(Excerpt from Message of the Governor of Louisiana to the ...)
Excerpt from Message of the Governor of Louisiana to the General Assembly: Held in the City of New Orleans; Commencing January 28, 1867 The reports of the State Treasurer and Auditor will place you in possession, in detail, of the workings of the Treasury for the past year, and its condition at the close. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
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James Madison Wells seems to have been the grandson of Samuel Levi Wells, a civil engineer who emigrated to America and settled finally about 1760 in Louisiana. His son of the same name and Mary Elizabeth (Calvit) Wells, said to be the granddaughter of Frederick, sixth Lord Baltimore, became the parents of eight children. The youngest, James, was born at the plantation home, "New Hope, " near Alexandria, La.
An orphan at the age of eight, he was reared by an aunt until he went away to a Jesuit school at Bardstown, Ky. (St. Joseph's College). He then went to the military school of Alden Partridge at Middletown, Connecticut.
He read law in Cincinnati, part of the time in the office of Charles Hammond. About 1829 he decided to devote himself to planting and returned to his native parish, where he was very successful until the outbreak of the Civil War. He was one of the largest landed planters of Rapides Parish and created a magnificent summer home, "Jessamine Hill, " a few miles south of Lecompte. Educated in the North, he had formed strong convictions against the right of secession, to which he clung tenaciously in spite of his large slave holdings and the condemnation of relatives and friends. Indeed, during the Civil War he was often obliged to seek refuge in "Bear Wallow, " the unattractive name of his huge hunting preserve near "Jessamine Hill. " When the Federals surrounded Port Hudson, he sought protection from their gunboats. He claimed heavy losses because of his Union sympathies and was pressing his claims for damages at the time of his death. In February 1864, at a special election ordered by Lincoln, he was chosen lieutenant-governor on the ticket with Michael Hahn, whom he succeeded upon the latter's resignation in March 1865. The following November he was elected governor in his own right on the National Democratic ticket. During his administration the legislature conditionally ratified the Thirteenth Amendment but unanimously rejected his recommendation to approve the Fourteenth Amendment. Furthermore, having become converted to Negro suffrage, he was so distasteful to a majority that memorials for his impeachment were presented. When Gen. Philip Sheridan appeared in New Orleans as commander of the district, there arose between him and the governor a quarrel over politics that culminated in Sheridan's removal of Wells from office on June 3, 1867. He continued to be prominent in state politics, however, and was chairman of the Louisiana returning board during the disputed election of 1876. He was such a target of Democratic attack in that controversy that he retired permanently from political life to the quiet of his plantation home.
(Excerpt from Message of the Governor of Louisiana to the ...)
He was a man of good education with an active mind, impressive appearance, and courtly manners.
On May 13, 1833, he married Mary Ann Scott. They had fourteen children.
