John W. Wheeler

He lived in Indianapolis for a short time before moving to St. Louis in 1867 at the age of twenty, then worked in a tobacco warehouse as a clerk, rising to become a foreman.

[8] In February 1907, Wheeler's foot was broken when he was attempting to board a streetcar at 16th Street and Franklin Avenue, St.

He was involved in "nearly every affair that concerned St. Louis African Americans," and it was said that he held the conservative views of Booker T. Washington in that African Americans should stand together, support black business, raise their moral standards, work with white allies and "not agitate the race question because agitation might make things worse.

"[3] He was involved in "practically every movement and issue that concerned black St. Louisans between the 1870s and the first decade of the twentieth century.

[1] Wheeler argued against a suggestion by a Missouri state senator that blacks should be settled in the newly conquered Philippine Islands.

[12] It was said that "Through a mix of social commentary, moral instruction, gossip, and African American economic and political empowerment," Wheeler used the Palladium to shape opinion among blacks and to "change white perception" of the race.

[13] According to an unpublished 1969 dissertation by George Everett Slavens, "A History of the Missouri Negro Press," the Palladium "disappeared" in 1911.

[11] The Professional World, a newspaper in Columbia, Missouri edited by Rufus L. Logan, was critical of Wheeler and of his paper.

The editorial took exception to Wheeler's calling the editor of a third African-American newspaper, the American Eagle, an "old black man.