Dade County, Missouri Biographies-Ex-Judge George W. WELLS

History Of Hickory, Polk, Cedar, Dade And Barton Counties, Missouri, 1889; 
Published by Goodspeed, Pgs. 846, 847

Ex-Judge George W. Wells.  Prominent among the representative men of 
Washington Township and among the enterprising farmers and stock-raisers
of the same, stands the name of Mr. Wells, who was born in Manongalia 
County, W. Va., in 1839.  He is the son of Benjamin L. and Sophia (Kughn)
Wells and the grandson of James Wells, who was of Welsh descent, and who
went, when young, from Baltimore to Greene County, Penn., where he died 
at the age of ninety-three.  His father was an early settler of Baltimore.
Jacob Kughn, the maternal grandfather of George W. Wells, also went when 
young from Baltimore to Greene County, Penn., and there he died at the age
of ninety-five years.  He was of Welsh descent, and was a soldier in the 
early wars.  Benjamin Wells and wife were natives of Pennsylvania and 
both died when their son, George W. Wells, was but a lad.  Mr. Wells was 
justice of the peace for many years.  George W. Wells was the fourth of 
five children, two sons and three daughters, and received very little 
schooling after the death of his parents.  He lived with relatives and 
strangers until fifteen years of age, and then learned the carpenter 
trade, which he followed until the war.  In 1854 he went to Illinois, 
thence to Iowa, Nebraska, Ohio, etc., and in 1859 to Greenfield, Mo.  
In May, 1861, he went to Chicago, and in October of the same year joined 
Company F, Fifty-seventh Illinois Volunteer infantry, and was in the 
fights of Fort Donelson, Shiloh, Corinth, and was with Gen. Hulbert 
through Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, etc.  In the spring of 1864 
he joined Gen. Sherman, and was all through the Georgia and Atlanta 
campaigns.  He was at the grand review at Washington, D. C., and was 
discharged at Louisville, Ky., July 7, 1865.  He held the office of 
corporal, third and first sergeant, and from October, 1864, he commanded
his company as captain.  He was in the service nearly four years. 
After the war he traveled in different States until 1866, when he returned
to Dade County, Mo., and in 1867 married Mrs. Letitia Poage, a native of 
Dade County, Mo., and the daughter of Jonathan and Catherine Weir. 
Mr. Weir was born in Cooper County, Mo., and his wife in Kentucky.  
They were married in Cooper County, and Mr. Weir is still living.  To Mr.
and Mrs. Wells were born six children, five now living, one son and four
daughters.  Since the war Judge Wells has lived on his present farm, 
which consists of 180 acres of excellent land, 80 acres in another tract,
and over 100 acres under cultivation, all the result of his own efforts,
as he started a poor boy.  In 1876 he was elected judge of the county 
court from the Eastern District, and in 1878 he was elected presiding 
judge, serving in the latter capacity four years with ability and credit.
He is a Republican in politics, and his first presidential vote was cast
for Abraham Lincoln, while in service.  He is a member of the I.O.O.F., 
L(M)acon Lodge No. 75, and he is also a member of Greenfield Post, of 
the G. A. R.  His wife is a member of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. 
He is an active worker in the cause of education and for the general up 
building of the county; he is one of the progressive and industrious 
farmers of Dade County, and spares no pains for th improvement of his 
stock.  Although of Southern birth, Mr. Wells took a firm stand for the 
union at the breaking out of the war.  His brother was also a stanch 
Union man, but many of their relatives were in the Confederate Army.

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