I recently got in touch with Ardath Blue, a descendant of John Boyd Wells's
son William. We had corresponded in the past about some other families we
had in common in Jennings and Jefferson Cos., IN and I had remembered we'd
briefly discussed her Wells family but couldn't find a connection at that
time. Fellow researcher Sharon Seaver, a descendant of Lemuel Wells, had
also gotten in touch with me but again, we couldn't find a connection. The
results of the DNA Project have changed that. Sharon sent me the following
email giving an overview of the sources of information about what is known
about John Boyd Wells children:
.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Sharon Seaver" <shseaver(a)earthlink.net>
To: <straube(a)earthlink.net>
Sent: March 01, 2003 3:52 PM
Subject: John Boyd Wells, etc.
Dear Patricia,
Ardath Blue sent me a copy of your message of Friday, Feb. 28. I then went
to Rootsweb to search the Zechariah Wells mailing list for your posts
concerning Raymond Wells ancestry. I also read Orin Wells post of Jan. 22,
2003.
I concur that Raymond's ancestor is almost certainly John Boyd Wells. It
is
intriguing that his DNA is so close to the Aaron Wells profile. If we
could
find some other male cousins who were willing to participate, maybe
we
could
get further evidence of a close relationship.
Orin Wells asks about the source for the names, birthdates and places for
John Boyd Wells children.
>Children
>Elizabeth WELLS b: WFT Est. 1791-1845 in Hamilton Co. Ind
>William WELLS b: 20 FEB 1789 in PA
>Levi WELLS b: 15 OCT 1792 in PA
>Samuel WELLS b: 11 NOV 1799 in Fayette Co. PA
>John WELLS, Jr. b: 1800 in Maryland
>Lemuel WELLS b: 9 SEP 1801 in Kentucky
>Sarah Sally WELLS b: 1805 in Hamilton Co. Ind.
>Mary WELLS b: 1807 in Hamilton Co. Ind
>Laurana WELLS b: 12 FEB 1813 in Hamilton Co. Ind.
The children above who were born in Hamilton Co. were b. in Hamilton Co.,
Ohio, not Indiana. This family came from Maryland (?) to southwestern
Pennsylvania, to Hamilton Co., Ohio and finally to Jefferston Co.,
Indiana.
I suspect that Lemuel's birthplace in Kentucky was just a short
stop
between
Pennsylvania and Hamilton Co., Ohio -- after all, Kentucky is just
across
the Ohio river from Hamilton Co.
Orin Wells says:
>And that makes me wonder if the family was not "assenbled" from census
records
>because they lived near each other. I presume given the dates
assigned
that
>there may have been another source.
My first source was from a research report written for John Everett Wells
(son of John, grandson of Lemuel, grgrandson of John Boyd Wells) in 1923.
At
that time John Wells, son of Lemuel, was still living and could
remember
who
his aunts and uncles were. This original list had an exact birthdate
only
for Lemuel. In the above list of John Boys Wells' children, Elizabeth
should
be between Mary and Laurana. The birthdate for William is from a
gravestone.
Levi's birthdate is from a gravestone in Rowe Cemetery, Parke
Co.,
Indiana.
Samuel's birthdate is from his obituary, which also gives his
birthplace
as
Fayette Co., PA, and says that be moved to Ohio with his parents in
his
3rd
year, and came to Jefferson Co. Inidana in 1819. John's birthdate
is
probably calculated from the 1850 census. Lemuel's is probably from a
written family record. My source has a birthdate of Aug. 1805 for Sarah.
1807 for Mary - and the family tradition that she died in Hamilton Co. in
1814, killed by the falling of a tree that was set on fire by her brother-
the children were playing around the burning tree. Laurana's birthdate is
from a family record or gravestone.
In addition to the above source, the late Margaret (Trapp) Peace of
Indianapolis, Indiana grew up in Jennings County, Indiana. She was the
granddaughter of Lemuel Wells, and grgranddaughter of John Boyd Wells. She
lived all her life "close to home", roamed graveyards, searched census and
land records, and compiled a tremendous amount of data on the Wells
families
of Jefferson/Jennings counties in Indiana. A lot of her information
came
from what she knew first-hand, and wrote down. She compiled a chart
detailing John Boyd Wells descendants that measures about 6 ft. by 6 ft. I
have a photocopy of it, and a lot of correspondence from her in my files.
I have searched census records of Jennings and Jefferson counties, and
have
photocopies of most of the microfilm census records concerning any
Wells.
in
addition, I own the microfilm of the 1880 census for both counties.
Regarding migration patterns:
John Boyd Wells may be the John Wells in the Westmoreland Co., PA 1790
census. His wife, Margaret Hawkins, was the dau. of William Hawkins of
Harford Co., Maryland. He migrated to Washington Co., Pennsylvania and
then
to Anderson Twp., Hamilton Co., Ohio. The Hawkins of Harford Co. were
close
neighbors and intermarried with the Richard Wells family group. One
of
Richard Wells' descendants, Samuel (b. , d. ) followed a similar migration
pattern as the William Hawkins family - Harford Co., southwestern
Pennsylvania, southwestern Ohio, and finally ended up in Jefferson Co.,
Indiana, as did John Boyd Wells. However, Samuel Wells and John Boyd Wells
did not live near each other in Jefferson Co., and I can not prove any
contact between the two families anywhere along the migration trail.
Nevertheless, I have always suspected a relationship between John Boyd
Wells
and the Richard Wells clan of Harford Co.
There is a website that claims ancestry for William Hawkins which is
probably correct, but has not been proven beyond a doubt to my
satisfaction
- the evidence is circumstantial. Go to:
>
http://www.geocities.com/louannc46/rhawkinsdesc1.html
and continue at:
>
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Ridge/1576/rhawkinsdesc2.html
This is getting long. I have some further comments and identifications of
the Wells families found in the census records you posted. I will continue
later.
Sincerely,
Sharon Seaver
p.s. Feel free to post this on any mailing list you feel is appropriate.