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Continued: Early records of this family can be found at St. Jacob's Church and also the First Presbyterian Church of Lisbon, Columbiana County, Ohio. George's birth is recorded at St. Jacob's.
George Whealen married Emily Kerns, daughter of Simon and Elizabeth (Ocheltree) Kerns of East Marlborough, Chester Co., Pennsylvania, 27 Aug 1846. The marriage is recorded in Columbiana Co. as performed by "Chas J Budd, JP". George likely met Emily through her sister, Margaret Ann (Kerns) Whealen who married George's eldest brother, Jacob Whealen, in April 1842. George and Emily were married for just fourteen months when she died in Oct. 1847. They had one daughter, Emily Kerns Whealen, born just a few days before her mother's death. Young Emily lived with Kerns and Whealen relatives in Columbiana County as a child.
George Whealen studied medicine in the 1840s, although we do not know where or with whom. By 1850 he was a practicing physician in Fairfield, Columbiana County, and living alone, as evidenced by the U.S. Census that year. (1850 U.S. Census, Fairfield, Columbiana, Ohio, Dist. 202, Page 87, Household 474, Family 482)
George married Mary Holmes, daughter of Lot and Sarah (Nichols) Holmes, "by Quaker ceremony" at Middleton Monthly Meeting (Columbiana County, Ohio) 20 May 1852. He and his father-in-law, Lot Holmes, traveled to Iowa to reconnaissance the area and purchase land in 1852. They returned to Ohio to get their families anr prepare to move, relocating to Marietta Twp., Marshall Co., Iowa, in October 1853. The first settlers of Marietta had only arrived in 1851 and so it was still a relatively wild place. The young couple set up housekeeping in a small cabin with rustic furniture. Dr. Whealen commenced his work as a physician, being the first able doctor in central Iowa. He also ran a drug store in Marrietta. Mary's father, Lot Holmes, also moved to the area, and other Whealen, Holmes, Hughes, and Nichols relatives settled near them.
George Whealen was among the men who signed a bond on 14 January 1859, securing themselves for $80,000, to Marshall Co. for the erection of a County Courthouse.
The Whealens lived in Marietta until 1865, by which time the family had seven children. Dr. Whealen sold the property in Marietta to his sister and brother-in-law, Sarah (Whealen) and Jacob Weaver, in 1865. The bargain and sale deed was signed 7 February and recorded at the court house 19 July 1865. It conveyed about 120 acres in Marietta Twp. and included and excluded several town lots on the north edge of the plat for the town of Liberty. The Whealens may have lived for a time in Lamoille, Marshall Co., as an 1882 Business Directory for Lamoille, Marshall Co., Iowa (taken from the 1882-1883 R. L. Polk "Iowa State Gazetteer and Business Directory") includes "G. Whalen, Physician". Lamoille is seven miles west of Marshalltown where they later moved. Dr. Whealen continued his medical practice and had a general store in Marshalltown. An old newspaper advertisement describes his business as the "QUAKER CITY STORE -- Dr. George Whealen -- Dealer in Dry Goods, Hats and Caps, Groceries, etc. -- Two Doors from Center Street -- Marshalltown, Iowa".
Dr. George Whealen was one of the earliest doctors in central Iowa and practiced medicine in Marshall County for more than 40 years. He died 26 May 1897 in Marshalltown, aged 78 years, and is buried at the Marietta Cemetery. Mary (Holmes) Whealen lived as a widow for twenty four years after Dr. Whealen's death. She died 28 Dec. 1921 at the age of nearly 92 as the result of an automobile accident while visiting family in Pasadena, California.
The following account is from the "History of Marshall County, Iowa" by Mrs. N. Sanford, under the section on Marietta, pp. 36-40:
"MARIETTA Township is situated west of Marshall; the Iowa river and the Little Minerva, with their tributaries, water its surface, and 'the lay of the land' is very fine, especially in the southern part. In early times this township had the advantage of the county seat, had county roads centralizing the village, and much of the western travel to the Plains passed through, giving a market to the surplus products of the soil. ...
"Doctor WHEALEN came to Marietta in October, 1853, being the first physician, with the exception of some inebriated quack, who left that season. The summer and fall were quite unhealthy, many were discouraged, but the appearance of a good physician was hailed with delight. Doctor Whealen practiced all through Marshall and even into the adjoining counties; on horseback, over sloughs without bridges, perhaps take a canoe and cross the Iowa at night; and in the cabins of the poor emigrants, saw sights to make a sensitive man sick of the profession. The emigration was heavy that year, and the farmers in this section could not supply all who came with provisions, and especially milk and butter. The cows not being properly cared for, it was impossible to obtain these necessaries. The doctor's family had no milk or butter for months. Mrs. Whealen wrote to a friend in Ohio, that cows did not give milk in Iowa, for she had 'tried all belonging to the neighbors and they were all dry.'
"The doctor made the most of furniture --three-legged stools, splint-bottomed chairs, a cradle made of a shoe box, and a dry goods box for a beaufet. [sic] What Iowa housekeeper of the early day knew not how to arrange the cupboard so as to get in all the dishes, with a corner for a bottle of hair oil and the fine tooth comb! Mrs. Whealen managed to entertain twenty-two persons in her cabin for a while, but at night the cradle, chairs, and table were set out of doors to be occupied by ghosts of departed Musquaquas --covering the entire floor with beds, sometimes pinning overcoats and dresses together for a partition to shade the young girls' sweet faces. She, that ruled her spirit, was greater that the one who takes a city, at such times. ... Mr. James Geitzey started a cabinet shop, some years afterward, thus displacing the rustic furniture of the above-mentioned patentee, Dr. Whealen."
From a History of Marshall Co., Iowa, p.431:
"Dr, Whealen's family, of Marietta, lived with good cheer in a house mostly furnished by the work of his own hands. They had three-legged stools, splint-bottomed chairs, a shoe-box for a cradle, and a dry goods box for a buffet. If the reader does not know what a buffet is, we will explain that in those days it was a cupboard where a tidy soul could not only store her dishes, but could also find a corner for her fine-tooth comb and bottle of hair oil--two very essential things in arranging a coiffure then, when such frizzies as are worn today would have suggested Bedlam. Well, Mrs. Whealen's dry goods box made a very comfortable buffet. And otherwise she had the ingenuity of a truly hospitable woman. She entertained twenty-two persons in her cabin for a while; but in order to do it, at night the cradle, chairs and table were set out-of-doors to make room for the beds on the floor. Partitions were improvised from overcoats and dresses, and amiability must surely have ruled where the comfort of others was the aim sought, at so much personal inconvenience. At this time, there was a great scarcity of milk and butter, owing to the fact that the cows were not properly cared for. For months, the Whealens were without, and Mrs. Whealen, writing to a friend in Ohio, said: 'The cows in Iowa do not give milk, for I have tried all belonging to the neighbors, and they were dry.' "
A photograph of Dr. George Whealen shows him to be a well dressed and sturdy man with a kind face.
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