Wells, John P.

WELLS, KEEL, MARYHEW, HARDENBROOK, ANGELO, FINNEY, GRANGER, STEVENS, YORK, CUNNINGHAM, BENSON, BATES, LINDSRUM, ROUSH, MILLHOUSE, COULTER, BOUTNOTT, FULLER

Posted By: Volunteer Transcriber
Date: 10/24/2009 at 08:49:32

Wells, John P.

One of the well-known and influential citizens of the locality of which this history treats is John P. Wells, a man who has met with encouraging success all along life's rugged road because he has worked for it along legitimate lines and has dealt honestly with his fellow men. He was born in Warren County, New Jersey, January 27, 1844, but the major part of his life has been spent in the Middle West. When four years of age, in 1848, his parents brought him to Bureau County, Illinois, where they remained until 1856, when they removed to Indian Creek Township, Story County, Iowa, where he has continued to reside. He is the son of Charles Wells, who was born in Hunterdon County, New Jersey, spent most of his life engaged in farming in Illinois and Iowa and died in Story County in 1880.

The paternal grandfather of the subject, George Wells, was born in New York City, and the great-grandfather of John P. Wells was a sea captain. The mother of the subject was known in her maidenhood as Sarah Park and was a native of Warren County, New Jersey. Her death occurred in Story County, Iowa, in 1890. The Wells family consisted of ten children, five of whom are still living. They were named as follows: Andrew J. is deceased; Mrs. Angeline H. Keel is deceased, as is also Harvey F.; Mrs. Mary Matilda Maryhew is living in Nebraska; Joseph G. is living in Maxwell, Iowa; John P., of this sketch; Mrs. Adeline Hardenbrook lives in Maxwell, Iowa; George S. is deceased; Mrs. Minerva Angelo lives in Oklahoma; a son died in infancy.

Five children were born to John P. Wells by a former wife, known in her maidenhood as Lottie Finney, two of whom are living: Delia Ann died at the age of two and one-half years; the two eldest children died in infancy; Mrs. Nellie May Granger, born June 15, 1880, is living in Collins; Maude Iola, born September 1, 1886, is also living in Collins. Mrs. Wells was first married to B. F. Stevens and to them the following children were born: Mrs. Sarah Ellen York, born May 27, 1858, is living in Oklahoma; John William, born September 17, 1860, lives in Nebraska; Andrew Jackson, born January 15, 1863, lives in Story County; Mrs. Addie Ann Cunningham, born March 8, 1865, died November 5, 1907; Mrs. Margaret Jane Benson, born October 26, 1867, died October 13, 1909; Mrs. Martha Rozella Bates, born January 1, 1870, is living in Collins Township, Story County; Mrs. Zora Olive Lindsrum, born March 18, 1872, died November 6, 1909; Mrs. Melinda Capitola Roush, born July 12, 1874, of Des Moines, Iowa. After the death of Mr. Stevens, Mrs. Wells was again married to J. F. Millhouse, who was born January 1, 1844, and the following were the children by this union: Charles Madison, born April 10, 1878, lives in Minnesota; Mrs. Alice Victoria Coulter, born January 6, 1880, lives in San Francisco, California; Mrs. Bertie Agnes Boutnott, born March 3, 1882, of Maxwell; Iowa. Mrs. Wells is a woman of strong personality and has a host of friends wherever she is known. She is a sister of Oliver B. Fuller, a sketch of whom appears in this volume, to which the reader is respectfully referred for a full history of her parents and the Fuller family.

John P. Wells is one of the veterans of the Civil War, having served faithfully in the Union army, enlisting from Linn County, Iowa, early in the War, in Company B, Twentieth Iowa Volunteer Infantry, and was assigned to duty in the Independent division of the Army of the Frontier. After the Siege of Vicksburg he was in the Thirteenth Corps, First Brigade, Second Division, Department of the Gulf, and served three years, receiving an honorable discharge at the close of the war. He served under General Canby, and saw some hard service; besides the siege of Vicksburg, he was in the battles of Prairie Grove, Fort Hudson, Fort Blakely and the capture of Mustang Island. He returned to Story County after the war and devoted his life to farming, in which he met with a large measure of success, retiring from the farm in 1905. He is now a resident of Collins, Story County, where his wife owns the hotel and he an attractive dwelling.

Politically, Mr. Wells is a Democrat and he has been a member of the school board. He belongs to Amity Lodge No. 361, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, of Collins, and he was its first and second noble grand, and was district deputy grand master in 1893. Past and Present of Jasper County Iowa B. F. Bowden & Company, Indianapolis, IN, 1912 Page 1235.