Wheeler was born on August 30, 1833, in
Chesterfield,
New Hampshire, a son of John Wheeler and Roxana (Hall) Wheeler. He was raised and educated in Chesterfield and
Newfane, Vermont, including attendance at the Chesterfield Academy, where he later taught. He also taught at schools in
Dummerston, Vermont, Newfane,
Townshend, Vermont and
Westminster, Vermont. Wheeler began to
study law while teaching, and learned under the tutelage of attorneys Charles K. Field, Jonathan Dorr Bradley and
George Bradley Kellogg. He was admitted to the bar in 1859, and practiced in
Jamaica from 1859 to 1867, first in partnership with John E. Butler, then as senior partner with Lavant M. Reed. A
Republican, he was a member of the
Vermont House of Representatives in 1867. He was a member of the
Vermont Senate from 1868 to 1869. He was an associate justice of the
Vermont Supreme Court from 1869 to 1877, succeeding Justice
John Prout. ==Federal judicial service==