Since two descendants of Andrew Jackson Wells have just joined the list, I
thought it appropriate to post the following from a private genealogy done
by Opal Graber of Albany, Oregon:
"Not much of a personal nature is known about Andrew Jackson "Jack" Wells,
other than he was a large man, 6 feet 4 or 5 inches tall with very long
arms that reached below his coat tails. When he came to the farm on
Wallens Ridge isn't known, if he first developed the land or if he
inherited it from his father. It is known he and Monroe farmed it together
after Monroe grew up and married.
"After he left Nancy, who had been mistreating him as he grew elderly, and
went to live with Monroe and his family, his grandson, Robert, remembers
Jack sitting in the yard under a tree cracking hickory nuts. The nuts were
used for baking and the extra were sold for a little income.
"One Sunday as the family was trudging up the mountain from Oreton where
they had attended Baptist Church, Monroe heard a feeble cry for help from
teh bushes along the road. he investigated and found Jack standing in a
little creek, surrounded by a rapidly spreading fire. Monroe put out the
fire and carried Jack to the road. Jack was freightened and confused and
could never tell how the fire started. It was always a mystery. After
that jack made his home with Monroe and Durzilla.
"Jack's sight was very poor in his old age and (he) was nearly blind when
he died. He was buried on his home farm near the road leading down the
ridge to Oreton. No headstone was ever erected over teh grave and the site
is now lost. Druzilla showed her youngest son, Jeremiah, where the grave
was but he no longer remebers the exact location.
"Jack and Nancy lived on the section of the farm known as "Little Cuba".
I
don't know if that is where he and Sarah lived or not. Ther is no longer a
house on any of the land, though the spring still flows where water was
available for the family's use."
COMMENT: I had not really read this previously so I was not aware of the
large stature of Andrew Jackson Wells. Since we are still stuck on the
origins of Zachariah, I can't help wondering if there might be a connection
to the "Big Wells" who were also typically well over 6 feet tall and often
heavyset. The few photos I have seen of the family did not lead me to
suspect this previously. Does anyone else have any early family
information that would indicate that they were large people?
Could it be that Zachariah actually was from Maryland or Virginia and
someone inadvertantly connected him to the wrong family (i.e. the bogus
connection to Richard Wells & Ann "Nancy" Brown)?
Orin R. Wells
Wells Family Research Association
P. O. Box 5427
Kent, Washington 98064-5427
<ORWells(a)bigfoot.com>
http://www.rootsweb.com/~wellsfam/wfrahome.html
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