Joseph Wheeler Plantation

Joseph Wheeler Plantation, also known as Pond Spring or the General Joe Wheeler Home, is a historic plantation complex in the Tennessee River Valley near Wheeler, Alabama. It is preserved as a historic property rather than operating as a contemporary commercial brand. The site contains twelve historically significant structures dating from approximately 1818 through the 1880s and is especially associated with Joseph Wheeler, a prominent nineteenth-century military and political figure, and his wife, Daniella Sherrod Wheeler. The property’s documented history begins in 1818, when the John P. Hickman family established a settlement and agricultural holding in what was then the developing Lawrence County area. By 1820, Hickman owned enslaved people, reflecting the plantation economy and the system of slavery on which agricultural production in the region depended. In 1827, Benjamin Sherrod, a planter from Halifax County, North Carolina, acquired Pond Spring and approximately 1,760 acres from Hickman. During the 1830s, Sherrod’s son Felix expanded one of the property’s log dogtrot cabins into the structure now known as the Sherrod House. The second cabin was used as housing for enslaved people, an important part of the site’s historical interpretation. After Felix Sherrod’s death, the property passed to his son Benjamin Sherrod. Benjamin married Daniella Jones of the nearby Caledonia plantation in 1859, but died in 1861. Daniella later met Joseph Wheeler during his 1863 visit to the area. Wheeler had been born in Augusta, Georgia, and became a senior Confederate cavalry commander during the American Civil War. The couple married after the war and lived in New Orleans for several years before returning to Lawrence County in the early 1870s. They built a new residence beside the older Sherrod House; this later residence is commonly identified as the Wheeler House. Joseph Wheeler subsequently developed a dual public career. Beginning in 1880, he served multiple terms as a United States representative from Alabama and remained in Congress until retiring from politics in 1900. During the Spanish–American War in 1898, he volunteered for military service and was appointed a major general of volunteers by President William McKinley. He commanded a cavalry division that included Theodore Roosevelt’s Rough Riders. Wheeler also served in the Philippine–American War in 1899, commanding the First Brigade of Arthur MacArthur’s Second Division. He left volunteer service and received a regular-army brigadier general commission on June 16, 1900, retired from the Army on September 10 of that year, and later moved to New York City, where he died in 1906. The plantation remained connected to the Wheeler family for much of the twentieth century. Wheeler’s daughter Annie lived there until her death in 1955. In 1993, the family donated the property to the State of Alabama and the Alabama Historical Commission. The commission manages the site, which has undergone restoration, including work on the Wheeler House. The plantation was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on April 13, 1977, because of its association with Joseph Wheeler. Today, the property functions as a publicly interpreted historic site, with its buildings, landscape, family history, military and political associations, and connections to slavery and plantation agriculture forming the basis of its significance.

The property now known as Joseph Wheeler Plantation is historically identified with Pond Spring, an agricultural estate in the Tennessee River Valley of northern Alabama. Its recorded origins date to 1818, when the John P. Hickman family established a settlement in the area. The family was among the early settlers of Lawrence County. By 1820, Hickman’s household had expanded and he held enslaved people, placing the settlement within the slave-based agricultural economy of antebellum Alabama. In 1827, Benjamin Sherrod purchased Pond Spring and 1,760 acres from Hickman. Sherrod came from Halifax County, North Carolina, and was a substantial planter. During the 1830s, his son Felix enlarged the larger of two log dogtrot cabins on the property. The resulting building, known as the Sherrod House, is a vernacular interpretation of the Federal style. The smaller dogtrot cabin was used as quarters for enslaved people. These buildings preserve evidence of the plantation’s early domestic and agricultural organization, while also documenting the unequal labor system that sustained it. Following Felix Sherrod’s death, Pond Spring passed to his son Benjamin Sherrod. Benjamin married Daniella Jones of the nearby Caledonia plantation in 1859, but died two years later. During the Civil War, Daniella met Joseph Wheeler when he visited the area in 1863. Wheeler, a Georgia-born military officer, was serving as a Confederate general. After the war, Daniella and Wheeler married and spent approximately four years in New Orleans. They returned to Lawrence County in the early 1870s and constructed a new home next to the older Sherrod residence. The newer building became known as the Wheeler House and is the principal structure associated with the family’s later occupation of the plantation. Joseph Wheeler became an important public figure after the Civil War. From 1880 until his retirement from politics in 1900, he represented Alabama in the United States House of Representatives for multiple terms. His later military service extended beyond the Civil War. In 1898, he volunteered for the Spanish–American War and received a major general of volunteers appointment from President William McKinley. He commanded a cavalry division that included Theodore Roosevelt’s Rough Riders. In 1899, Wheeler served in the Philippine–American War under Arthur MacArthur, commanding the First Brigade of the Second Division. On June 16, 1900, he was mustered out of the volunteer service and commissioned a brigadier general in the regular Army. He retired on September 10, 1900, moved to New York City, and died there in 1906. The property continued in the Wheeler family after Joseph Wheeler’s death. His daughter Annie remained at the plantation until her death in 1955. The family retained ownership until 1993, when it donated the site to the State of Alabama and the Alabama Historical Commission. State stewardship enabled the property to be maintained and interpreted as a historic resource rather than treated as a private residence. The complex contains twelve historically significant structures dating from 1818 to the 1880s. Its significance was formally recognized through listing on the National Register of Historic Places on April 13, 1977. The nomination emphasized the property’s association with Joseph Wheeler. The Alabama Historical Commission manages the site and has restored the Wheeler House for public access and interpretation. As a historic site, Joseph Wheeler Plantation presents the layered history of early settlement, plantation agriculture, enslavement, the Sherrod and Wheeler families, postwar political life, and the military career of a figure who served both the Confederacy and the United States at different stages of his life.

• 1993

  Transferred to the State of Alabama

  [1]Joseph Wheeler Plantationen.wikipedia.org

  The Wheeler family donated the property to the State of Alabama and the Alabama Historical Commission.

• 1977

  Added to the National Register of Historic Places

  [1]Joseph Wheeler Plantationen.wikipedia.org

  The plantation complex was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on April 13, 1977, because of its association with Joseph Wheeler.

• 1870

  Wheeler House constructed

  [1]Joseph Wheeler Plantationen.wikipedia.org

  After returning to Lawrence County in the early 1870s, Joseph and Daniella Wheeler built a new residence beside the Sherrod House.

• 1863

  Joseph Wheeler meets Daniella Sherrod

  [1]Joseph Wheeler Plantationen.wikipedia.org

  Joseph Wheeler met Daniella Sherrod during a visit to the area while serving as a Confederate general.

• 1830

  Sherrod House expanded

  [1]Joseph Wheeler Plantationen.wikipedia.org

  During the 1830s, Felix Sherrod expanded the larger log dogtrot cabin into the building now called the Sherrod House.

• 1827

  Benjamin Sherrod acquires Pond Spring

  [1]Joseph Wheeler Plantationen.wikipedia.org

  Benjamin Sherrod purchased Pond Spring and approximately 1,760 acres from John P. Hickman.

• 1818

  Pond Spring settlement established

  [1]Joseph Wheeler Plantationen.wikipedia.org

  The John P. Hickman family established the settlement and agricultural holding that later became associated with Joseph Wheeler Plantation.

A state-managed historic property and house museum interpreting the Wheeler and Sherrod families, plantation life, slavery, and the military and political career of Joseph Wheeler.

1. 1Joseph Wheeler Plantationen.wikipedia.org
2. 2Alabama Historical Commission: Pond Spring – The General Joe Wheeler Homeahc.alabama.gov