Newsletter #31???????????? ?????????????????????????????????? ????????????????????????????????????????January
2003
Aaron Wells and Ruth
Wiggins were married 31 July (bond), 3 August (ministers return), 1790.
Children: Nathan, Elizabeth A., Rachel E., Drucilla & Ruama, Sarah Sally?W.,
Nancy, William W., Robert, John W., Ruth, Aaron, Mary Polly? Daniel &
Uriah.?
REMINDER!
Wells Family Reunion
Sunday, July 20, 2003
11:00 a.m.?:00 p.m.
North Central 4-H Center
Carlisle, Kentucky
Genealogist/Founder????? President??????????????? Secretary/Treasurer?????? Newsletter Editor
Lucy Thompson ?????????Jon Hagee?????????????? Betty Jo Wells???????????Patricia Roane Straube????
1917-1991??????????????? 3021 Stanford Dr. ????????R.
R. 2, Box 215?????????? 131
Robinhood Dr.
????????????????????????Lexington, KY?40517????? Mt.
Olivet, KY?41064?????San Francisco, CA 94127??
????????(859)
271-2918??????????? (606)
724-5696??????????? (415)
334-6300
????????????????jhagee@mailcom?????????????????????????????????straube@earthlink.net
Message from the President
Wells Family DNA Project Results In!
Dear Wells Cousins,
THANK YOU!
Thank you for your
participation in the Wells Family DNA Project. We have had some incredible breakthroughs
due to your contributions. Patricia will go into more detail, but essentially
we have proof of links to more than one established family in the late 1700's.
There is still a lot of work to do, however, because the exact relationships
still remain unknown.
DNA RESEARCH
Let me explain how this
works. There is more than one type of DNA testing that can be used. The one
that
worked out best for the Wells
surname relationship study examines what is passed from father to son., so only
males carrying the Wells surname were eligible The rest of us may get a chance
to participate in a future phase of this study.
?/span>
Imagine DNA as being a
comprehensive and detailed instruction manual for assembling parts of the human
body and assigning duties to these parts.?
Each generation potentially passes copying mistakes in the DNA code
Sometimes it is essential and causes severe problems. Sometimes it is minor and
may go unnoticed. In any case (fortunately for us!), changes can be detected
and documented from generation to generation. After many years of work,
scientific methods have just reached the point where determination can be made
whether or not people are close or distant relatives (or for all practical
purposes not related).
In any case, we now have eliminated
some known Wells families as well as have indications that certain families are
closely related. That's the good news. We have been communicating with these
families and sharing research. Please contact me or Patricia if you want to
share in that. These are very exciting times to be living in for a genealogist.
Combining Internet communications and the DNA breakthroughs, we are making
leaps that were near impossible in the past.
The bad news is that each of
these families seems to have the same problem that we have. That is, each of
their founding fathers seems to have come out of nowhere. We know a lot about
these men and their families in the years following, but their origins are a
mystery.
There
is a lot of work and research left to do, but there are more leads to follow
than we have had for several years. Although we know we are related to these
new families, we don't know how. DNA studies offer very definite kinship proof,
but do not show an actual relationship. We are looking forward to future Wells
studies that may tie us in to European Wells families. Maybe one of them has a
long-lost missing Aaron that we just might know where he is!?And we have not seen the end to the DNA
goldmine. DNA research is relatively new and new discoveries are being made all
the time. You can find more information at the Wells Family Special DNA Project
at: http://www.rootsweb.com/~wellsfam/dnaproje/dnaproje.html
Aaron Wells Y Chromosome DNA Signature
HISTORIC
STUDIES
I
am continuing my studies of the 18th century pioneers, both through book
learning as well as by practicing the skills and experiences of the frontier
Kentucky family. Subjects include colonial/frontier currency, culture, animal
tracking, clothing and food. I recently completed a snowy (3 inches) weekend in
a wilderness area in Indiana. We had a great time and learned a lot about
traveling and keeping warm using 18th century clothing and equipment! You can
visit my Kentucky Trekking web page at: http://frontierfolk.org/trekking.htm
FAMILY
HISTORY
I
have been doing some fieldwork the past few months. Of interest is locating the
Collins family graveyard in Nicholas County. Directly across the Licking River
is the Aaron Wells plantation in Robertson County. Located at this site are graves
of two of Edmond Collins' sons. These two flank him in the 1850 census records.
Older stones may belong to Edmond and wife Sarah Kenton. Several of Edmond's
daughters married Aaron's sons. Edmond's wife was the daughter of Revolutionary
Soldier Mark Kenton, Jr. who was Simon Kenton's older brother. I will be
reporting on this property/cemetery find in a future newsletter issue.
As
I wrap this up, I look out my window and see results of the Great Ice Storm of 2003.
Our house and Lexington, Kentucky were hit hard. But, we have seen the town and
neighborhood pull together, much as they did in Aaron and Ruth Wells' time. Our
thoughts and prayers are with any of you that have had a rough year. Let us
know how you are doing.
Your
Cousin,
Jon
Treasurers Report
Dear Cousins,
We once again wish you a
Happy New Year. We had a rather cold January here in Kentucky ? very
invigorating.
Thanks to those of you who
have remembered to send donations to the Aaron Wells Family Association. As of
now our bank balance is $781.19. We will owe for the Newsletter from this
balance.
Please be thinking of our
annual reunion the third Sunday in July and try to make plans to attend
Respectfully submitted,
Betty Jo Wells
Secretary/Treasurer
Letter from the Editor
The newsletter was delayed
until February due to the late-breaking developments in the Wells Family DNA
Project. Thanks for your patience. Also thanks to all of you who have
contributed items and information: Donald Claypool, Brenda Derr, Connie
Hazletine, and Orin Wells of the Wells Family Research Association.?
Please remember to send your
news, updates, pictures, change of address and other items of family or
historical interest to me at:
Newsletter Editor
131 Robinhood Drive
San Francisco, CA?94127-1626
Email: straube@earthlink.net.
You can visit our updated
four-generation database at RootsWeb:
http://worldconnect.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?db=wellswiggins
And the Aaron and Ruth (Wiggins)
Wells Family Association?web page:
http://frontierfolk.org/wells.htm
Sincerely,
Patricia Roane Straube
Newsletter Editor
NEWFOUND KINSMEN OF AARON WELLS
One of the questions some of
you may be asking is, "Is Aaron the son of Richard Wells and Nancy Brown
as printed in The Families of Southeastern Kentucky??span
style="mso-spacerun: yes">?The answer is, "No!" Aaron differs
by 18 markers from the so-called?
Little Wells?which is Richards family. Nor does he match any other of
those old established colonial families of Maryland. However, as Jon has
already mentioned, he does match several other families whose origins seem to
be as mysterious as our own. A difference of fewer than four markers is
generally thought to be evidence of relationship. None of these families
differs by more than one and several are identical. The current estimate is
that the rate of change on the male Y chromosome appears to be once every 20 to
25 generations. But, by definition, a random mutation can happen at any time.
The fact that several of these are identical to Aaron does not mean that they
are brothers. They may not even have personally known each other. What it
proves is that they have a common paternal ancestor.?But exactly how far back in time can't be known. Now let me introduce
you to our new relations:?
ROBERT WELLS
The surprise is not that
Robert Wells turned out to be a kinsman, since his and Aaron's families
interacted, but that in all five samples from his descendants, a marker varied
by one at the same point. Either Robert himself was the source of the mutation
or he is a bit more distantly related than previously thought.
Robert Wells was born about
1753 and died about 1837 in Tate Township, Clermont County, Ohio. He married
Mary Downing, 5 January 1778, in Washington County, Maryland.?Our Aaron was probably the Aaron Wells who
witnessed the marriage of Ann Wells, Robert's daughter, and James Callon in
Mason County, Kentucky in 1798 since Ann's brother Aaron was only about 12
years old at the time. Lucy Thompson discovered that our Aaron, Robert, and
James Callon all owned land adjoining each other in Mason County before they
sold out when Aaron moved to Nicholas County, Kentucky and Robert with his
son-in-law and other children moved to Clermont County, Ohio. Besides daughter
Ann, Robert had children: Solomon, Isaac, Aaron, John D., Robert, Jesse,
Nathan, Mary D. and Eli.
Robert's son, John D. Wells,
born about 1786 in Pennsylvania, married Rachel E. Wells, Aaron's daughter.
They lived in Williamsburgh Township, Clermont County, Ohio. James and Ann
(Wells) Callon's son, William, married Aaron's daughter Ruth.?They moved to Marion County, Indiana. [These
are the Editor's ancestors.]?John D.
and Rachel E. (Wells) Wells were probably the parents of Dudley H. Wells who
married Ruth Ann, daughter of Nathan Wells and Jane Guffin, as well as John D.
Wells (Jr.) who married Martha Ward, daughter of Andrew Ward and Nancy Wells,
and Elizabeth Mitchell, daughter of William Mitchell and Drucilla Wells. Now
that Roberts DNA profile is known, this theory can be tested.
ZACHARIAH WELLS
One who was an exact match
was Zachariah Wells of Lee County, Virginia. However, If you look at any
database referring to him on?the
Internet, you will find them a real "mess". That's because so few
records exist and like Aaron and Robert, he had been mistakenly called a son of
Richard Wells and Nancy Brown. He has also been confused with another Zachariah
Wells who received a Revolutionary War Pension in Tennessee, as well as with
his own son, Zachariah Wells Jr. A newspaper article written in 1927, based on
an interview with a descendant, reported that he was born about 1750 in
Virginia and married Abigail Osborne there in about 1770. The article also
stated that he moved away from home after a dispute with his brother, Robert.
Some have identified him as the same Zachariah Wells who appears in the records
of Fincastle and Botetourt Counties in Virginia and in the records of Wilkes
County, North Carolina; however the first definite record is when, on 3 May
1799, he bought 900 acres on both sides of the Powell River in Lee County,
Virginia, paying $1000. The last reference to Zachariah Wells Sr. is in a deed
dated 1 March 1827. Some give him as many as twelve children: Thomas, Nancy,
Zachariah Jr.,?William, Robert, Jemima,
Elizabeth, Abigail, Jacob, John, Jeremiah and Joseph.?
AUGUSTINE WELLS
Augustine Wells, another
exact match, was said to have been born 19 March 1760 in either Maryland or
Virginia and to have died 10 September 1838 in Monongalia County, Virginia (now
West Virginia). His wife was Lucy Doolittle, daughter of Moses Doolittle.
Augustine and Lucy may have married in Fayette County, Pennsylvania since Moses
Doolittle was known to have lived there. Augustine Wells is represented by only
one sample of DNA taken from a descendant of his son, Moses Doolittle Wells. He
is also thought to have had sons, Augustine Jr. and Thomas, as well as several
daughters.?He was said to have been the
son of Robert and Nancy Wells but with no further information given.
"STRAYS"
Besides the mysterious
Robert, Zachariah, and Augustine Wells, there are equally mysterious men born
in the early to mid 1800's who have been "brick walls" to their
descendants. A couple of them have participated in the Wells DNA Project and
have matched. There will undoubtedly be more.?
GEORGE W. WELLS
George W. Wells Jr. was born
2 July 1866 in Indiana. He married Mary Ellen Gaither, probably in Kansas. He
died in 1935 in Oklahoma. The one descendant tested has differed in only one
marker, but at a different point than Robert Wells. In conducting research on
his behalf, it appears that he is a descendant of John Wells Jr. and Elizabeth
Graham who married 3 March 1839 in Jefferson County, Indiana. This John Wells
is said to be the son of John Boyd Wells and Margaret Hawkins.?John Boyd Wells was born about 1770 and died
in April 1844 in Jefferson County.?The
family appears to have traveled from western Maryland to western Pennsylvania
to Kentucky to Ohio, finally settling in Indiana in 1819. John Boyd Wells' son,
Levi, was married in Clermont County, Ohio in 1815.
ISAAC KINDRED WELLS
Isaac Kindred Wells, an exact
match, was born 14 July 1830 in Jefferson County, Tennessee. He married Mary
Ellen Eastin 27 February 1853 in Coles County, Illinois. He died 7 April 1903
in Indianola, Oklahoma Territory. His father's name is still unknown but it was
said that he was born in Georgia. With the help of Don Claypool in Illinois, we
are actively researching his family. There appears to be a set of tantalizing
coincidences possibly linking him to Andrew Wells who was born 16 May 1765 and
died 17 February 1834 in Sevier County, Tennessee (adjacent to Jefferson
County). Andrew stated in his Revolutionary War Pension Application that he was
born in Conococheague Manor in what is now Washington County, Maryland. He
served from South Carolina but lived for a time in Wilkes County, Georgia. His
parents were said to be Robert and Esther Wells.?Again, there is no definite information about them other than
names.
The research on these last
two is still in its preliminary stages, not at all proven and with much more
work to be done.?We will be
keeping?you updated on all the
significant findings concerning the newfound kinsmen of Aaron Wells, including
Robert, Zachariah, Augustine and any others,?
in coming issues of the newsletter.
Lineage Links
Children of Aaron Wells and Ruth Wiggins
Robert Wells
One of the recurring themes
in many of these newfound families is the name Robert. Aaron and Ruths
third-born son, Robert, was born 20 June 1802 according to Wells Family Bible
records. He married Isabella Thomas, daughter of Edward Thomas, 26 February
1827 in Nicholas County, Kentucky. Nicholas County Deed Book P, page 35, dated
March 1845, lists the Wells heirs to settle the estate of Aaron Wells. Robert
Wells was living in Marion County, Indiana. He had moved there sometime prior
to 1840 as he and his family is enumerated in the 1840 Census in Lawrence
Township. This is where his sister, Ruth, and her husband, William Callon, had
moved as had William's uncles; Solomon, Aaron, Isaac, Nathan and Eli Wells,
sons of Robert Wells of Clermont County, Ohio.?
A great deal of what is known about his life comes from a biography in
B. R.?Sulgrove's History of
Indianapolis and Marion County Indiana, Philadelphia: L. H. Everts &
Co., 1884, pp. 545-546.
Robert
Wells was born in Mason
Co., Ky. in 1804. Emigrated with wife and son Aaron to this township [Lawrence]
about 1827, and bought the fractional quarter section now owned by James Newton
Reddick, where he lived for twenty or twenty-five years. He then sold the farm
to Robert Walpole and went to Stringtown, Ind., where he lived for two years,
thence moved to the Twelve-mile Prairie, thence to Anderson, and since the War
of 1861-65 went to Illinois where he died about 1875. His wife died when he
lived on the Twelve-mile Prairie. He was a farmer while he lived here, but
subsequently became a shoemaker and a dealer in harness and saddlery. He and
his wife were both members of the United Brethren Church, and they died in that
faith. For four or five years that denomination held preaching at his house. He
took a great interest in improving the public highways, in advancing the cause
of education, and, in fact, in all laudable public enterprises. He was regarded
by all who knew him as a model gentleman, and by his emigration the township
lost one of its best citizens. He had six children when he left here. His son
Aaron lives in Illinois.
The next clue comes from
Robertson County, Kentucky Deed Book 2, Page, 160, This agreement is made
and entered into 19th day of January 1874, by and between James H.
Wells for himself, Edward T. Wells, Aaron Wells and Nancy Rice [sic] by virtue
of power of attorney of him and himself James H. Wells, executor, on 13th
day of January 1874 of the County Vermillion, of the State of Illinois of the
first part land formerly owned by Aaron Wells, deceased, signed by Uriah Wells.
Following up on the clue of
Vermilion County, Illinois,?in the 1870
Census of Carroll Township, Robert Wells is living with James H. Wells and his
family. In H. W. Beckwith's History of Vermilion County, Illinois, Chicago:
H. H. Hill & Co., 1879, pp. 419-420 is the following biography
James
H. Wells, Danville, was born near
Indianapolis, Indiana, on the 28th of March, 1836, and is the son of
Robert and Emily Wells, of Nicholas county, Kentucky. Mr. Wells was raised on
the farm until he was about fourteen years of age; he then went to Indianapolis
and commenced to learn the trade of a harness-maker, which business he followed
principally ever since. From Indianapolis Mr. Wells went to Kokomo, Indiana,
and in 1857 he came to Illinois and located in Danville, Vermilion county. From
Danville he went to Indianola, Vermilion county, where he remained about ten
years. While a resident of Indianola Mr. Wells enlisted in Co. E, 150th
Ill. Vol. Inf., on the 14th of February, 1865, as first lieutenant.
The 150th was organized at Camp Butler on the 14th of
February, 1865, for one years service. A full sketch of the movements of this
regiment appears in the War History of this volume. Mr. Wells resigned and came
home in July, 1865. In 1875 he returned to Danville and was engaged as traveling
salesman for D. K. Woodbury in the harness business for one year. He then went
to Marysville, Vermilion county, and remained there until August, 1878, when he
came back to Danville and entered Messrs. Good & Cowans saddlery and
harness establishment. Mr. Wells held the office of township clerk in Carroll
township of this county. He was married in Peru, Indiana, to Miss Rebecca E.
Kimble. They have had seven children, of whom two are deceased.
However, the three other
children still living at the time of the 1874 deed were not in Vermilion
County. Where were they? The CD version of the 1880 Census has an index that
can be searched by name, age, race, and place of birth. There was only one
Aaron Wells who fit the description of Roberts son and he was living, not in
Illinois, but in Knox County, Missouri with his wife Barbara and family.
Bill and Nicky Wells had
discovered that in the 1850 Census, Robert and his family were living in
Jackson Township, Clinton County, Indiana.?
The family consisted of Robert, age 46; Isabell, age 42; Aaron, age 22;
Edward, age 18, and James H., age 14. Living next door to the Wells was the
family of Alvin and Catherine VICE. Daughter, Nancy Wells, was not to be found.
A search of the marriage records in Clinton County and of various databases at
RootsWeb soon solved the problem. Nancy A. Wells had married Levi Isgrigg, 23
September 1846. Levi died 15 October 1850 and on 4 March 1852, Nancy married
the widower, Alvin Vice. He was twenty-five years her senior. In the 1880
Census, Alvin and Nancy Vice were living in Knox County, Missouri!
That left only Edward. He
could not be found in 1880. However, since he was known to be alive in 1870, I
found the following possible match in the 1870 Census of Lawrence Township,
Marion County, Indiana: Edward T. Wells, age 37, a shoemaker, with wife,
Hester, age 34, James, age 11; Robert W., age 9, and Ines E., age 1, all born
in Indiana.
Also in the 1880 Census of
Knox County was an Elizabeth Wells, age 12, born in Indiana, as had been her
parents, living with Alvin and Nancy Vice. Her relationship was given as Niece.
She appears to have been enumerated twice, the other occasion as a servant to
George and Amanda Bishop. Aaron and Barbara had a daughter, Elizabeth, but she
was born in Missouri and living with them in 1880. There were three other Wells
children in Knox County, born in Indiana, all living with other families:
Robert Wells, age 20, farm laborer; Charlie W. Wells, age 17, farm laborer; and
Josephene Wells, age 7, at school.
There was also a James Wells,
age 21, farm laborer, living with Oliver Whitesides in Warren Township., Marion
County, Indiana. Both Lawrence and Warren were still largely agricultural areas
on the eastern side of the county outside Indianapolis.?A search of the Marion County, Indiana
probate and guardianship records will probably be necessary to get information
about Edward's children if they were orphaned young.
The update about the
descendants of Robert Wells and Isabella Thomas, including secondary sources,
such as databases at RootsWeb and FamilySearch, can now be found at The Aaron
Wells and Ruth Wiggins Family Association web page at
http://worldconnect.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?db=wellswiggins
TERRITORY CLAIMED BY PENNSYLVANIA
AND VIRGINIA
BEFORE 1782
Map of District of West Augusta,
1776
From the "Semi-Centennial
History of West Virginia",
by James Morton Callahan, 1913.
http://www.rootsweb.com/~wvharris/distwaugmap.html
The District of West Augusta,
claimed by Virginia, overlapped with what is now present-day Pennsylvania. For
an article about the history of the Pennsylvania-Virginia Boundary Controversy
see The Raymond M. Bell Anthology.