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Names rarely fit their bearers as well as George Wheeler’s appellation suited him. A resident of the town of Washington in the early 1800s, Wheeler was the epitome of a wheeler-dealer.
He wasn’t a soldier but he was an arms manufacturer, producing the weapons of war. History buff Charles K. Estes has unearthed records that indicate Wheeler planned to turn the county into a munitions capitol.
According to papers dated 1801, he offered free land and a contract for construction of arsonal buildings on terms “as low as any other person.” The arsenal was to be located 55 miles from Fredericksburg, 24 miles from Fauquier, 26 miles from Culpeper, 32 miles from Madison, 43 miles from Orange and 10 miles from Chester Gap. Wheeler described the neighborhood as “extremely populous and wealthy, being within half a mile of the new thriving town of Washington...” He also noted that the site had a stone quarry, merchants and a saw mill within a mile and four more saw mills within three miles.’
Despite the enducements, the government didn’t accept Wheeler’s offer and the arsenal was built instead in Richmond.
But George Wheeler wasn’t finished with his efforts to make Washington a munitions center. In October, 1808, he and his partner, Caleb Morrison, signed a contract with the U.S. government to manufacture arms. “This just shows that the government started planning early for the War
of 1812,” Estes noted.
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