James Madison Wells | |
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_(14578924279)_(cropped).jpg) Depiction fromHarper's Weekly, 1865. | |
| 20th Governor of Louisiana | |
| In office March 4, 1865 – June 3, 1867 | |
| Lieutenant | Albert Voorhies |
| Preceded by | Michael Hahn |
| Succeeded by | Benjamin Flanders |
| 9th Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana | |
| In office 1864–1865 | |
| Governor | Michael Hahn |
| Preceded by | Benjamin W. Pearce |
| Succeeded by | Albert Voorhies |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1808-01-07)January 7, 1808 nearAlexandria, Louisiana, US |
| Died | February 28, 1899(1899-02-28) (aged 91) |
| Party | Republican |
| Spouse | Mary Ann Scott |
| Children | 13 |
James Madison Wells (January 7, 1808 – February 28, 1899) was a planter, lawyer, and politician who became the 20thgovernor of Louisiana duringReconstruction. Although a slave owner, Wells opposed secession and remained loyal to The Union throughout theCivil War. After serving as the ninthlieutenant governor underMichael Hahn, he assumed office as Governor after Hahn was elected to the U.S. Senate.
James Madison Wells was born on New Hope Plantation nearAlexandria, Louisiana, on January 7, 1808 to Samuel Levi Wells II and Mary Elizabeth Calvit Wells. His father was a member ofLouisiana's constitutional convention in 1811 and died when James was eight years old.[1]
Wells was educated at the Jesuit-runSt. Joseph's College inBardstown south ofLouisville, Kentucky; Partridge's Academy,Middletown, Connecticut; andCincinnati Law School. In Cincinnati, he was tutored in law by an old-line Federalist named Charles Hammond, who edited theCincinnati Gazette. Hammond's frequent attacks on slavery failed to influence Wells. Wells later owned nearly one hundred slaves.[2]
He moved to New Orleans in 1830 and married Mary Ann Scott with whom he had thirteen children.[1]
In 1833, Wells married 15-year-old Mary Ann Scott; together they had 14 children. Wells inherited a substantialestate; he controlled a largecottonplantation calledNew Hope near Alexandria, asugar plantation onBayou Huffpower inAvoyelles Parish calledWellswood, and a large summer homeJessamine Hill nearLecompte, Louisiana. Wells was appointedSheriff ofRapides Parish in 1840 by GovernorAndre B. Roman. Wells was an activeWhig and alarge slave holder. Eventually, as the Whig Party collapsed in the 1850s, Wells became aDemocrat. His brother, Thomas Jefferson Wells, was the Whig nominee for governor in 1859, against eventual winnerThomas Overton Moore.
In 1860, he supportedStephen A. Douglas, the Northern Democratic candidate for president and was an ardent supporter of the Union. For that, he was criticized by his neighbors and by his brother. During theCivil War, Wells was arrested byConfederate officials for hisUnion sympathies.[citation needed]
Wells remained on his plantation outside Alexandria until the spring of 1863 when he remarked that the recently deceased Gen."Stonewall" Jackson should be buried "in a gum coffin, and that the bottom plank might be very thin, so that he might eat his way down to where it was intended that he should go." Soon thereafter, he fled into the woods and briefly organized a band of unionist partisans, orJayhawkers, to attack rebel supply trains. In November, he left the woods and moved to Union-occupied New Orleans.[3]
By 1864,Union troops controlled all or part of 17parishes in south Louisiana. Wells formed the Unconditional Union Club of West Louisiana. He was nominated both by radicals such asBenjamin Flanders and moderates such asMichael Hahn, to beLieutenant Governor.
On March 4, 1864, Wells became lieutenant governor under GovernorMichael Hahn. He supportedcompensated emancipation for former slaves at theLouisiana Constitutional Convention of 1864. One year later, on March 4, 1865, Wells was inaugurated as governor whenMichael Hahn resigned to become a United States Senator. In November 1865, aspecial election was held under theReconstruction government, and Governor Wells running as a Democrat defeated former GovernorHenry W. Allen (who was in Mexico), with 22,312 votes to Allen's 5,497. As governor, Wells removed radicals from office.[citation needed]
Wells came into conflict with the federal military authority under GeneralNathaniel P. Banks. He supportedHugh Kennedy as New Orleans mayor and appointed numerous formerConfederateofficers to state and local offices. He recommended dismantling public education and using only taxes fromblacks to pay forfreedmen's schools. Wells also wanted to build newlevees, a new capitol building, and a state penitentiary, but theLouisiana State Legislature balked at his proposals.
The political power of former Confederates grew unchecked during Wells administration until the residents of New Orleans returned the city's Confederate mayor, John T. Monroe, to office in 1866. Governor Wells responded by endorsing the Radical plan to enfranchiseblacks by reconvening the constitutional convention. On July 30, 1866, the twenty-five delegates brave enough to assembled and a procession ofblack supporters were attacked by a white mob including members of the city policy. Thirty-fourblacks and three white Radicals were killed before federal troops arrived.[4] Governor Wells did little to prevent violence, and GeneralPhilip Sheridan held him responsible. Sheridan removed him from office on June 3, 1867, for the riots and for failing to implement reforms regarding freedmen.
After being removed as governor, Wells went home to Rapides Parish. In 1872 he supportedRepublican PresidentUlysses S. Grant's re-election. During the 1870s Wells returned to politics as a "scalawag" and was known by opponents as "Mad Wells." In 1873, he was appointed chairman of the State Returning Board, which was responsible for determining the legality of ballots and for discarding fraudulent votes. In this, Wells helped Republicans regain some of the votes it lost to white Democrats' anti-Black violence and terror. He was consequently appointed Surveyor of thePort of New Orleans (Customs) from 1874 to 1880.
He died on February 28, 1899, at his residence in Rapides Parish, at the age of 91.
Media related toJames Madison Wells at Wikimedia Commons
Accompanying Document No. 8 to “Report of Carl Schurz on the States of South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana,” 1865. Correspondence with GeneralE. R. S. Canby.| Party political offices | ||
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| Preceded by | Republican nominee forGovernor of Louisiana 1865 | Succeeded by |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana 1864–1865 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Governor of Louisiana 1865–1867 | Succeeded by |
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