An Illustrated History of the State of Washington, by Rev. H.K. Hines, D.D., The Lewis Publishing Co., Chicago, IL., 1893, pages 299-300 J.W. WHEELER, president of the Commercial National Bank of Seattle, was fittingly prepared for the position he so ably occupies by a long experience in banking and financial transactions. Following is a brief sketch of his life: H.W. Wheeler was born in Manitowoc, Wisconsin, in October, 1850, son of Albert and Mary J. (Grisam) Wheeler, natives of Vermont and of English and Scotch descent. John Wheeler, the progenitor of the family in America, came to New England from the Mother Country with the Puritans, and his descendants have been connected with agriculture, commerce, and mercantile affairs. Albert Wheeler was reared as a merchant, but departed from this line of pursuit in 1847, when he removed with his family to Wisconsin and engaged in the manufacture of lumber. In 1867 he moved to Alden, Iowa, and returned to mercantile life and stock farming. H.W. Wheeler was reared under Puritanic precepts in habits of thrift, economy, honesty and integrity. He was educated in the academy at Prairie du Sac, Wisconsin, and at the age of eighteen years entered upon his financial career as a clerk in the First National Bank at Iowa Falls, remaining in that institution about eighteen months. Deciding to come to the Pacific Coast, he arrived in November, 1869, at Santa Barbara, California. Then he spent three years in travel along the coast, accepting such opportunities for clerking or teaching school as the country afforded, as, having only twenty-five cents in his pocket upon his arrival, personal effort was immediately necessary in providing the necessaries of life. Having arrived in Oregon in 1871, he was induced to teach a school in Whitman county, Eastern Washington, this being the first school taught in that county. At that time not a foot of land had been surveyed North of Snake river, it being considered unfit for any purpose except that of grazing. In 1873 Mr. Wheeler settled at Eugene, Oregon, and as a clerk connected himself with the sash and door factory, operated by Abrams Bros., continuing with them about two years, after which he purchased a farm in the Willamette valley and engaged in the stock business, keeping fine graded sheep, and horses. After being thus engaged about two years, he sold out and moved to Pendleton, Oregon, where he turned his attention to mercantile pursuits. In the fall of 1879 he established the house of Wheeler Bros., of which he was the head, wholesale and retail dealers in hardware and agricultural implements, and built up an extensive business, which increased to the extent of demanding in 1884 a wholesale house in Portland, Oregon, which with numerous agencies was continued up to 1888. Mr. Wheeler practically withdrew from the management of this establishment in 1886, to organize the Oregon & Washington Territory Railroad, which, as secretary and manager, he operated up to the spring of 1888, when, having constructed and equipped fifty-five miles of road, he severed his connection with the enterprise. He then came to Seattle to rest and recuperate, at the same time looking for profitable investment. Associating himself with a few gentlemen from North Seattle, he organized the State bank known as the Bank of North Seattle, which opened its doors for business May 1, 1889, with a capital stock of $50,000, Mr. Wheeler becoming president of the bank. On the first day of the following October they reincorporated as the Commercial National Bank and increased their capital stock to $100,000. In December, 1890, they removed to the Burke Building, to be nearer the business center, and upon the completion of the New York Block they removed to their present quarters in it, in February, 1892, where they transact a general banking business, offering every possible accommodation to their financial patrons. Mr. Wheeler is also president of the Blaine National Bank of Blaine, Washington, with a capital stock of $50,000, being the first and only bank of that city. He is a director at the Marine Savings Bank of Port Townsend, with a capital of $50,000. Mr. Wheeler was married in Pendleton, Oregon, October 13, 1880, to Miss Arminta Cole, of Marshalltown, Iowa. They have two children, Ernest and Miriam. Mr. Wheeler takes up his financial work with the flush of enthusiasm, occasioned by his previous success in every enterprise undertaken, more particularly, however, from his fancy to a financial career, to which he has given great thought and research. He is the author of an article upon Our Future Banking System, which was originally published in the columns of The American Banker and has since been issued in phamplet form, receiving wide circulation and favorable criticism. He is also the author of a treatise on the subject of silver as money, known as Bi-metalism an Impossibility, and a most complete paper on the financial troubles of 1893, known as Our Present Financial Depression: its Causes and Remedies, as well as many other important papers, treating on the subject of finance, all of which have met with hearty approval by students of political economy, from whom he has received many flattering compliments. Submitted to the WA. Bios Project in September 2003 by Jeffrey L. Elmer * * * * Notice: These biographies were transcribed for the Washington Biographies Project. Unless otherwise stated, no further information is available on the individual featured in the biographies.