About my Parents....
Margaret Cameron MacDougal married George William Wheeler, I believe the year was 1957, at Yale University, in New Haven where my father did his postgraduate work.He was born December 23, 1924 in Dedham, Mass., to John and Maria Chamberlin Wheeler. he died last March, (March 9, 2002) in Eugene Oregon. My sister moved him there from a hospital in Tennessee. When I last heard from him in 2000, He said that he was doing some Genealogical work. I don't know what has become of it, but I hope that My sister will be kind enough to share something.
Both of my parents had doctoral degrees, my dad in Physics and my mother in Anthropology. I often joke that I was raised by scientists, although joke is close to the truth; they were both busy with careers during my childhood. Dad worked at Brookhaven National Laboritories and Mom taught Anthropology and comparative religion at Stony Brook University. During the seventies my Dad worked for the Atomic Energy Commission,so, he was out of town most of the time, I saw him on the the weekends and during his vacation time.
Dad was also a dedicated sailor, and we spent many summers sailing Long Island Sound and on down the coast to Cape Cod and beyond as the season permitted. He also taught celestial navigation up until shortly before he died.
Mom was interested in history and antiques. She spent a great deal of time chronicling the family heirlooms, many of which were of Chinese origin. There was a full set of rose canton china from my fathers family and a carpet of considerable age, which should not have been in general use. The house I grew up in, on Long Island, had a museum like quality, being full of old silver and mahogany.
When they retired, my parents reduced their collection of stuff but I don't know how. I know that Mom was active with an historical society in Maryville Tennessee, so she may have seen fit to disburse some of the collection through them. however, it is more likely that my sister has the bulk of the estate in Oregon. She occasionally suggests that she will send me photos, my birth records and childhood medical history, but she never gets around to it.