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FROM PENNSYLVANIA FOUNDING FAMILIES AND COLONIAL AND REVOLUTIONARY FAMILIES,
VOL.3, CALVIN WELLS, P. 1175:
“CALVIN WELLS, SON OF CALVIN AND BETSY TAGGERT WELLS, WAS BORN IN BYRON, GENESEE
COUNTY, NEW YORK-----HE WAS EDUCATED IN THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF HIS NATIVE TOWN, AND
SPENT ONE AND A HALF YEARS AT WESTERN UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA (PITT). IN 1843 HE
ENTERED THE STORE OF HIS BROTHER-IN-LAW, P.S. CHURCH, IN DETROIT, MICHIGAN, WHERE HE
PASSED TWO AND ONE-HALF YEARS. FEELING THE NEED OF FURTHER EDUCATION, HE CAME TO
PITTSBURGH, WHERE HE SPENT THE TIME MENTIONED ABOVE AT THE UNIVERSITY, AND FOR THE
NEXT TWO YEARS WAS A CLERK IN THE DRY GOODS STORE OF BENJAMIN GLYDE IN PITTSBURGH. HE
THEN BECAME ASSOCIATED WITH DR. CURTIS HUSSEY, AND FOR 26 YEARS THESE TWO MEN WERE
CLOSE BUSINESS ASSOCIATES. DR. HUSSEY HAD ESTABLISHED A COPPER MANUFACTURING PLANT,
AND MR. WELLS BECAME VIRTUALLY THE MANAGER. IN 1854 THIS FIRM WAS MERGED IN THE
CRUCIBLE STEEL MANUFACTURING BUSINESS OF HUSSEY, WELLS AND COMPANY. THIS COMPANY
WAS THE FIRST IN THE COUNTRY WHOLLY DEVOTED TO THE MAKING OF HIGHER GRADES OF
CRUCIBLE STEEL. MR. WELLS WAS MANAGER, AND TO HIS CONSTANT ENERGY, STUDY, AND
INVENTION, THEIR SUCCESS WAS DUE. THE FIRM PROSPERED, ENLARGED AND MET THE EXTRA
DEMANDS MADE UPON THEIR RESOURCES UNTIL 1876, WHEN MR. WELLS SOLD HIS INTEREST AND
SEVERED HIS 26 YEAR CONNECTION WITH DR. HUSSEY. PREVIOUS TO THIS, IN 1868, HE HAD
BECOME CONVINCED OF THE POSSIBILITIES IN ZINC AND SPELTER, AND ORGANIZED THE ILLINOIS
ZINC COMPANY, WITH WORKS AT PERU, LA SALLE COUNTY, ILLINOIS. THIS IS NOW ONE OF THE TWO
VERY LARGEST PLANTS IN THE UNITED STATES DEVOTED TO THE MANUFACTURE OF THAT CLASS OF
METALS. MR. WELLS WAS PRESIDENT AND TREASURER. PREVIOUS TO THIS HE HAD BEEN HALF-
OWNER IN A. FRENCH AND COMPANY, MANUFACTURERS OF RAILWAY ELLIPTIC AND LOCOMOTIVE
SPRINGS. THIS HE RETAINED UNTIL 1884, WHEN HE SOLD HIS INTEREST. IN 1878, MR WELLS
BECAME PRESIDENT AND TREASURER OF THE PITTSBURGH FORGE AND IRON COMPANY, A
CONNECTION LONG MAINTAINED. IN 1877 HE BECAME ONE OF THE PRINCIPAL OWNERS OF THE
PHILADELPHIA PRESS AND OWNING A CONTROLLING INTEREST. IN 1880 HE SECURED CHARLES
EMORY SMITH AS EDITOR AND WITH HIM PLANNED AND CARRIED THROUGH A THOROUGH
REORGANIZATION OF THE ENTIRE PLANT, INTRODUCED THE MOST PERFECT NEWSPAPER EQUIPMENT
OBTAINABLE AND MADE THE PRESS ONE OF THE GREAT NEWSPAPERS OF THE COUNTRY, AS IT NOW
IS. WHILE ALWAYS LOYAL TO THE REPUBLICAN PARTY, MR. WELLS HAD PERSISTENTLY DECLINED
PUBLIC OFFICE. IN 1899 HE RECEIVED ON SEVERAL DAYS FIFTY UNSOLICITED VOTES FOR UNITED
STATES SENTATOR IN OPPOSITION TO MATTHEW QUAY, AND IN 1884 WAS CHOSEN ELECTOR-AT-
LARGE ON THE STATE REPUBLICAN TICKET. HIS CHURCH CONNECTION WAS THE THIRD
PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, WHERE HE WAS A MOST USEFUL MEMBER FOR HALF A CENTURY. HE
BECAME THE PRESIDENT OF THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES AND WAS ESPECIALLY HELPFUL WHEN THE
SOCIETY REMOVED AND BUILT THEIR HANDSOME NEW CHURCH. UNTIL 1907 HE WAS ONE OF THE
MANAGERS OF THE DEPARTMENT OF ARCHAEOLOGY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA IN
CHARGE OF THE EGYPTIAN AND MEDITERRANEAN SECTION. HE WAS PRESIDENT OF THE AMERICAN
EXPLORATION SOCIETY.” 6
BURIED IN THE ALLEGHNEY CEMETERY
They had the following children:
219 i. MARY CHAFFEY (1863-)
220 ii. GEORGE DUNCAN (1866-1866)
221 iii. BENJAMIN GLYDE (1868-1929)
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