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The Osborne Wheeler house is no longer standing. The land was from an original land grant by Captain Riggs to Samuel Wheeler.
The original owner, Samuel Wheeler, came to Oxford with his new bride from Newtown. They brought with them the wife’s negro slave Philisie, who was a dowry she received from her father. It is said that Samuel rode a horse and his wife and the slave walked following him on foot.
Wheeler became one of the largest land owners in Oxford. He was a member of St. Peter’s Church and was one of the ten largest contributors to the building fund for the church which now stands on Oxford Road.
This house was in the same family until the 1950’s, when my parents purchased it from a descendent of the original owners. When we moved in, there were locks on both sides of every door. We asked one of the older members of the Osborne family why there were so many locks. He said that his grandfather told him that at one time there were many Indians living on the hills between Riggs Street and Chestnut Tree Hill, and they were afraid of Indian attack. The doors were always locked, and someone was awake, standing sentry at all times.
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