Keeping in mind the inaccuracies of county histories. From the Historical
Atlas of Buchanan County, Mo. Biographical Sketches of Citizens of Buchanan
Co.
The Hon. William S. Wells, representative from B. Co. in the 28 & 29th
General Ass.
was born in the good old state of Va., Lee Co., on the 13 Sept. 1812. His
great grandfather was from Wales, ond one of the early settlers of Maryland.
His grandfather Zachariah Wells, was living in Ashe Co. N.C. at the time of
the Revolutionary War , and afterward moved to Lee Co., Va. His father was
Robert Wells, who was born in Ashe Co., N.C., & who married Elizabeth
Shepherd, the daughter of James Shepherd who belonged to an old Va. family.
Robert Wells removed to Jackson Co., Mo., in 1826 (he is in 1840 Lee Co, Va.
Census) was one of the early settlers of that part of the state, and died
there in the year 1853 at the age of about 90. ( I think he died about the
middle 1840s I think that date was mix up of James Shepherd's death, ) ( this
story goes on about the life of W. S. wells)
There is a similar story in the History of Buchanan County, Mo. vol 2. I
don't have a date of the above story but it was in W.S. Wells lifetime I
believe it was in the 1880s.
Roger Kennedy