Daily AncestorWheelwright
A wheelwright was a craftsman who built and repaired wooden wheels for wagons, carts and carriages.
Making a strong wooden wheel took skill: the hub, spokes and rim had to fit exactly, and an iron tire was shrunk on hot to bind it all together. A wheelwright often worked alongside a blacksmith for the ironwork.
Wright is an old word for a maker, so wheelwright simply means wheel maker. Many wheelwrights also built whole wagons.
As seen in a recordOccupation column of the 1850 to 1880 census
Peter Hess, 50, Wheelwright, Penn.
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Daily Ancestor. "Wheelwright." Dictionary of Old Record Words. https://dailyancestor.com/dictionary/occupations/wheelwright. Last checked 2026-10-01.