Wheeler, William Almon

WHEELER, William Almon, a Representative from New York and a Vice President of the United States; born in Malone, Franklin County, N.Y., June 30, 1819; completed preparatory studies; attended the Franklin Academy at Malone and the University of Vermont at Burlington; studied law; admitted to the bar in 1845 and practiced in Malone, N.Y.; district attorney for Franklin County, N.Y., 1846-1849; member, State assembly 1850-1851; member, State senate 1858-1860; elected as a Republican to the Thirty-seventh Congress (March 4, 1861-March 3, 1863); delegate to the State constitutional conventions in 1867 and 1868; elected to the Forty-first and to the three succeeding Congresses (March 4, 1869-March 3, 1877); was not a candidate for reelection, having been nominated in 1876 as the Republican candidate for Vice President; elected Vice President of the United States on the Republican ticket with Rutherford Hayes in 1876; inaugurated in March 1877 and served until March 1881; retired from public life and active business pursuits because of ill health; died in Malone, N.Y., June 4, 1887; interment in Morningside Cemetery.