Robert William Wells

Background

Robert William Wells was born at Winchester, Va. , the son of Richard Wells.

Education

He attended common school in Winchester. Then he began the study of law under the auspices of Jackson. He studied for perhaps a year under Samuel Finley Vinton, at Gallipolis, Ohio.

Career

In 1816, upon the recommendation of John George Jackson, he became a deputy surveyor and served under William Rector in Missouri for one year. In 1819 he engaged in surveying and in 1820 began the practice of law in St. Charles, the temporary capital of Missouri. He designed the great seal of the state of Missouri, which was adopted on January 11, 1822. He took an official part in the St. Charles Agricultural and Manufacturing Society during 1822, and in 1822 and 1824 was elected to the general assembly as representative from St. Charles County. From 1826 until 1836 he was attorney-general of Missouri. In 1831 and again in 1832 he was defeated for representative in Congress. On June 27, 1836, he was appointed federal district judge of Missouri, and upon the division of the state into two districts in 1857 he became judge of the western district, a position he held until his death. One of his opinions, an opinion that the retroactive feature of the bankrupt law was unconstitutional, at the September 1842 term of court, was widely criticized and widely approved. Throughout his career he interested himself in the question of legal change and legal reform. In spite of the long tradition in England and America, he opposed the institution of "trial by jury" in civil cases on the ground that a judge trained in legal theory and processes is more competent to attain truth and justice than were any twelve jurors. In 1845 he was a member and presiding officer of the convention that wrote a new constitution, which was, however, disapproved by the voters. In 1847 he published a book on law reform, Observations on the Pleadings and Practice of the Courts of Justice of Missouri, and a Radical Change Therein Recommended, outlining his plans for simplifying pleading, shortening forms of declaring cases, and combining cases in law and equity. In 1849 he appeared before the Senate in behalf of a proposed bill, which was passed that year. His Law of the State of Missouri Regulating Pleading and Practise of the Courts of Justice (1849) contains his notations on this law. He was also interested in various activities in the state. He served as a member of the first board of curators of the University of Missouri. In the 1840's he was a member of the Democratic central committee. During 1850-55 he was active in the promotion of the plank road and railroad movement. He was a charter member of the Missouri fruit growers' association, organized in 1859, and engaged in farming on a fairly large scale. During the Civil War, although owner of a few slaves, he was a staunch Union man and was president of the emancipation convention of 1862 and of the Missouri state Radical emancipation and Union convention of 1863. He died at Bowling Green, Ky. He was buried in Jefferson City, Mo.

Achievements

• He was president of the Osage River improvement convention of 1843, participated in the organization of the Missouri Historical and Philosophical Society in 1845, and served as one of its vice-presidents for several years thereafter. In 1845 he urged the General Assembly to construct the state's first lunatic asylum.

Connections

He married Harriet Amanda Rector on January 20, 1830, in Jefferson City. She died on Feburary 3, 1834, leaving three children. He married Eliza (Covington) Wells on June 1840. They had three children.

Father:

Richard Wells

Spouse:

Eliza (Covington) Wells

Spouse:

Harriet Amanda Rector