teacher, educator, b. Lemartin, Fond du Lac County. He attended the Univ. of Chicago, completing his sophomore year in 1878, but did not graduate. Returning to Wisconsin, Wells taught for several years in various schools, chiefly in Waupaca County, and in 1887 moved to Appleton where for several years he served as city superintendent of schools. He was secretary of the Wisconsin State Teachers Association (1887-1899), and in 1890 was elected state superintendent of public instruction on the Democratic ticket, defeating incumbent Republican, Jesse B. Thayer (q.v.). Wells was re-elected in 1892, serving from Jan., 1891, until Jan., 1895. In 1894 an accusation by Wells, acting as state superintendent and as an ex officio member of the Univ. of Wisconsin board of regents, that University professor Richard T. Ely (q.v.) was attempting to undermine the courts and respect for governmental authority by fomenting strikes and promoting radical doctrines, led to a sensational investigation of the charges by a committee of the University regents. Although the investigation achieved nationwide notoriety, the committee of the regents specifically denied any radicalism on the part of Ely, and went further in issuing a vigorous censure of Wells and drawing up a report containing a vigorous affirmation of academic freedom. Wells was not a candidate for re-election as state superintendent in 1894, and in 1899 accepted a position as principal of the Marathon County Training School for Teachers in Wausau. He served in this capacity until his retirement because of ill health in 1915, and spent the last seven years of his life an invalid in Wausau. Wis. Blue Book (1893); M. Curti and V. Carstensen, Univ. of Wis. (2 vols., Madison, 1949); Wausau Daily Record-Herald, Dec. 26, 1922.Learn More
Dictionary of Wisconsin History
Explore more than 1,600 people, places and events in Wisconsin history.
[Source: Blue book]
