JACOB WELLS, a retired farmer, now living at Putneyville, is a
native of Armstrong county and has passed all his life within its limits; he
has resided in Mahoning township since 1856.
He was born July 18, 1836, in Cowanshannock township, son of William
and Anna (Lingenfelter) Wells.
Christopher Wells, great-grandfather of Jacob Wells, was a native of England.
Coming to Pennsylvania in an early day, he settled first in Fayette county and
later in Indiana county, where he cleared and improved a farm at White Oak
Flats upon which he lived and died. He had a family of ten children, seven
sons and three daughters.
Edward
Wells, son of Christopher, was a pioneer settler in Cowanshannock township,
Armstrong county, where he cleared up a farm from the wilderness and lived to
the end of his days. He married
Mary Rearick, and they had a family of nine children, five sons and four
daughters, namely: Levi;
William; Jacob; Moses; Aaron; Mary, wife of John Gibson; Nancy, wife of
David Warner; Betsey, wife of Josiah Meeley; and Katie, wife of William
Peterman.
William Wells, son of Edward, was born at Whie Oak Flats, Indiana Co.,
Pa., and grew to manhood in Cowanshannock township, Armstrong county. He followed farming part of his life, but also engaged in
other work, helping to build the old Portage railroad and the Pennsylvania
canal. He died at Dayton, this county, at the eage of seventy-eight years.
His wife, Anna, was a daughter of Abram Lingenfelter, a native of
Bedford county, Pa., who settled at an early day in Jefferson county, this
State, where he died. Nine
children, who grew to maturity, were born to Mr. And Mrs. Wells:
Jacob; George; Nancy, wife of Jacob Shoemaker; Margaret, wife of Henry
Shoemaker; Catherine, wife of David Mack; Elizabeth, wife of Leander Lias;
Nathaniel; Moses, and William.
Jacob Wells was brought up in Cowanshannock township and educated in
the common schools there. He
began life as a farmer, and for several years during his young manhood was
employed at farm work and in lumber camps in Venango, Clarion, Jefferson and
Armstrong counties, Pa., in 1856 settling in Mahoning township, Armstrong
county, where he followed farming for the next forty-eight years.
He gave most of his attention to agriculture, in which he met with
steady success by dint of industry and intelligent management, and in 1904
retired to enjoy his declinging years in the ease which he has well earned.
Mr. Wells has always lived so as to deserve the respect of his fellow
men, and is regarded as one of the desirable citizens of his section.
He is a member of the German Baptist Church, in which he holds the
office of deacon. Politically he
is a Democrat.
Mr. Wells was married to Mary Ann Shoemaker, daughter of John and
Christiana (Smith) Shoemaker, of Mahoning townshp, and to them were born two
sons, John W., and Adam. Mrs
Wells died in 1886, and Mr. Wells married (second) her sister Susanna, who
died in 1901. Subsequently he
married Carrie Bresch, who is a daughter of Andrew and Sarah (Gerling) Bresch,
natives of Alsace-Lorraine and early settlers in the Province of Ontario,
Canada.
