The Passing of a Stratford Legend
By David Wright
Town Historian
The Passing of a Stratford Legend
One of the finest decoy carvers in the world, artist, statesman, boxer, rattlesnake hunter, oysterman, town crier, conservationist, environmentalist, editorial cartoonist, Chairman of the Town’s 300th Anniversary Committee, and town promoter, passed away March 19, 1949. His name was Charles E. “Shang” Wheeler. Perhaps no one who has ever lived in Stratford has had more of an impact on this town. The legacy for which the town was to remember Shang, his decoy collection, passed out of town with Shang’s passing. Should you wish to see a remnant of Shang’s carvings, you’ll need to drive to the Shelburne Museum in Shelburne, Vermont. For a number of years, the Lovell family had several of Shang’s carvings, but those, too, have left the town for good.
In the early 1990’s there was an effort to create a decoy carving museum in which to display the decoys of Shang’s that remained in town. The museum was to have been located in “Kate’s Cottage”, which stood next to the Housatonic Boat Club until the cottage was disassembled in 1991. Each piece was numbered so that it could be reassembled when a new location was found. The cottage was loaded onto a flatbed truck and stored under the Moses Wheeler Bridge. Where the cottage is today seems to be a mystery to all.
During Shang’s lifetime he would give his carvings away. Today, should you find one of Shang’s decoys for sale, the asking price is generally in the $50,000+ range.
Shang’s carvings were so meticulously carved and painted that Shang won every decoy carving competition he ever entered. In February, 1947 at the National Sportsmen’s Show in New York City, the last competition Shang participated in, he swept the awards for the show. Of his carvings, duck hunters at the show “expressed utmost astonishment at the wooden birds which Mr. Wheeler produced. Not a few insisted on feeling them to make sure they were not natural ducks, stuffed.”
The Town’s Annual Report for 1949 was dedicated to Shang. The Town Council passed a resolution dedicated to Shang in October of 1949 which read:
“Whereas, the death of the Hon. Charles E. (Shang) Wheeler, on March 19, 1949, has removed from our midst an outstanding citizen of this community, who for more than 30 years assumed an active interest and gave unstintingly of his time and unusual talents in every matter which affected public welfare; and, whereas, his great interest in outdoor life, as a hunter and fisherman, his distinguished services as a representative and senator in the State Legislature, coupled with an unusual ability, both as an artist and public speaker, marked him as the outstanding advocate for laws and regulations for the protection and preservation of all wild life and the elimination of stream pollution in this, his native state.
“Now therefore be it resolved: That this Town council, as the duly elected representatives of his fellow-townsmen, do hereby pause in our deliberations in silent tribute to the memory of this fine Christian gentleman, patriotic American and typical Yankee citizen, whose passing we so greatly mourn, and whose active interest and advice will be so sorely missed.”
There was lively debate in the Fall of 1949 about preserving Shang’s decoys somewhere in Town. Ultimately, the decoys were given to Connecticut Audubon Society. In 1983, Connecticut Audubon Society sold the collection to the Shelburne Museum in Vermont. As author Kurt Vonnegut would say, “and so it goes.”
