CHARLES WILLIAM WELLS -- 118th INFANTRYLUMBERMAN FROM JAY, NY - Charles William Wells, son of Benjamin and Jane Ann (Wadhams) Wells was born July 16, 1841 in Upper Jay, and died October 18, 1893 at Bow String Lake, MN, while on a hunting trip with friends.He married Mary Eliza Bingham in Keeseville on October 22, 1868. She was the daughter of Reuben P. Bingham. Mary was born on August 30, 1844 in Cornwall, VT, and died on January 22, 1892 at her home in Saginaw, MI.Charles was educated in the schools of Upper Jay and, at the age of eighteen started to work for the J. and J. Rogers Company, an extensive manufacturing firm of the Ausable region. He enlisted as a Private in the 118th New York Volunteer Regiment and became successively Sergeant, Second and First Lieutenant, Captain, and, at the close of the war, was made Major by brevet. He was with his regiment until the last year and a half of the war, during which time he served on the staffs of General George Stannard, of General John Gibbon, and then of General Charles Orr, the two latter when in command of the 24th Army Corps. He was present at the surrender of General Lee.\Captain Wells returned to the Rogers Company in Au Sable Forks and, after two years, went to Saginaw, MI, where he established a large business in lumbermen\'s supplies, from which proceeded the well-known firms: Wells-Stone Mercantile Company; Chapin-Wells Hardware Company; A.W. Wright Lumber Company; and Wright, Davis and Company. From this the business was enlarged to buying and selling of timber lands, manufacture of lumber, and building of railroads. He was Vice President and Director of many banks, and Director of a railroad. He was also a supporter of the First Presbyterian Church in Saginaw and endowed the chair of Philosophy at Alma College.Read a full biography on Charles and see his picture starting on page 8 in the History of Saginaw County, Michigan at:https://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/micounty/bad1040.0002.001/26?page=root%3Brgn%3Dfull+text%3Bsize%3D100%3Bview%3Dimage%3Bq1%3Dwells
