Wells (Family)

The genealogical record of these fami­lies begins with Thomas and Alice Wells who emigrated from England to Connecticut in 1635. They were members of a colony of Quakers who came to America seeking religious freedom. They had a son, Thomas Wells Jr., who married and had a son, Joseph Wells, who married and migrated with other Quakers to North Carolina. He had a son, William Wells, who died in 1765, whose children were William Wells Jr.,Nathaniel Wells, John Wells, Joseph Wells, Henry Wells, Elizabeth Wells, and Sarah Wells. Joseph Wells, son of Wil­liam Wells, resided in Orange County, North Carolina, mar­ried, and his children were John Wells, Joseph Wells Jr., Mary Wells, Thomas Wells, William Wells, and Robert Wells. Joseph Wells Jr. (1735-1801) married Charity Cook in 1758 in the Cane Creek Quaker Church. Their children were Jesse Wells, Margaret Wells, Charity Wells, and Rachel Wells. Joseph Wells, when he died, left his son, William Wells, land on both sides of Cane Creek, and the rest of his children $7 each.

 

Isaac Wells, son of Joseph Wells Jr., married Mary Breeson in 1782, and their known children are Benjamin Wells and Charity Wells. Joseph Wells III, son of Joseph and Charity Cook Wells Jr., married Margaret Dicks in the Cane Creek Quaker Church in 1778. Their known children are Zahcariah Wells, Priscilla Wells, John Wells, Willis Wells, and William Wells. John Wells and William Wells were already residing in Liberty County by 1830. William Wells, born in North Carolina in 1796, married Viney Price, who was born in North Carolina in 1800, and their children were Matilda Wells, John Wells, William McKinnis Wells, Evan Wells, and David Elmore Wells.

 

William Wells received a grant of 100 acres of land in Liberty County in 1837, and his wife, Viney Price Wells, received a grant of 150 acres of land in Liberty County in 1840 after her husband’s death. On February 24, 1840, the following notice was posted at various places in Liberty County: “On November 16, 1839, William Wells was murdered by Levi Long in Liberty County. Long is 35 years old, six feet tall, weighs 175 pounds, short and athletic, talks much (particularly under the influence of alcohol), much sunburnt. fair haired, blue eyed, and rather good look­ing. He was last seen in the neighborhood of Coosahatchee, South Carolina.” Matilda Wells was married twice, and chil­dren by her first marriage were Hazel Chase and Mary Chase.

 

John Wells (1824-1864), son of William and Viney Price Wells, married Nancy Martin (see Martin Families in this appendix) in 1853, and their children were William Martin Wells, Mary Jane Wells, John Wesley Wells, Nancy Caroline Wells, Miriam Ladora Wells, and David Columbus Wells. William Martin Wells (1854-1929) married (1) Mamie Fletch­er in 1884, and their children were William Mallory Wells, Bennie DeLoy Wells, Thelma Wells, Vera Wells, Collene Wells, Esthelle Wells, and James Tully Wells, Mary Jane Wells (1856-1884) married John Simmons of Savannah, Georgia, and they had one child, Mary Elinor (“Nellie”) Simmons, who married John Mobley of Liberty County.

 

John Wesley Wells (1857-1921) married (1) Georgia Strickland, and their children were John Lamar Wells and George Wesley Wells, and (2) Rossie Eugenia Cox, and their children were Cathie Maude Wells, Lorenzo Albert Wells, Lucille Wells, and Fran­ces Elpise Wells. Nancy Caroline Wells (1860-1939) married William Cassiday Long (see Long Families in this appendix), and their children were Hary Long, Harold Clyde (“Bub”) Long, Roy L. Long, Roland E. Long, Claire (“Ron”) Long, and Madge Long. Miriam Ladora Long (1861-1929) married William Miller (see Miller Families in this appendix) in 1890, and their children were Gordon Emory Miller and William Whitmel Miller. David Columbus Wells (1863-1928) married Laura Groover Dukes, and their children were Troy Lorenza Wells, Bernice Catherine Wells, Carlos Ruel Wells, William Herman Wells, Ronnie Mae Wells, Rozzie Opalthelma (“Thel­rna”) Wells, Jesse Barnard Wells, and Robert Landis Wells. The first married of Laura Groover was to Ward M. Dukes, and their children were Prentice Edward Dukes and Lala Elizabeth Dukes. William McKennis Wells married Nancy Flowers and they had no children.

 

Evan Wells (1827-1902) married Georgia Ann Price in 1851, and their children were William S. Wells, Susan Cornelia Wells, Columbus E. Wells, John B. Wells, David Francis Wells, Mary Florida Wells, Joel Calvin Wells, Henry Daniel Wells, Arrie Ellen Wells, Margaret Jane Wells, James Wright Wells, Jasper Newton Wells, and Marthann Wells. Eliza Wells married George W. Robinson in 1881, and their only child was Roan Robinson.

 

William S. Wells (1855-1904) married Mary Devereaux in 1856, and their children were Mamie Wells, William Francis (“Billy”) Wells, John Edgar Wells, James H. (“Jim”) Wells, and Troy Solomon Wells. Susan Cornelia Wells (1856-1916) married William A. Mobley (see Mobley Families in this appendix) in 1874, and their children were Sidney Mobley, Lou Anzie Mobley, Mary Ella Mobley, John Washington Mobley, Henry Rite Mobley, James Arlie (“Jim”) Mobley, Christopher Evan (“Chris”) Mobley, William A. Mobley, Fannie Arrie Mobley, Della Luette Mobley, Clarence Clifton Mobley, and Horace Leonard Mobley. Columbus E. Wells (1858-1900) married Mary Ann Groover (see Charles A. Groover in this appendix) in 1877, and their children were Lula Elizabeth Wells, Jesse David Wells, Leila Wells, Beulah Wells, Lonnie Wells, and Janie Wells. John B. Wells (1860-1884) never married.

 

David Francis Wells (1862-1927) married Georgia Groover Mobley (see Charles A. Groover in this appendix) in 1881, and their children were Otis Wells, Willie Wells, Mary Wells, and Fran­ces Letitia Wells. Georgia Groover’s first marriage was to Marion Alonzo Mobley, and their children were Stanton Alonzo Mobley, Mary Bell Mobley, Jewell Estelle Mobley, Jane Elizabeth Mobley, Agnes Carolyn Mobley, and Marion Alonzo Mobley Jr. The second marriage of David Francis Wells was to Elizabeth (“Lizzie”) Price, and their children were Elizabeth (“Lizzie”) Wells, Mattie Wells, Sally Wells, and Ruphena Wells. The third marriage of David Francis Wells was to Ada Wilkinson, and their children were Donald, Stacy, Katrina, and Richard Pratt Wells.

 

Joel Calvin Wells (1865-1917) married Hetty Viola Price in 1897, and their children were Eva Sula and Julia Ethel Wells (twins), Flor­ence, Elizabeth, Lewis Calvin, Bertie Greida Wells, and Ernest Paul Wells. Henry Daniel Wells (1867-1946) married Margaret Poppell in 1895, and their children were Gideon Poppell, Macon Poppell, Layton Dyal Wells, Rhetta Mae Wells, and Rena Wells.

 

Arrie Ellen Wells (1869-1946) married John Oliver Price, and their children were Minnie Marie Price, Arrie Elizabeth Price, John Wesley Price, Estella Louise Price, Donald Price, Mary Margaret Price, Eursie Nanette Price, and Augusta Price. Margaret Jane Wells (1870-1909) married Martin Terrell in 1893, and their surviving children were Narcy Terrell, Wyman Terrell, Loria Terrell, David W. Terrell, Carrol Terrell, Elise Terrell, Gladys Terrell, Collie Terrell, and Anna Terrell. James Wright Wells (1872-1936) never married.

 

Jasper Newton Wells (1875-1951) married Maggie Blanche Mobley, and their children were Newton Edward Wells, Nora Elizabeth Wells, Nettie Mae Wells, Lester Jackson Wells, Essie Caroline Wells, and Dewey Lisley Wells. Marthann Wells (1877-1957) married Ephraim Joshua Dever­eaux in 1908, and their children were Cora Martha Devereaux and Christine Devereaux. David Elmore Wells married Isabel Price, and their one child was Amanda Wells. John, William McKennis, and David Elmore Wells, brothers, were all mem­bers of the Confederate Army during the Civil War.

 

John Wells (1787-1855), son of Joseph and Margaret Dicks Wells of Orange County, North Carolina, married Rebecca Hern­don, daughter of David and Frances Pierce Herndon, in 1806 in Orange County, North Carolina. She was the granddaugh­ter of Richard Herndon, and a descendent of Governor Edward Digges of Virginia and William the Conqueror. Their children were David Zachariah Wells, Joseph Wells, Frances Wells, Isabella Wells, Margaret G. Wells, Elizabeth Ann Wells, Sarah C. Wells, and John Willis Wells. John Wells was granted 200 acres of land in Liberty County in 1834 and another 600 acres of land in 1836. He was at one time the Liberty County tax collector, and was a major in the Georgia Militia.

 

John Willis Wells, son of John and Rebecca Herndon Wells (1829-1893) was born in Liberty County in 1851, and married Elizabeth Ann Sikes (1834-1898), daughter of Daniel and Elizabeth Jane Eason of Tattnall County, Georgia. Their children were Moses W. Wells, Esmirelda Wells, John Wells, Valerie Wells, Daniel Sikes Wells, William Wells, Minna Wells, Lorena Wells, Wesley Wells, J. Rollin Wells, Marvin Wells, and Eason Wells.

 

Daniel Sikes Wells (1858-1901), son of John W. and Elizabeth Ann Sikes Wells, was born in Liberty County and married Mary Josephine Hermes of Savannah, Georgia. Their children were Joseph W. Wells, Henry Moses Wells, Wilhemina Wells, Esther Roberta Wells, John H. Wells, and Arthur Wells. Daniel Sikes Wells was an employee of the R.Q. Cassels and Sons Store at McIntosh, a resident of Flemington, and a member of the Liberty Independent Troop.