Abstract
The Maria Burston Wheeler Papers date from approximately the 1850s to 1933 and record Maria Walker's childhood and voyage from Liverpool, England to Salt Lake City, Utah in the United States through her manuscript "My History." The manuscript details her and her family's trans-Atlantic journey as well as her own journey as a married woman, Maria Burston Wheeler, to Las Vegas, Nevada to establish the Mormon Fort located there. Her manuscript details daily life at the fort.
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Scope and Contents Note
The Maria Burston Wheeler Papers date from approximately 1850s to 1933 and record Maria Walker's childhood and voyage from Liverpool, England to Salt Lake City, Utah in the United States through two copies of her manuscript "My History." The manuscript details her family's trans-Atlantic journey as well as her own journey as a married women, Maria Burston Wheeler, to Las Vegas, Nevada to establish the Mormon Fort located there. Her manuscript details her experience, feelings, and daily life at the fort, including descriptions of the crops and relations with the Pauite Indians.
Access Note
Collection is open for research.
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Materials in this collection may be protected by copyrights and other rights. See Reproductions and Use on the UNLV Special Collections website for more information about reproductions and permissions to publish.
Arrangement
Materials remain in original order.
Biographical / Historical Note
Maria Burston Wheeler (neé Walker) was born in Upper Bullingham Herefordshire, England, the sixth of nine children born to Thomas Walker and Ann Preece. Maria was converted to Mormonism in England while staying at her aunt's house. Church elders came to the home and Maria decided to convert and be baptized that day. Slowly her father and other members of her family also converted, including several of her uncles. By February of 1853 her father had decided to move the family to America and the Walkers left England from Liverpool to sail to the United States.
In late April they landed in New Orleans, bought oxen, and joined a covered wagon caravan headed west. Maria's grandfather Henry Walker Sr. bought the family a home in Salt Lake City, Utah where Maria married Joseph Wheeler. It is unknown what happened to Wheeler, but sometime after moving to Salt Lake City, Utah Maria met William Burston and married him in October of 1854. Burston already had a wife at the time. Later William was asked to moved to Las Vegas, (New Mexico, at the time) to assist in the establishment of a new Mormon fort, and the two moved to what today is Las Vegas, Nevada. Maria Wheeler Burston had seven children with William Burston. In 1873 William died, and Maria had to find a way to support the family. She worked wage jobs as a housekeeper so she could send her children to school. In 1898 Maria married Thomas Wheeler. On January 12, 1933 Maria Burston Wheeler died.
Preferred Citation
Maria Burston Wheeler Papers, 1850s-1933. MS-00062. Special Collections and Archives, University Libraries, University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Las Vegas, Nevada.
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Acquisition Note
Accession number Mss x42.
Processing Note
Materials were processed by Special Collections Staff.
In 2018, as part of a legacy finding aid conversion project, Hana Gutierrez created the collection description and brought it into compliance with current professional standards.