loaded on a stone boat, drawn by oxen of 'Pharaohs lean line.
In 1855, Mr. Wheeler erected the spacious hotel familiarly known as "Wheeler's Tavern," in which be became well known as the genial host until his death, in June, 1860. He was the earliest supervisor of the township, and filled other important civil offices.
Owosso Evening Argus of Novemeber 10, 1902 reported the fire of the old Wheeler Tavern and thus the New Haven Township ghost was laid.
People are scoffing at the idea that ghost ever existed there if ghosts can be said to exist but among the older residents of the township there is a feeling of positive relief that the gloomy old tavern is out of the way. With its uncanny reputation the old house was a sinister bulk in the dismal gloom, at night, and many are living today who saw lights flashing from room to room in the windowless shell, and heard Anton Brussos dying cry, just as he gave it 40 years ago when he was set upon and stabbed to death by thieves.
The Wheeler Tavern stood on State Road, 100 yards north of the New Haven Township Hall, on the east side of the road, and was an important stopping place for travelers in the 1850s and 60s.
Some say the reason that the due North/South State Road jogs over a half mile, was to pass nearer the old tavern.
The building was a long. rambling stucture, and was built of rough hewn logs, with a great open fireplace in one end, and the liquor room in the other. A room for the general reception of travelers occupied the center, and the sleeping rooms were upstairs."
"Anton Brusso was on his way from Saginaw to Owosso the winter of 1860, and stayed at the Wheeler tavern. The day had been cold and the road rough. Anton, a white haired but vigorous old giant, ate heartily and drank deeply. Incautiously he showed his roll of bills, and the eyes of the furtive taproom loungers glittered covetously."
"At mdnight the house was aroused by a hoarse, strangled cry, and Brusso was found dying with a knife in his chest. His money was gone. Two men rushed down the long hall one of them still carrying a lighted candle in his hand. They were the thieves; no one dared stop them, and they reached their waiting horses in safety."
"When the Michigan Central railroad was put through, Landlord Wheeler found his occupation gone, as travelers then rode the rails. He sold the tavern to be used as a farm house. It changed owners frequently after that.
At midnight the tenants often awoke from a sound slumber to hear the strangled death cry, the hurrying feet, and see the candle beams flash along the wall. The house was deserted for longer periods after each family moved out, and finally through lack of repair became unfit to live in."
"Men who bear the best of reputations in New Haven still tell, though rarely and only to close friends, of the sounds and sights attending the murder. The cry was always first, then the rush of light flashing from window to window. Whether their imaginations ran away with them or the transgressors were really forced to atone for their crime by reenacting it, when some resident of the township burned it down a few days ago, there was open rejoicing."
The above episode, if indeed it ever happened, occurred in the frame building which recently burned. The log house which the Wheelers formerly occupied, burned in 1853 when the frame building was burned.
The Brusso affair, Owosso people state, did not occur while the Wheelers owned the place.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Wheeler Tavern Counterfeiting Mystery
No history of pioneer hotels is complete without its unsolved mystery. This one was recalled by the Saginaw Courier Herald reported in November 15, 1902, the burning of the old Wheeler Tavern, or "Half Way House" between Chesaning and Corunna.
According to Owosso reporter who claimed that way back in the old rough days of the lumber camps one Sol Tobias was said to have been the leader of a gang of counterfeiters making the Wheeler house its headquarters; turning out a lot of bogus silver and thousands of dollars worth of bills.
A United States Deputy Marshall hired out to Wheeler as a bartender to learn the secrets of the gang. He joined the counterfeiters and worked with then for 2 years. Then he disappeared. What became of him remains unknown. He was never heard from again at his home in Cleveland, Ohio.
Other detectives tried to make arrests and one succeeded in capturing the worst of the gang. They were taken to Ann Arbor where there was a strong jail.
Mary Gage, a sister of one of the counterfeiters, went to Ann Arbor and hired out as a domestic in the sheriff's home. One night Charley Gage filed the window bars and Mary passed them from the corridor to the open air.
Gage was retaken, but was freed for revealing Tobias' hiding place. Tobias was captured again, but did not serve long.
Another report suggested that a murder had been committed in the old tavern and that the victims cries had been heard; and the death scene reenacted many times for luckless guests.
After reading these stories in another paper, the editor of the Chesaning Argus commented: "We are informed upon good authority that the murder story is wholly without foundation." No murder - no ghost; but the fire was real...Wheeler Tavern "burned to the ground."
