Congressional Enslavers

 The Washington Post is continuing its research into members of congress who "owned" slaves...and there eight members from Alabama who they are still looking into, including:

WHEELER, Joseph

1836 – 1906

If he was an enslaver, there's no clear evidence of it...and it did not prevent any number of places being named for him, as al.com, reported last Summer:

"Joe Wheeler State Park, Wheeler Lake and Dam and Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge are named for him, as is Joe Wheeler High School in Marietta, Georgia and Wheeler County, Georgia. The military has honored Wheeler as well. During World War II, the U.S. Navy named a ship in his honor and a now-closed U.S. Army base, Camp Wheeler, was located in Macon, Georgia."

     You would think someone would have brought it up during the naming processes for all of those places, yet I easily found references to "slave sales" listed in his abundant papers:

"SERIES A. FINANCIAL RECORDS, 1815-1866 This collection of business papers includes invoices, receipts, IOU’s, pages from account books, tax receipts, work contracts, legal documents, bank notes, personal bank account books and letters that document much of Wheeler’s business activity in Augusta, Georgia, 1815-1866. Topics discussed include cotton trade and sales, economic conditions, household and farm operations, investments, debts, slave sales and similar matters associated with Wheeler’s many commercial enterprises. Occasional family matters can be found in this collection. Correspondents include Sterling Smith, E.F. Campbell, and E.M. Swope, as well as a variety of commercial establishments. Arrangement is chronological, but not chronologically exact. There is a gap between 1843 and 185 ".

Sources: file:///C:/Users/timot/AppData/Local/Temp/v4222.pdf 

I've sent this info to the Post for their review.