Gary Ray
Published: 2019-07-30
Total Pages: 173
Get eBook
The Great Puritan Migration from 1630 to 1640 brought many God-fearing people to America from England which included the Wells and Hawley families. This book highlights the struggles some of these Puritan families had such as the Deerfield Massacre in 1704. The Wells family fought through these and other battles as they moved West from New England to Rock Island, Illinois where they fought in the Black Hawk War. Ira and Daniel Wells along with other relatives brought their families over the Oregon Trail in 1847. After reaching Idaho, they chose the southern route to reach the Willamette Valley, taking the Scott-Applegate Trail and forming the Wells/Smith wagon train. Thomas Smith's remembrances of this trek are included in the book. After locating a homestead in Cottage Grove, Oregon, Ira and Anna Elizabeth (Mandler) Wells eventually settled in Elkton, Oregon in 1850, where Daniel and Eliza (Grant) Wells settled also. Asaph and Clarissa (Goss) Wells joined them in 1851. Mary Townsend Wells's articles and diary entries about her parent's, Ira and Anna, give us great insight into the lifestyle the family led and the general history of Elkton, Oregon. Another daughter, Caroline Elizabeth Wells, married William Wallace Hawley, who had taken a different journey over the Oregon Trail in 1861. He joined the United States Cavalry's Emigrant Escort led by Medorem Crawford to protect the emigrants from Indian attacks during the first year of the Civil War. Medorem Crawford's journal of the Emigrant Escort in 1861 from Omaha, Nebraska to Fort Walla Walla was transcribed by the author and is included in the book. Both the Wells and Hawley families had ancestors who fought in the American Revolution. They also had some very famous cousins. A chapter is devoted to each, their patriot ancestors and their famous cousins. This book gives a general history of the ancestors and descendants Daniel (1744-1823) and Rachel (1849-1823) Nims Wells and William Wallace Hawley (1837-1916). The local histories of Rock Island, Illinois and Elkton, Oregon are covered. In addition, Levi Scott, Eugene Skinner and the Applegates are key figures in this book. I hope you will enjoy reading how these families contributed to our great American history.