Built in 1853, the Captain William E. Wheeler House is an Italianate residence at 159 High Street in Mystic. According to A Modern History of New London County, Connecticut, Volume 3 (1922):
William E. Wheeler, born at Stonington, went to sea on a sailing vessel, later on whaling vessels, and still later on coasting vessels, sailing from New York to southern United States ports. In 1854, he went into the East India trade, sailing from New York to China for A. A. Lowe & Brothers on the barque “Penguin.” In 1865 he ran a steamer from New York to southern ports. He was a member of the State Legislature, and very prominent as a Democrat. He married, in Groton, August 24, 1831, Pedee Heath, of Groton, and they became the parents of four children
As related in Groton, Conn. 1705-1905, by Charles R. Stark:
William E. Wheeler, [State representative in] 1873 and 1875, was a sea captain sailing in the employ of A. A. Low & Co. in the China tea trade and was afterwards in the general store business in Mystic. He died in 1889.