Wheat family

Sylvanus and Rachel Wheat

Sylvanus Wheat was born on April 7, 1823, in Franklin, New York, the son of Silas Wheat (1793-1888) and Eunice Dewey (1794-1857). He married Rachel Loveland (b. 1828) on Nov. 12, 1849, and worked as a farmer in Delaware County, New York. The Wheats' first child died a few weeks after its birth in 1852. They had four more children between 1853 and 1861, but all of them died in October 1861. In August of 1862, Wheat enlisted in the Union army as a private in Company D of the 144th Regiment of the New York Infantry Volunteers. He was 39 years old, and signed on for three years of service, but suffered frequently from illness and was discharged less than a year later, on April 8, 1863. His regiment was assigned to the defense of Washington, as part of the 3rd Brigade, Abercrombie's Division. Several weeks after Sylvanus enlisted in the army, his wife Rachel gave birth to their sixth child, Emma R. Wheat, born Sept. 15, 1862. Two other children followed -- Ella F. (b. June 9, 1865) and Duane D. (b. Aug. 7, 1867). After his return to Franklin, New York, Sylvanus continued to farm there until his death on Aug. 29, 1897.

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