Early Years
Wells was born on September 17, 1823, in Rochester, New York, and grew up there and in Detroit, Michigan. Available contemporary records do not clearly identify his parents. Wells graduated from an academy in Michigan, studied law, and began his practice about 1846. He married Detroit native Millicent Hunt in 1848, and they had one son and one daughter before her death on January 21, 1852. Their daughter died a few days later. By 1854 Wells had married Phoebe Elizabeth Higby and they had one daughter. He joined the new Republican Party and won election in 1854 to a term in the Michigan House of Representatives, where he allied himself with advocates of temperance, free public schools, abolition of slavery, and extending some civil and political rights to African Americans.
Discharged with the rank of brevet brigadier general on September 21, 1865, Wells remained in Alexandria where he and two other men leased the canal and aqueduct of the Alexandria Canal Company in 1866. They formed the Alexandria Canal, Railroad and Bridge Company and constructed a new bridge across the Potomac River into Georgetown. Wells resumed practicing law and formed professional and personal friendships with several radical Republicans in the city, most notably the attorney S. Ferguson Beach and the federal judge John C. Underwood. They advocated suffrage and full civil rights for African Americans, both as a measure of justice and as a means to increase the number of Republican voters.
Governor of Virginia
At the party's state convention on May 6 and 7, 1868, Wells won the nomination for governor on a ticket with James H. Clements for lieutenant governor and the incumbent Unionist Republican Thomas R. Bowden for attorney general. The provisions of the state constitution disfranchising men who had taken part in the Confederacy so offended Schofield that he prevented the scheduled June 2, 1868, ratification referendum. As a result, there was no statewide election in which Wells could run for governor that year, though he remained in office under his original military appointment.
In March 1869, when it appeared likely that voters would be able to ratify the new state constitution in July, Wells again won the Republican Party nomination for governor. The convention nominated Joseph D. Harris for lieutenant governor. An African American physician, Harris enjoyed enthusiastic support from the party's African American members, but Wells probably realized that the presence of Harris on the ticket would unite moderate Republicans and Conservatives in opposition to his ticket. Indeed, it is possible that Republican opponents of Wells helped nominate Harris for that very purpose. In the general election on July 6, Wells and his ticket lost to a moderate Republican ticket running with Conservative support, and Gilbert C. Walker defeated Wells 119,535 to 101,204.
Later Years
Wells was a founding member of the American Bar Association in 1878 and its first vice president for the District of Columbia. Wells prospered and regularly vacationed in Saratoga and other fashionable resorts. He made at least one trip to the Sandwich Islands (Hawaii), perhaps at the time he accompanied a friend on a round-the-world trip. Wells's wife died on July 20, 1893. Two years later his health failed, and he moved into the home of his daughter in Palmyra, New York. Wells died there on February 12, 1900, and was buried beside his wife in Rock Creek Cemetery in Washington, D.C.
Time Line
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September 17, 1823 - Henry Horatio Wells is born in Rochester, New York.
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ca. 1846 - Henry Horatio Wells begins practicing law in Detroit, Michigan.
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1848 - Henry Horatio Wells and Millicent Hunt marry. They will have one son and one daughter.
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January 21, 1852 - Millicent Hunt Wells, the wife of Henry Horatio Wells, dies.
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1854 - By this year, Henry Horatio Wells and Phoebe Elizabeth Higby are married. They will have one daughter.
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1854 - Henry Horatio Wells wins election as a Republican to the Michigan House of Representatives.
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October 4, 1862 - Henry Horatio Wells is commissioned major in the 26h Michigan Infantry Regiment.
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March 30, 1864 - Henry Horatio Wells is promoted to colonel. He is stationed in Alexandria and serves as provost marshal.
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June 1865 - Henry Horatio Wells publishes a letter to S. Ferguson Beach advocating the military rule of Virginia.
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September 21, 1865 - Henry Horatio Wells is discharged with the rank of brevet brigadier general.
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1866 - Henry Horatio Wells and two other men form the Alexandria Canal, Railroad and Bridge Company.
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April 4, 1868 - General John M. Schofield appoints Henry Horatio Wells provisional governor of Virginia, succeeding Francis Harrison Pierpont.
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May 6, 1868 - Henry Horatio Wells receives the endorsement for governor by the Republican Party convention in Virginia.
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March 1869 - Henry Horatio Wells wins the Republican Party's nomination for governor.
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July 6, 1869 - Gilbert C. Walker wins election as governor, defeating Henry Horatio Wells.
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September 21, 1869 - Henry Horatio Wells relinquishes office as governor.
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April 27, 1870 - Henry Horatio Wells is badly injured when a floor collapses at the State Capitol.
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May 28, 1870 - The U.S. Senate confirms the appointment of Henry Horatio Wells as U.S. attorney for Virginia.
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1872 - Henry Horatio Wells ends his service as U.S. attorney for the eastern district of Virginia and resumes his law practice in Washington, D.C.
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September 1875–January 1880 - Henry Horatio Wells serves as U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia.
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1878 - Henry Horatio Wells is a founding member of the American Bar Association.
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1880–1895 - Henry Horatio Wells practices law in Washington, D.C.
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July 20, 1893 - Phoebe Higby Wells, the wife of Henry Horatio Wells, dies.
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1895 - The health of Henry Horatio Wells fails, and he moves into the home of his daughter in Palmyra, New York.
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February 12, 1900 - Henry Horatio Wells dies at his daughter's home in Palmyra, New York. He is buried in Rock Creek Cemetery in Washington, D.C.
References
Further Reading
External Links
Cite This Entry
- APA Citation:
Tarter, B., & the Dictionary of Virginia Biography. Henry Horatio Wells (1823–1900). (2016, July 19). In Encyclopedia Virginia. Retrieved from http://www.EncyclopediaVirginia.org/Wells_Henry_Horatio_1823-1900.
- MLA Citation:
Tarter, Brent and the Dictionary of Virginia Biography. "Henry Horatio Wells (1823–1900)." Encyclopedia Virginia. Virginia Humanities, 19 Jul. 2016. Web. READ_DATE.
First published: March 7, 2016 | Last modified: July 19, 2016
Contributed by Brent Tarter and the Dictionary of Virginia Biography. Brent Tarter is founding editor of the Dictionary of Virginia Biography.