This will be a storage site, rather like the way we've stored information on our computers, but this will be accessible to everyone with internet access and from schools and public libraries, etc. Once we get all this collected, it is easier to print out books and newsletters, etc.

It’s easy to get information *into* the history and genealogy databases. This includes births, marriages, family stories, research, documents, etc. Send your updates by US mail to Patricia Straube or e-mail Patricia or Jon Hagee. All the addresses are on the sidebar.

To see what is in the database:

View it on-line. We are working on a World Wide Web-based database that will be accessible for all Wells researchers. Hopefully this will attract more cousins to the reunion. We will not be publishing information about living descendents.

Make sure you mark July 18th on your calendar. We had a great time last year and are looking forward to seeing you all again! The 4-H camp is a beautiful site nestled in the lakes and forests of Nicholas County just minutes away from Blue Licks. Blue Licks has given us some new restrictions that don't look promising. However, we'll find out more and update you at the reunion and possibly make a decision at that time for future reunions. There are a lot of good things about the 4-H camp, front door ac cess, air conditioning, forest trails, private pool and sports facilities, etc. Come see for yourself ! Look for more details about 1999 reunion activities next newsletter.

We're again planning more activities for young people, swimming, sports, games. Involvement of the youngsters is our future. I see this as a #1 priority!

I'm going to bring my banjo, guitar and harmonicas with me. I don't want to be the only one, Y'hear!

See you there!

Jon Hagee - President

The index to the War of 1812 Pension Files was prepared from microfilm records located at the National Archives. The War of 1812 series of pension Applications are for claims based on service between 1812 and 1815. The claims are for the most part based on the acts of 1871 and 1878. The act of 1871 provided pensions for veterans who had been cited by Congress for specific service if they had remained faithful to the United States during the Civil War. The act also provided pensions for widow s if they were married before the Treaty of Peace in 1815.

The act of 1878 provided pensions on more liberal terms, the veteran who had served as few as fourteen days in any engagement qualified for a pension, as did the widows. Interfiled with the index are applications based on death and disability that previously formed a part of the "Old Wars" pension series. Also consolidated within the index are Bounty Land Warrants awarded for service and for which no pension application was made.

Reproduction of specific pension records corresponding to entries in the index may be obtained from the National Archives for a fee. Copies of the pension records can be obtained by mail using NATF form 80, which can be ordered from the Reference Services Branch (NIRR), General Services Administration, Washington, D.C. 20408

The words almost jumped off the Wells Family Research Association web page. Since Nathan Wells, son of Aaron Wells and Ruth Wiggins, lived to a ripe old age, the chances were good that he lived long enough to receive a pension. I obtained the form, filled it out and sent it off. What I received exceeded my expectations ?nineteen pages of documents from the courts of Mason, Bracken, and Robertson Counties and the Department of the Interior.

Beginning in the fall of 1853, Nathan Wells appeared before the Court of Mason County to apply for an invalid’s pension based on the injuries he received in the War of 1812. He stated that the Surgeon’s Certificate at discharge "was burned shortly after I came home from the war at the same time that my house was burned." He also stated that his family physician; the surgeon of his regiment, Thomas Donathan; and the surgeon of an Ohio regiment, Job Lewis, all who had attended him, were dead. He was examin ed by Dr. Leander Hubbell who reported that he had received "a fracture of the anterior portion of three ribs, serious injury of the right clavicle and the whole right side of the body and also severely straining the left shoulder entailing an inability to use the same down to the present. It also caused an inguinal hernia" resulting in the loss of "one half of his capacity to gain a livelihood."

What had caused these injuries forty years before? Elijah Purcell appeared before the court to state that he had known Nathan Wells in Nicholas County before the war. As a member of Capt. Thomas Metcalf’s Company he was with Wells, who was in Captain John Phillips?Company of Kentucky Militia, at St. Marys, Ohio in 1813. He described the accident: "Wells was out cutting wood to make fire for the camp and while Wells was cutting down a standing tree and in the fall of the tree the tree as it fell struck a gainst another standing tree and in the fall said tree struck said Nathan Wells in the shoulder and broke his shoulder and in same way in the fall of the tree he was also ruptured in the left side. He said Wells was then not able to walk into camp." Elijah Purcell also stated that Capt. John Phillips, 1^st Lieutenant Joseph C. Reid, and Ensign John Harris, all officers of Wells?Regiment, were dead or had moved away.

An Invalid’s Pension Certificate was issued October 23, 1854 for $4.00 a month. Less than a year later, July 9, 1855, Dr. Isaac Pollock and Dr. Charles S. Savage testified that Nathan Wells was now completely disabled. On May 7, 1856, his pension was increased to $5.33^1/3 a month.

A letter from the Department of the Interior dated January 29, 1877 stated that Nathan Wells?pension had been suspended. A Declaration for Restoration to the Rolls for Nathan Wells, aged 86 years, dated January 10, 1878 before the county clerk of Robertson Co. stated that it had been suspended by reason of "failure to draw for three years." The signature of the claimant appears to be original.

The witnesses were W. R. Wells and John [R. or B.] Hill. On 18 December 1878, an Application for Reopening of a Service Pension Claim under the Act of March 9, 1878 was submitted with S. B. Chishome and J. M. Ragdon, witnesses. This document is all in the same handwriting and appears to be a copy. There may be additional records in the county courts of Mason, Bracken and Robertson Counties still to be found.

This was the latest dated document in the file. It appears that Nathan Wells was still living at the end of 1878. There was no document in the file attesting to his death and no mention of any other members of his family. Could Nathan have served with his father Aaron? Perhaps there is further information about Capt. John Phillips Company of Kentucky Militia in the Kentucky State Archives

During the war of 1812 Fort St. Marys became the principal headquarters of General Harrison's army for quite a period and was one of the principal depots for the provisions of the armies in the northwestern part of Ohio. The accumulation of cattle, horses, and other army stores was so great that additional storage buildings were needed and a place was built to protect the livestock. The spring located near where the Fort Barbee Hotel now stands furnished an abundance of pure water. When the buildings of the depot were completed, the stockade was given the name of Fort Barbee, in honor of the Colonel who was its commanding officer.

Jane Guffin, wife of Nathan² [Aaron¹], was the daughter of George Guffin and Mary Lang. The Thomas Guffin who signed Jane’s marriage bond was her brother. The family came to Mason Co., KY about 1796 from Virginia and were in Bracken Co. in 1798. Jane was the youngest of eight children: Andrew, Virginia, Margaret, Sarah, Elizabeth, Mary, Thomas, and Jane. For further information about her ancestry, please contact:

R. L. Guffin

E-mail: rlguffin@www.stillman.edu

Charity McDonald, wife of John W. Wells³ [Nathan², Aaron¹], was the daughter of Hugh McDonald and Jane Montgomery, who were married in Washington Co., PA. Charity was one of eight children, four sons and four daughters. The sons were Hugh Jr., James, William and Montgomery. Charity?s sisters were Nancy, Mary Ann, and Ann. For further information about Charity’s ancestry, please contact:

Ken Crouse

E-mail: ken@kencrouse.com

Web Page: http://www.kencrouse.com/

Mary E. Wells⁴ [John W.³, Nathan², Aaron¹] was named in her father’s will as Mary E. Rigg, not Riggs as given in Heritage of Aaron Wells and Ruth Wiggins. By using this spelling, her death was found in the Kentucky Vital Records Index. Mary E. Rigg died 19 Apr 1922, age 78, in Robertson County. If the marriage date of 6 Aug 1876 is correct, then several of those listed as her children may actually be her stepchildren. If you h ave any information to help clarify this situation, please contact:

Patricia Straube

Database coordinator

E-mail: straube@earthlink.net

Andrew Wells⁴ [John W.³, Nathan², Aaron¹] Squire appears to be a title, not a part of his given name. Andrew Wells died 22 April 1931, age 82 in Mason Co. [KVRI]. There was an Annie E. Wells who died 24 March 1931, age 80, in Mason Co. This may be Andrew’s second wife Annie (Chandler) Wells.

James M. Wells⁴ [John W.³, Nathan², Aaron¹] and his wife, Celestine Watson, are buried in the Shannon Cemetery where his stone reads "1850-1917" and hers reads "1852-1933". According to the Kentucky Vital Records Index, James died 29 December 1917 and Celestine died 25 August 1933, both in Robertson Co. Their eldest child, Jessie Washington Wells (1874-1929), m. William Douglas who was the son of David M. Douglas and Cesee Ann Davis. David M. Douglas was th e son of David Douglas and Mary Ann Wells who were married in Aberdeen, Brown Co., OH, 9 July 1839. At this time, Mary Ann’s connection to our Wells family, if any, is unknown. If you have any information, please contact:

William R. Behymer

E-mail: wbehymer@iglou.com

Ella F. Wells⁴ [John W.³, Nathan², Aaron¹] Frank T. Henson, spouse of Ella F. Wells, died 5 Jan 1949 at the age of 93 in Robertson Co., KY.

Mary Adra Downing Wells⁴ [William R.³, Nathan², Aaron¹] was born 3 Jul 1874, died 9 Apr 1937 in Mason Co., KY. She married James Mitchell Stevenson who was born 25 Jan 1867 in Mason Co., KY, died 19 Jan 1949 in Mason Co., KY His parents were Eli Stevenson and Martha Ellen Stoker.

Children:

2. Basil Berry Stevenson born 30 May 1898 in Sardis, Mason Co., KY, died 15 Jan 1977 in Mason

If you have any additional information, please contact :

Barbara Klima Stevenson

E-mail: Spiritgrny@aol.com

Nathan Wells Jr.³ [Nathan², Aaron¹] seems to have disappeared after 1870. Could he be the Nathan Wells who died in Kenton Co., 29 April 1921, at the age of 90?

Thanks to Marilyn Wood Armstrong, the last issue of the newsletter reported the death record of Aaron and Ruth’s daughter, Rachel E., born 12-Mar-1794, died 17-Feb-1882. Marilyn has gone the extra step of finding Rachel in the 1880 Census of Williamsburgh Twp., Clermont Co., OH. By doing so, she has discovered Rachel E. and John D. Wells?eldest son, suggested by the 1820, 1830, and 1840 censuses.

Wells, Levi 66 b. Ohio, wife Mary 44 b. Kentucky, son Thos. J. 19 b. Kentucky, son Danl. M. 15 b. Kentucky, mother Rachel E. 87 widowed b. Kentucky. Rachel’s parents are both listed as being born in Virginia.

Marilyn also found Levi in the 1850 Census of neighboring Anderson Twp., Hamilton Co., OH:

Levi Wells 35 b. Ohio, Eliza Ann 38 b. N.J., John D. 9 b. Ohio, Sarah Jane 6 b. Ohio, William 5 b. Ohio, Levi 7/12 b. Ohio.

It looks like Levi may have been in Kentucky in 1860 and 1870 and may have married a second wife there. Can anyone help find him?

Biographies

Perrin, William Henry, ed. History of Bourbon, Scott, Harrison and Nicholas Counties, Kentucky. Chicago: O. L. Baskin & Co., 1882. p. 774. [Nicholas County] [Lower Blue Licks Precinct]

JOHN M. WELLS³ [Daniel², Aaron¹], physician, P.O. Blue Licks; the youngest son of a family of four sons and three daughters, is extensively engaged in tobacco raising upon his well kept farm of 140 acres, and in connection with his agricultural pursuits has a large and lucrative practice in his profession; he attended the common schools of his neighborhood and the high school at Carlisle, he subsequently attended the medical department of the University of Louisvil le, and received his diploma upon March 1, 1876. He was born in Nicholas County, Jan. 4, 1854, and married Sarah Fowle in the county of Nicholas, Oct. 31, 1878; she born in the above county, Sept. 9, 1854, to William and Susan (Robinson) Fowle (see history). The result of this union is two sons, Herman L. and Leslie T. His father who is still living and a prominent agriculturist, was born in Nicholas County, Nov. 27, 1811. His mother, Lucinda Collins, was born in the same county, in the year 1816, an d died in 1862. Dr. Wells is a Republican of prominence in his county, and with his family is connected with the Christian Church.

Perrin, William Henry, ed. History of Bourbon, Scott, Harrison and Nicholas Counties, Kentucky. Chicago: O. L. Baskin & Co., 1882. p. 772. [Nicholas County] [Lower Blue Licks Precinct]

WM. A. FOWLE, farmer, P. O. Lower Blue Licks; a native of Bourbon County and the youngest of a family of 13 children; was born July 20, 1832. His father Isaac Fowle, a native of Vermont, where he was born March 24, 1791, was a hatter by trade, and came to Bourbon County in 1816, having served in the war of 1812; he died Dec. 30, 1879. He wife, Caroline Green, was born in Virginia, March 25, 1793, and died Sept. 20, 1879. The subject of this sketch began life as a farmer, and was married in Nichola s County, July 25, 1852, to Susan Robertson, who was born in Bourbon, March 8, 1834, and died March 14, 1869; she was a daughter of William Robertson. By this marriage there were the following children: Rufus, June 5, 1853; died July 10, 1854; Sarah Eliza, born Sept. 9, 1854, now the wife of Dr. Wells (see hist.); Wm. Isaac, June 26, 1856; graduated at Bible College, Lexington, and upon that occasion delivered the valedictory; he is now preaching at Chaplin, Nelson County, Ky.; Nathaniel W., born Sep t. 12, 1858, Mary E., Sept. 28, 1860. In June 1867, Mr. Fowle was again married to Cassandra (Maston) Kenton, widow of Wm. Kenton, and daughter of Caleb and Hannah (Ellis) Maston. They are members of the Christian Church at Blue Licks. He is, in political faith, a Democrat. In agriculture he raises the usual crops and is considered one of the substantial men of the precinct.