Summary Information
Daniel L. Wells Papers
1811-1904
- Wells, Daniel L., 1821-1884
Milwaukee Mss Q; PH 535
1.4 c.f. (3 archives boxes and 1 small archives box) and 5 photographs (1 folder)
UW-Milwaukee Libraries, Archives / Milwaukee Area Research Ctr. (Map)Wisconsin Historical Society (Map)
Assorted family and business papers of Wells, a Milwaukee railroad contractor and manufacturer of railroad bridges and equipment. In his varied enterprises Wells was associated with a number of Milwaukee and Chicago firms, including Wells and French; Wells and Chamberlain; Wells, Harrison, and Shute; and Wells, Harrison, and Greene. In a few family letters in the late 1840s Wells alluded very briefly to his interests in railroad construction in his native state of Vermont. Ledgers, letterpress books, 1877-1884, and other unbound correspondence and financial records contain references to work he did on railroad lines in Ohio, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, and Dakota Territory from the 1850s to 1884. Some letters contain references to his presidency of the Sheboygan and Fond du Lac Railroad, 1876-1879; his interest in promoting state legislation favorable to railroads; his investments in the Milwaukee newspaper Republican and News, in mining properties, and in real estate; and his speculations in the stock market. Miscellaneous family letters relate to Wells' wife, Helena Mary Lee, to their children, and to other members of the Lee and Wells families. Stereograph photographs in the collection document construction work along the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy railroad near Lewiston, Ill., circa 1870.
English
http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-mil0000q ↑ Bookmark this ↑
Biography/History
Daniel L. Wells, the son of David Welles, was born in Middlebury, Addison County, Vermont, on July 21, 1821. He received his education at Middlebury and very early in life became interested in the construction of railroads. As early as 1849 he began his work on the Eastern Division of the Rutland and Burlington Railroad and in 1851 to 1852 he was connected with Eastern, Page, and Company in the construction of the Rutland and Washington Railroad, which traversed in part the states of Vermont and New York.
In 1852, Daniel L. Wells went to Cincinnati, Ohio where he first became identified with the construction of western railways. He came to Wisconsin in 1856, locating at that time in Milwaukee. Immediately after his arrival in Wisconsin he was associated with the famous contractor, Selah Chamberlain of Cleveland, Ohio, in the construction of that portion of the old La Crosse and Milwaukee Railroad between Minnesota Junction and La Crosse. He also built the Menominee branch of the Chicago and Northwestern Railroad, the Michigan and West Shore Railroad from New Brooklyn to Pentwater, Michigan, the Leavenworth and Galveston Railroad, and portions of other lines which now constitute a great system of railways in the Southwest.
In later years, he became the head of the firm of Wells, Harrison, and Shute, and was prominently identified with the construction of numerous important railways. Among the lines built by this firm were over four hundred miles of railroads in Iowa and Dakota for the Chicago and Northwestern Railroad, a line from Milwaukee to Madison for the Chicago and Northwestern Railroad, and lines from Janesville to Beloit, Wisconsin, and from Hastings to Stillwater, Minnesota for the Chicago, Milwaukee, and St. Paul Railroad.
In addition to his interest in railway construction, Mr. Wells had for almost a quarter of a century the controlling interest in the car and bridge manufacturing establishment in Chicago known as the Wells and French Company, which was incorporated in 1877.
Prior to coming to Wisconsin, Daniel L. Wells married Miss Helena M. Lee, daughter of Judge Martin and Ann Wendell Lee of New York, on October 13, 1852. They had two children of their own and an adopted daughter.
Mr. Wells probably had more to do with the building of railroad lines in the West and Northwest than any other man up to the time of his death in Milwaukee on November 24, 1884.
Scope and Content Note
The Daniel L. Wells Papers, 1811-1904, consist mainly of family and business papers of Wells as a railroad contractor and manufacturer of railroad bridges and equipment, when he resided in Milwaukee from 1856 until his death. In his varied enterprises Wells was associated with a number of Milwaukee and Chicago firms, including Wells and French; Wells and Chamberlain; Wells, Harrison, and Shute; and Wells, Harrison, and Greene. In a few family letters in the late 1840s, Wells alluded very briefly to his interests in railroad construction in his native state of Vermont.
Ledgers, 1853-1878, a financial journal in the 1880s, five letterpress books, 1877-1884, and other unbound correspondence and financial records contain references to work he did for railroad lines in Ohio, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, and Dakota Territory from the 1850s to 1884. Some letters contain references also to his presidency of the Sheboygan and Fond du Lac Railroad, 1876-1879; his interest in promoting state legislation favorable to railroads; his investments in the Milwaukee Republican and News, in mining properties, and in real estate; and his speculations in the stock market.
Four small account books, 1869-1872, 1877-1883, record personal and family expenditures of Wells and his household. Two folders of miscellaneous family letters relate to Wells' wife, Helena Mary Lee, to their children, and to other members of the Lee and Wells families.
Administrative/Restriction Information
Presented in part by E. C. Lane, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, March 11, 1953, and purchased in part from the Foster Cannon Bookstore, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, December, 1952; additional material received from Mrs. Louise C. Russell, North Hollywood, California, April 29, 1956.
Processed by AHM, April 1, 1965.
Contents List
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Box
1
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Correspondence, 1811-1904
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Box
2-4
Volume
1-5
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Letterpress Books, 1877-1884
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Box
2
Volume
6
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Ledger of Wells and Chamberlain, 1853-1878
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Box
4
Volume
7
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Daybook of Wells, Harrison, and Shute, circa 1881
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Box
4
Volume
8
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Journal of Real Estate Holdings, 1853-1883
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Box
1
Volume
9-12
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Family Expense Account Books, 1869-1883
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