WHEELER, Nathaniel, inventor, born in Watertown, Connecticut, 7 September, 1820. He was educated in the public schools, began life as a carriage manufacturer, and continued in that business till about 1848. In 1850 he made the acquaintance of Allan B. Wilson, who was engaged in perfecting a sewing-machine, but needed aid in patenting his invention and introducing it to the public. Wilson induced Mr. Wheeler to join in that enterprise, and in 1852 the machine was patented in the firm-name of Wheeler and Wilson. In 1853 the Wheeler and Wilson manufacturing company was founded. Mr. Wheeler's knowledge of machinery and his ability as an organizer enabled him to expand the sewing-machine manufacture from the little factory that could make but one machine a day to an establishment that has facilities for producing 600 machines a day. Since 1850, as president of the Wheeler and Wilson sewing-machine company, he has created a market for more than 1,200,000 sewing-machines. He has served six sessions in the senate and house of the Connecticut legislature, and has taken out patents for various inventions in sewing-machines, railway-cars, heating and ventilation of buildings, and wood finishing.