Dr. Arthur Seaver Wheeler:
A Renaissance Man of Science and Art

The history of Highlands Biological Station is rooted not only in the landscape of the Plateau, but also in the people whose curiosity, generosity, and scientific devotion helped shape its early collections. Among those figures is Dr. Arthur Seaver Wheeler — a veterinarian, dairyman, musician, naturalist, and one of the early contributors to what would become the Highlands Biological Station Herbarium.

Wheeler's story stretches from New Orleans to Asheville, from the Biltmore Estate to the Highlands Museum, and from agricultural innovation to botanical preservation. His life reflects the remarkable overlap of science, art, community, and natural history that defined the early years of conservation and research in western North Carolina.

Arthur Seaver Wheeler was born in New Orleans on May 11, 1864. He graduated from Tulane University in 1883 with a Bachelor of Science degree and in 1885 with a Master's degree. He taught mathematics there for several years before receiving his DVM from the University of Pennsylvania in 1891.

On June 5, 1889, Dr. Wheeler married Anna Grant Norton. The couple had no children. Anna, like Arthur, was from New Orleans, and the two may have met while Arthur was attending Tulane University or through family connections.

By 1897, Wheeler and Anna were living in Asheville, where he first worked as sanitation inspector of houses on the Biltmore Estate during a typhoid outbreak. In 1900, he was working as a veterinary surgeon in Asheville, and in 1905 he became Manager of the Agriculture Department at Biltmore — including the Biltmore Dairy. By 1924, he was Superintendent of the Biltmore Estates Farm, a position he held until resigning in 1926.

In "Who's Who and Why in Asheville," published by The Asheville Times on November 4, 1928, Wheeler was credited as the father of dairying in western North Carolina:

Arthur served as President of the Mozart Society beginning in 1916 for 12 years. He also sang under many famous organists at All Soul's Episcopal Church in Biltmore, was a charter member of the Asheville Rotary Club, and served as Director of the Asheville Chamber of Commerce. His obituary noted that "he was intimately associated with business and musical life of Asheville."

Thomas Grant Harbison worked at Biltmore from 1896 to 1926 as the Plant Collector for the Biltmore Nursery. Harbison and Wheeler undoubtedly collected flora for the Biltmore Herbarium together, and Wheeler also collected for his personal herbarium in 1899. They must have been fast friends, being of about the same age and stage in life.

Harbison had strong connections to Highlands — establishing the Highlands Academy in 1887 and serving as one of the principals in founding the Highlands Biological Station. He traveled abroad and extensively throughout the Southeast collecting data for Dr. Charles Sargent, Director of the Arnold Arboretum at Harvard University.

Of the hundred-plus new species of perennial herbs Harbison discovered, a favorite today is the large red Trillium vaseyi. During the summers in the 1930s, Harbison worked as a nature instructor at Camp Sequoyah for Boys in Weaverville — most likely crossing paths with Anna Wheeler, who was teaching riding there at the same time.

Frank Boynton was hired by George Vanderbilt as botanist and collector, given the title of "Guardian of the Biltmore Herbarium." In 1885, his brother Charles along with Charles Sprague Sargent rediscovered Shortia galacifolia (Oconee Belle) on the southern slopes not far from Highlands.

But the Herbarium Collection at Biltmore experienced devastating setbacks. A fire in 1901 destroyed parts of the library and 90 percent of the herbarium. After George Vanderbilt's death, Edith Vanderbilt trimmed the arboretum budget due to substantial debt. Then on July 16, 1916 — not unlike Helene in 2024 — a catastrophic flood destroyed the Biltmore Nursery, the botanical library, and more of the herbarium. The surviving 25,000 specimens are now at the Smithsonian.

Wheeler's connection to Highlands was undoubtedly through Thomas Harbison. On June 30, 1930, Wheeler gave his herbarium collection of 149 mounted specimens — collected from the Biltmore Estate in 1899 — to The Highlands Museum. E. E. Reinke wrote to Wheeler shortly after:

Arthur and Anna were invited by Clark Foreman on July 28, 1931, to the dedication of the Samuel T. Weyman Laboratory. Arthur did attend, signing the guest book next to Thomas Harbison. Harbison appears in the Masa photograph of the dedication, but we are unsure if Wheeler is pictured.

The six document pages below are archival scans relating to Wheeler's correspondence with the Highlands Museum and Laboratory. Click any image to view full size.