Henry Cecil Wheeler, 1885 - 1927
by Brian Stevenson
last updated June, 2024
H.C. Wheeler was an amateur microscopist and an expert in the study of diatoms. An obituary noted that “Mr. Wheeler attained distinction for his microscopic work on diatoms, a low order of plant life existing in mud and lakes. This study was his greatest hobby, and he established important findings in this field”. All references indicate that Wheeler was an amateur, although he did offer to “exchange, buy, or sell” diatomaceous material with other collectors.
Wheeler is mentioned in Brian Bracegirdle’s Microscopical Mounts and Mounters, and a slide is shown in Plate 38-S (also shown in Figure 1, below). Based on that example, Dr. Bracegirdle suggested that Wheeler was a “mounter of polariscope objects”. My research indicates that Wheeler’s chemical slides for polarizing studies were a relatively minor component of his work, whereas diatoms comprised the vast majority of his slide production.
Bracegirdle also mistakenly called Wheeler a “UK mounter”. Although H.C. Wheeler was born in England, he emigrated to the US with his family in 1898, when he was 13 years old. He moved to Montreal, Quebec, Canada around 1915, and began his microscopical studies at roughly the same time.
Figure 1.
Examples of microscope slides that were prepared by Henry C. Wheeler. The vast majority of his known slides are of diatoms, both strews and selected specimens. The top slide is dated 1922. He is also made an apparently smaller number of chemical crystal preparations for viewing between crossed polarizing filters (polariscope). Images from the author’s collection or adapted for nonprofit, educational purposes from internet auction sites.
Figure 2.
Detail of diatoms from Trout Lake, Quebec, Canada, by H.C. Wheeler. Photographed with a 10x objective lens and C-mounted digital SLR camera on a Leitz Ortholux II microscope.
Figure 3.
Composite of photographs taken by H.C. Wheeler, included in L.H. Cole’s “Silica in Canada”, 1928.
Henry Cecil Wheeler was born on May 4, 1885, in Grays Thurrock, Essex, England. HE was the third child, and second son, of Harold and Harriet (nee Groves) Wheeler. At the time of the 1891 national census, father Harold was the manager of a cement factory, in Frindsbury, Kent. At that time, the family lived a relatively comfortable lifestyle, having a live-in servant. Tragedy struck the family in March, 1895, with the death of father Harold.
In 1898, Henry, his mother, and both siblings, accompanied Harriet’s brother and father to the United States. They settled in Windsor Locks, Connecticut. The 1900 US census listed uncle James Groves as a “paper maker”, Henry and his brother as “cutter boys”, and sister Marion as a “paper finisher”.
By 1905, Henry and his elder brother had moved to Try, New York. Henry was working in a cotton mill at the time of the 1905 census. He married Martha (Mattie) Miller on April 11, 1910, in Troy. The couple latr had two children, a boy and a girl. A 1911 city directory gave Henry Wheeler’s occupation as “clerk”.
Henry and his family moved to Montreal, Quebec, in about 1912. He soon took work with The Safety Car Heating and Lightning Company, which manufactured electrical components for railway cars (Figure 4).
The first record of Henry Wheeler’s interest in the microscope is a 1915 letter that he wrote to The Guide to Nature, in which he reflected on “the many pleasant hours that the microscope has afforded me”. The article was accompanied by a photomicrograph of a cat’s tongue “from a section prepared and mounted by H.C. Wheeler”. Wheeler wrote:
“A few days ago I received a letter from the editor in which he says, ‘I often wonder why microscopy has been so sparingly popularized in comparison with other sciences’. I often wonder at this myself, when I think of the many pleasant hours that the microscope has afforded me. It cannot be from the lack of things of interest to look at, because there are thousands of such things around every dwelling, no matter how humble or confined it be. Nor yet can it be from the cost of a microscope, as there are many excellent ones to be had for a few dollars and that would afford any one real pleasure in the examination of the common things that surround us.
Take, for instance, the common house cat. Her tongue is rough, but I doubt if one person in a hundred has given the matter any thought as to the cause of this roughness. The illustration shows a piece of pussy's tongue. The reason for the roughness is at once apparent. Note the little pockets that the hooks form. These enable her to get the meat from the bones that he has for dinner, the hooks acting much the same as a rasp. She can get the bones cleaner than can we with our knives and forks. All members of the feline tribe have this rough tongue. In lions and tigers it is so pronounced that to have one of them lick your hand or face would very likely be painful and draw blood.
This is only one instance out of the many thousands that are accessible to all. The tiny flowers on the grass are things quite as pretty as some of the flowers in the florist's window. All they require is to be magnified so that our senses can become acquainted with their beauty. Get a microscope and look about you and you will see that the world is not such a bad place after all.”
Wheeler’s interests in diatoms appear to have developed after that time. A 1919 paper on “The diatoms of Canada”, by Bailey and Mackay, acknowledged Wheeler for collecting diatoms from three Canadian sources, including Montreal city drinking water “by attachment of a patent filter to a kitchen tap”. However, the article also reported that “the preparation and mounting of the material was effected by the efforts of Mr. Oliver Kendall, of Providence, R.I., an observer possessing remarkable skill in that direction”, implying that Wheeler did not then possess adequate skills for mounting diatoms.
Wheeler’s mounting skills had advanced by 1920, when C.S. Boyer acknowledged that “H.C. Wheeler, of Montreal, has sent me two specimens mounted from material from Port Townsend, Washington.”
Entries for H.C. Wheeler in the 1919, 1924, and 1925 Naturalists’ Directory all stated that he was interested in, “Diatomacea. C. ex. buy and sell. Desires Diatoms and Diatom bearing material from all parts of the world” (“C” = “collect”, “ex.” = “exchange”).
Henry Wheeler died on September 11, 1927, after a brief illness. An obituary wrote:
“Henry C. Wheeler, well known in railway circles and for many years connected with the Safety Car Heating and Lighting Company, died yesterday morning at his home at 7124 Sherbrooke street west, in his 43rd year. Ill for a week, Mr. Wheeler was considered improved on Saturday, but died suddenly during a heavy storm.
Born in England, Mr. Wheeler cam to this continent seventeen years ago He joined the Safety Car Heating and Lightning Company in New York soon after his arrival, and had been with them as an electrical engineer ever since. He came here fifteen years ago.
In addition to his prominence in the railway industry, Mr. Wheeler attained distinction for his microscopic work on diatoms, a low order of plant life existing in mud and lakes. This study was his greatest hobby, and he established important findings in this field.
He is survived by his widow, nee Martha E Miller, formerly of Troy, N.Y., a son, Harold, and a daughter, Ruth.”
Figure 4.
A 1921 advertisement from The Safety Car Heating and Lighting Company, for whom Henry C. Wheeler worked from ca. 1912 until his death. Wheeler regularly provided the business as his contact address. From “Canadian Transportation & Distribution Management”.
Acknowledgement
Thank you to Richard Courtiour for generously providing a slide by H.C. Wheeler.
Resources
Bailey, L.W. and A.H. Mackay (1918) The diatoms of Canada, Contributions to Canadian Biology, Being Studies from the Biological Stations of Canada, 1917-1918, pages 115-124
Bingham City Directory (1911) “Wheeler, Henry C (Mattie E), clk, res 5 Leroy”
Boyer, Charles S. (1920) Rare species of North American diatomaceae, Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club, Vol. 47, pages 67-72
Bracegirdle, Brian (1998) Microscopical Mounts and Mounters, Quekett Microscopical Club, London, pages 102 and 180, Plate 38-S
Canada censuses and other records, accessed through ancestry.com
Canadian Transportation & Distribution Management (1921) Advertisement from Safety Car Heating and Lighting Company
Cole, L. Heber (1928) Silica in Canada: Its Occurrence, Exploitation, and Uses, Part 2 – Western Canada, Department of Mines, Canada, issue 686, introduction and frontispiece
England censuses and other records, accessed through ancestry.com
The Naturalist's Directory (1914) H.C. Wheeler not listed
The Naturalist's Directory (1919) “Wheeler, H. C., 323 Old Orchard Ave. Notre Dame de Grace, Montreal, P. Q. Diatomacea. C. ex. buy and sell. Desires Diatoms and Diatom bearing material from all parts of the world”, page 163
The Naturalist's Directory (1924) “Wheeler, H. C., 256 Percival Ave., Montreal West, P.Q., Can. Diatomaceœ. C. Ex. buy or sell. Desires Diatoms and Diatom-bearing material from all parts of world”, page 178
The Naturalist's Directory (1925) “Wheeler, H. C., 601 Drummond Bldg., Montreal, P.Q., Can. Diatomaceœ. C. Ex. buy or sell. Desires Diatoms and Diatom-bearing material from all parts of world”, page 224
Official Proceedings of the Canadian Railway Club (1916) “Wheeler, H.C., Safety Car Heating and Lighting Co., 621 Transportation Bldg., Montreal”, Vol. 16, page 16
Official Proceedings of the Canadian Railway Club (1921) “Wheeler, H.C., Safety Car H. & L. Co., 601 Drummond Bldg., Montreal”, Vol. 20, page 60
USA censuses and other records, accessed through ancestry.com
Wheeler, Henry C. (1915) The roughness of the cat's tongue, The Guide to Nature, Vol. 8, page 280