My Genealogy Hound

WILLIAM J. WELLS. When, in April, 1861, the firing upon Fort Sumter aroused the entire north to the fact that war was inevitable and that the issues then existing between the two sections would be settled by the arbitrament of the sword, among the first to express a desire to respond to President Lincoln’s call for seventy-five thousand volunteers was a boy of nineteen years, who only three years before had landed in the United States from his home beyond the sea. His father would not consent to his enlisting, as the youth was small of stature, and in his opinion not able to stand the hardships of a soldier’s life. There was naught to do but obey and for three months the boy continued at his work in the coal mines of Pennsylvania. The day came, however, when he quit work and set out to find employment in another part of the coal regions, with no thought of enlisting. While on his way to work, and walking along a mountain side he heard the sound of martial music, as it came to him across the valley. He halted, and for a few minutes listened to the inspiring strains and watched the stars and stripes floating in the summer wind. He turned about, went home, changed his working clothes, and without saying a word to the family as to his intentions started for Minersville, where Captain Joseph H. Hockins was recruiting for the Forty-eighth Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry.

The youth had no thought of bounty nor had he any knowledge of what was a soldier’s pay. His only desire was to serve the country of his adoption.

That boy was William J. Wells, who was born in Blaina, South Wales, July 24, 1842. He remained there until 1858, when with his father he came to America.

Joseph Wells (father) was born October 10, 1810, at Wells, near Bath, Somersetshire, England, which had undoubtedly been for generations the home of his ancestors, as indicated by the town and family name being the same. He grew to manhood in Wells and married Miss Elizabeth Smith, whose- father was for many years keeper of the Hinton Abbey Lodge and died holding the position. Mr. Wells, Sr., in early life and until he removed to Blaina, was engaged in farming. About 1838, he with his family, which then consisted of his wife and two sons, Henry and John, removed to Blaina, where he obtained employment as an iron worker in the Blaina Iron Works, then under the management of Mr. Levick. He remained in Blaina until 1858, at which time his family consisted of seven children, six sons and a daughter. In that year he came to America with the intention of making a home for himself and family, and brought with him his son William. After a voyage of eight weeks on the sailing vessel, George Washington, they landed at Castle Garden, New York, and at once went to Minersville, in Schuylkill county, Pennsylvania, where a home was secured and all his family but his sons, Henry and John, were sent for. They arrived in 1859, and of the family who then came over all are alive but the parents and daughter. After a short stay in Minersville, he removed to Thomastown, in the same county, and engaged in the mining of coal. In 1864, he removed to Girardville, same county, and was one of its first settlers. Here he engaged in the same work as in the other towns and remained there until his death, which took place August 9, 1889. In politics Mr. Wells was an ardent Republican but never a politician. He was a member of the Methodist church over a half century, and a memorial written at the time of his death by a committee of his church in Girardville says of him: “He has lived among us twenty-five years and was honored and respected by all. He was thoroughly honest and a man of great integrity. He was of the old school of Methodism and an earnest advocate of the old fashioned Methodist camp-meeting.”

Mr. Well’s first wife passed away in 1849 and was interred in the burial ground of the Established Church in Blaina. Her children: Henry and John, both of whom married in England and now reside in Cleveland, Ohio, and follow the occupation of iron workers; Julia, who was born in England, and died in childhood; William J., the subject of this sketch; Thomas, now a resident of Savannah, Georgia, engaged in manufacturing cars for the Georgia Central Railroad Company; Alfred, who married and is pastor of a Baptist church in Rocktown, New Jersey; and Charles, who married and is an iron worker in Toledo, Ohio.

William J. Wells came to Minersville with his father in 1858, with an experience (young as he was) of eight years in the rolling mills in Blaina. He sought and obtained employment in and about the coal mines in the towns where his father resided, his last work before enlisting being that of a pumping engineer. He enlisted August 12, 1861, in what became Company F, Forty-eighth Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, which was organized at Pottsville, Pennsylvania, by James Nagle. The regiment was ordered to Harrisburg as soon as its ranks were filled and was quartered at Camp Curtin, where it remained until October 1, 1861, when it was mustered into the United States service for three years and at once sent to the front. It went to Fortress Monroe, Virginia, and remained there until the eleventh of the following month when it joined General Burnsides expedition to Hatteras, North Carolina, where it remained until the spring of 1862, when it participated in the campaign which resulted in the battle of Newbern. The regiment remained in Newbern until July 6, 1862, and then returned to Newport News, Virginia, thence to Fredericksburg to cooperate with General Pope’s army at Slaughter Mountain, which occupied the time from August 2 to 14, inclusive. It was then at Kellys Ford, August 19; Groveton, August 29; second Bull Run, August 13; and Chantilly, September 1. It next participated in the Antietam campaign which comprised the battles of South Mountain, Maryland, September 14; and Antietam Creek, September 17. After the battle of Antietam the forces moved to Pleasant Valley, Maryland, where they were encamped from October 7 to 27, enjoying a much needed rest. From Pleasant Valley the regiment was sent to Fredericksburg, Virginia, and on November 10, 1862, was in a skirmish at Amissville, Virginia, and December 12th to the 14th was engaged in the battle of Fredericksburg, under Burnside, and again met with severe losses.

The regiment then went into camp for the winter and on March 16, 1863, being a part of Burnsides Ninth Army Corps, went to Lexington, Kentucky, where it did garrison duty until September 8. During a portion of this time, Mr. Wells did duty as orderly at the headquarters of Generals Burnside, Hartsuff, Wilcox and Sturgis. In September 1863, the regiment went with Burnside in his invasion of east Tennessee, known as the Knoxville campaign and participated in the engagements of Bulls Gap, October 4; Blue Springs, October 10; Lenore Station, November 13; Loudoun Bridge, November 15; Campbell’s Station, November 16; and siege of Knoxville, November 17 to December 5. During the siege the regiment was in the attack at North Knoxville, November 24, a short but very fierce battle. After Longstreets’ retreat, the regiment did duty at Pleasant Valley, or Blaine’s Cross Roads, Tennessee, from December 7, 1863, until January 13, 1864. From that time to January 23, 1864, the regiment marched some two hundred miles from Pleasant Valley to Knoxville, Tennessee whence they took the cars for home.

On January 1, 1864, the regiment re-enlisted for three years, and was sent to Pottsville, Pennsylvania, on veteran furlough, remaining there until March 14, recruiting men to fill the ranks. The regiment was then ordered to Annapolis, Maryland, where it remained until the commencement of Grant’s campaign which resulted in the surrender of Lee.

In this campaign the regiment was engaged in the following battles: Wilderness, May 6, and 7; Spottsylvania Courthouse, May 8 to 18, inclusive; engagements at Taylors Bridge, May 23; North Anna River, May 24 to 27; Tolopotomy Creek, May 29; Bethesda Church, May 30; Mechumps Creek, May 31; Battle of Cold Harbor, June 1 to 6, and White Oak Swamp, June 13.

Then followed the flank movement on Petersburg, Virginia, June 14 to 16 and the crossing of the James river. On June 16 they were in the assault on Petersburg, after which they were in the skirmishes and battles incident to the siege of Petersburg from June 15, 1864, to April 2, 1865, among them being the assault on the Petersburg and Norfolk Railroad, June 18, 1864, and Welden Railroad, June 22 and 23. About the 25th of June, 1864, Colonel Pleasants (a civil mining engineer by profession) of the Forty-eighth Regiment, which was composed of miners from the coal region of Pennsylvania, conceived the idea of the famous mine at Petersburg, which he claimed could be built by his regiment and the fort in his front blown up and the advance on Petersburg made easy. From June 25 to July 30, men of the Forty-eighth ceased to be soldiers and were again miners and did all the work in building the mine and placing in it twenty-five thousand pounds of powder and for the work thus performed the regiment received special commendation in general orders. After the mine explosion the regiment participated in a battle known as Welden Railroad, August 18 to 21; Poplar Spring Church, September 30; Hatches Run, October 27 and 28. The regiment then did duty in Fort Sedgewick (Fort Hell), from December, 1864, to April, 1865, after which they were in an attack on Fort Mahone and in the fall of Petersburg, April 2, 1865. In almost the last battle of the war Sergeant Wells received a gunshot wound in the right arm, which incapacitated him for further service. On July 17, 1865, he was mustered out with his regiment at Pottsville, Pennsylvania. The following letters are self-explanatory:

POTTSVILLE, July 31, 1866.
“This is to certify that I am well acquainted with Sergeant William J. Wells, who served his full term of enlistment in Company F, Forty-eighth Regiment Pennsylvania Veteran Volunteers, commanded by me, during the late Rebellion and always was a good and faithful soldier who always performed his duties satisfactorily to all.

“He was one of the unfortunate ones to get wounded in the right arm in front of Petersburg, Virginia, which disables him to do hard manual labor; so he went through a course of study and qualified himself for school teaching or a clerkship, and I take great pleasure in recommending him favorably as a trustworthy, honest and sober young man, and one who deserves at least a favorable situation from the hands of his fellow-citizens for his services rendered to his country.
JAMES NAGLE, Late colonel and brigadier general, U. S. A.”

POTTSVILLE, August 6, 1866.
“To all whom it may concern:-
“The bearer hereof, Sergeant William J. Wells, I am well acquainted with. I know him to be a very worthy young man, of sober and industrious habits.

“He enlisted in the Forty-eighth Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers at its organization, for three years, in Captain Joseph H. Hoskins’ Company, of Minersville, and, at the expiration of said term of service, he re-enlisted and served faithfully through all its service until the regiment was mustered out at the close of the war. He was wounded once. I often took particular notice of him as being a very clean, tidy and obedient soldier. I never knew him to shirk from any duty, but was always ready and willing to perform any service required of him. For a while, he was clerk for his captain.
Very Respectfully,
DANIEL NAGLE,
Late colonel One Hundred and Seventy-third Pennsylvania Volunteers and formerly major of the Forty-eighth Regiment.”

After the war Mr. Wells returned to Minersville, and, on September 1, 1865, he entered Dickinson Seminary, Williamsport. After ten months in the seminary, he took a school in Yorkville, a suburb of Pottsville, where he taught for two years.

In 1868, he came to Norristown (having married in his second year at Yorkville) and became the principal of the Bridgeport school and held the position four years, giving entire satisfaction.

In 1872, he secured the Marble Hall school, in Whitemarsh township, and the long daily walk from his home in Norristown to the school, a distance of five miles, proved of great benefit to his health. He taught the school for two years and during that time passed a successful examination for a Philadelphia school but preferred to remain in Norristown. He therefore occupied the position of principal of Sandy Street school and taught there six years. In 1880 he accepted the principalship of the Oak Street school, Norristown, where he has taught continuously to the present time.

For many years he has been secretary of the local Teachers’ Institute. After his removal to Norristown, Mr. Wells became a member of Curtis Lodge, No. 239, I. O. O. F. He passed through all the chairs, becoming Noble Grand in 1879. In May, 1878, he was mustered into Zook Post, No. 11, G. A. R., and has been from the first an energetic and earnest member thereof. In 1884 he was made commander of the Post, having previously been its adjutant five years and one year subsequently. Mr. Wells is the historian of the Post, and well wrote in two memorial volumes presented to it a comprehensive war record of each of the members.

In 1884, he was appointed an aide on the staff of Robert B. Beath, then commander of the Grand Army of the Republic; and in 1889 served is aide on the staff of W. C. Johnson, senior vice commander-in-chief. He was a delegate to the state encampment held at Harrisburg and has been assistant department inspector of posts of Montgomery county for a period of ten years; also assistant inspector at large for the department of Pennsylvania.

On December 24, 1866, Mr. Wells married Miss Annetta Garner, daughter of Eli and Mary Garner, of Norristown. She was born February 12, 1843, and died June 17, 1873. Their children are: Frank E., born December 13, 1868; and Alonzo R., born September 28, 1871. Frank E. went to Augusta, Georgia, about 1890, to visit an uncle and died in the hospital of that city of typhoid fever sometime in 1892. Alonzo is married and lives in Norristown.

Eli Garner was born in Bucks county, September 9, 1809, and died March 13, 1888. He married, October 2, 1832, Mary Ann Smith, who was born August 9, 1809, and died September 5, 1901.

On May 17, 1879, Mr. Wells married (second wife) Miss Leah Shultz, who was born February 23, 1853, in Llewellyn, Pennsylvania. Her father, John Shultz, was born in the province of Saxe Weimer, Germany, and eighteen years later emigrated to America, locating in White Haven. He learned tailoring in his native land but never followed it in this country, as something more to his taste offered soon after he reached his new home. For a time he was engaged in building canals and railroads and was a pioneer in that line in his section of his state. He worked in the mines at Llewellyn, then engaged in the lumber business for Samuel Griscom, which proved to be a starting point in a business in which he was very successful and which he followed for thirty years. Near Llewellyn he cleared the timber from more than a hundred acres, while in the Rice Mountains in Schuylkill county, in Clark’s valley, in Dauphin county, Yellow Springs, Lebanon county and Cherry Run, Union county, he cleared large tracts. In his death Tremont lost one of its best citizens--one whose honor and integrity was never questioned and whose influence was always on the side of right. Of him it was said, “The laborer found in him a kind employer; the needy, the spirit of charity. He lived not unto himself, but for the welfare of his fellow men and for the glory of Christ, His Redeemer.”

By his second marriage Mr. Wells had three children, namely: Nina, who died in infancy; Ivan S., born September 2, 1883; and Leah M., born June 27, 1890, and died when eleven months old. Mr. and Mrs. Wells are both members of the First Methodist Episcopal church of Norristown.

William J. Wells is a Republican in politics. He has taken an active part in political work, and has rendered efficient service in town council, serving three terms in all, and occupying important chairmanships in that body. He is a patriotic, progressive and public-spirited citizen, being found invariably on the side of improvement. Mr. Wells has been an active pension attorney since 1890 and has been very successful in his efforts in that direction.