THE J.K. WELLS FAMILY, Bio, Granite Co., MT Indexed and contributed for use in USGenWeb Project by: Wendy Garner USGENWEB NOTICE: These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by any other organization or persons. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material, must obtain the written consent of the contributor, or the legal representative of the submitter, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. Files may be printed or copied for personal use only. © 1998 by Wendy Garner. This file may be freely copied for non- profit purposes. All other rights reserved. THE J.K. WELLS FAMILY Born: Place: Died: Place: Married: Occupation: Mr. Wells owned and operated the J.K. Wells Hotel at Bearmouth and later moving to Garnet. Married: Children: 1) Joseph (Joe) Wells Born: Place: 2) Paul Wells Born: Place: 3) Edward (Ed) Wells Born: Place: 1) Tom Wells He attended the Dahlberg funeral. 2) Ardene Wells 4) John Wells Born: Place: 5) Thomas McTauge Wells Born: Place: 6) May Margaret "Mame" "Mammie" Wells (Reed) Born: Place: 7) Winnie Wells (Ryan) Born: Place: 8) Edna Wells (Westre) Born: Place: -she was a nurse in france during World War II. Joe, Paul, Ed, John, Mamie, Winnie and Edna all attended school in Garnet. The J.K. Wells Family came to Garnet from Bearmouth where they had owned a hotel. Mrs. Wells designed both the hotels and had brought in a carpenter to build them. The hotels were quite luxurious for hotels in a rough mining town. He ran an advertizement in the Garnet Mining News which reads, "The WELLS HOTEL, New, Neat, Clean and Comfortable, Headquarters for Mining Men and Transient Visitors. J.K. Wells, Proprietor, Garnet, Montana," In 1896 the Hotel was the most impressive building in Garnet. This building took at least several months to build and the interior had woodwork as fine as most in Helena's great hotels and office buildings. While only the staircase was of solid oak, the clear pine moldings and wainscoting made up of alternate strips of dark and light stained wood were erected with as much care as any on Last Chance Gulch (Helena). The Hotel was designed by Mrs. J.K. Wells of Beartown who had one exactly like it in Beartown, and a large log hotel in Coloma and a couple of miles west of Garnet as well, a regular chain operation. The actual builder of the edifice is unknown though his name may have been Tunstell. He was probably the same carpenter who built Davy's Store, Kelly's Saloon, and several other good buildings in the town. The visitor to the hotel entered through a pair of very elaborate carved doors which once held etched glass lights. They were probably shipped west on the Northern Pacific from some easter millwork factory, as were the other moldings in the hotel. All the heat filtered through the floor from the dinning room. Up an enclosed stairs was the large open third floor. Unique sky lights lit this big room, on the floor of which were tacked 1X2's. Space in this room was rented without the use of a bed-the men who lived there simply unrolled their bedrolls on the floor within the outlines. Needless to say, the hotel did not boast flushing facilities even though it did have running water in the kitchen. The outhouse, a rather elaborate one, was located out a door at the back of the second floor. Since the hotel was cut into a steep bank the user needed only descend a few steps to the ground before hurrying to the convince which was lite by diamond shaped windows and had not only lids over the holes, but hinged "holes" as well. The interior of the lower regions was heavily white washed for the ultimate in sanitary conditions. When the hotel opened there was, of coarse, a great celebration in the town of Garnet, which, according to Mr. and Mrs. Plummer Royal, who furnished the music, lasted for three nights of dancing. Bibliography: Garnet Mining News, 1898. Advertizement, December 8, Volume 1, No. 10, page 1. Hammond, Helen 1990. Garnet Was Their Home, unknown publisher. Hammond, Helen 1983. Garnet-Montana's Last Gold Camp, Acme Press, Missoula, Montana.