Marshall County KS Archives Biographies.....Wells, Oliver C. 1862 - living in 1917 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/ks/ksfiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Joy Fisher sdgenweb@gmail.com July 21, 2005, 6:19 pm Author: B. F. Bowen OLIVER C. WELLS. When the name of Wells is mentioned in Marshall county memories of the pioneer John D. Wells, father of the subject of this biographical sketch, inevitably are aroused. John D. Wells was one of the first, as he was one of the most active of the early settlers of Marshall county and it is said of him that he at one time owned nearly half of the county. A Kentuckian by birth, he went to Iowa from that state, but after a year spent in the vicinity of Des Moines decided that the opportunities for pioneering were better down here in Kansas and he drove down with an ox team in the year 1855 and "pitched his tent" in section 36 of township 4, south, range 8, east, where he bought a tract of "Congress land" and established his home. That was in the days before the organization of Marshall county into a civic entity and before the days of the admission of Kansas into the sisterhood of states. When his home township was organized, Mr. Wells took an active part in the work of organization and his pioneer neighbors were glad to do him the honor of naming the township for him. In the general history of the early settlement of this county further and fitting mention is made of the services of John D. Wells in the community in pioneer days and of his activities in a general way in the development of the county. Not only did he go into land speculation on an extensive scale, buying land for from one dollar to two dollars an acre, until at one time he owned nearly half of Marshall county, but he engaged in the freighting business, operating a train of teams over the Overland trail to Denver, and thus became one of the best-known figures on the plains throughout this section in those days. He went into the business of raising hogs and in order to secure advantage of the better market Denver then offered over the markets to the East, he would drive his hogs all the long drive to Denver, the trip requiring sixty days to complete. He owned six hundred acres of land in his home place and there early engaged extensively in cattle raising, thus being one of the first big cattlemen in Kansas, and did much to promote the cattle business in northern Kansas in the days of the open range. He lived to near the allotted age of man, "three score years and ten," and to the day of his death maintained his hearty interest in the affairs of the county, in the organization and development of which he had taken so active a part. John D. Wells was born in Bath county, Kentucky, October 9, 1830, and there grew to manhood. He married Elizabeth Langdon, who was born in 1829 not far to the north, over the river in Ohio, and in 1854, he then being twenty-four years of age, he and his wife went to Iowa seeking a location in the West. As noted above, after a year spent in the vicinity of Des Moines, they came down into Kansas in 1855 and the rest of their lives were spent in Marshall county, their lives here being a definite part of the early history of this county. John D. Wells was a member of the Masonic lodge at Frankfort and ever took an active interest in the affairs of the same. He died on March 19, 1899, and his widow did not long survive him, her death occurring on April 3, 1900. They were the parents of ten children, three of whom died in infancy, the others, besides the subject-of this sketch, being as follow: Mary P., who married James M. Wells and died in 1881: Amanda M., who is living .on the old home place in Wells township; Artie Belle, wife of L. Bennett, also of Wells township: Veda J., wife of J. L. McConchie, also of Wells township; Robert J., of Bigelow township, and Anna F., who married Daniel Pendergast and is living in Wells township. Oliver C. Wells, fourth in order of birth of the ten children born to John D. and Elizabeth (Langdon) Wells, was born on the old Wells place in Wells township, September 8, 1862, and has made his home in this county all his life, now being engaged in the grain and coal business at Barrett. He also is the owner of an excellent farm in this county and a property consisting of eight acres in the village of Barrett, where he makes his home. Reared on the home farm, Oliver C. Wells received his schooling in the old Valley View school, district No. 32, and remained on the home place until his marriage, a valuable aid to his father in the latter's extensive operations. Even in the days of his boyhood Mr. Wells made a good "hand" in the operations of the home farm and was able to handle an ox-team with the best. Along in the middle eighties he bought his first land, a tract of forty acres, and to that he gradually added until he became the owner of two hundred acres, to which another tract of seventy-one acres was added upon the distribution of his father's estate. In 1910 he sold his land holdings, but bought another farm and continued farming until 1912. when he moved to Barrett, where, in 1914, he bought the grain elevator there and has since then been engaged in the grain and coal business, at the same time giving proper attention to the management of his farm of one hundred and forty-five acres lying in section 35 of Wells township and in the adjoining section 2 of Bigelow township. Mr. Wells is a Democrat and has rendered public service as a member of the school board in his old home district and as deputy sheriff of Marshall county, in which latter capacity he served for three years. He is a member of the Ancient Order of United Workmen and in the affairs of that fraternal organization has long taken a warm interest. In 1893 Oliver C. Wells was united in marriage to Helen Warren, who was born in Bath county, Kentucky, August 25, 1873, daughter of Martin V. and Margaret (Jackson) Warren, both natives of that same county, who came to Kansas in 1892 and settled in this county, where they spent their last days. To Mr. and Mrs. Wells six children have been born, the first-born dying in infancy, the others being as follow: Bessie, deceased; Anna V., who married Richard Fairchild and is living at Barrett, and Marguerite, Elizabeth and Mark, at home. The Wells family have a very pleasant home at Barrett and take a proper part in the general social activities of the village and of the community at large. Additional Comments: Extracted from: History of Marshall County, Kansas: its people, industries, and institutions by Emma E. Forter Indianapolis, Ind.: B.F. Bowen & Co. 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