08/09/2025
Not all pioneers arrived in frontier towns with their entire life contained in a covered wagon and perhaps a cow tied behind. Nor did all new residents of Grant and Stevens Counties hunker down in a soddy with a ceiling that dripped when it rained a lot and the resident garter snake and his friend the field mouse appeared at inopportune times. There were early residents who arrived via train, with boxcars full of their belongings and who, soon after arriving, erected beautiful Victorian homes.
Such is the story of the Wells family in West Central MN. In some ways, the Wells family was to the local area as the Washburns were to Minneapolis. These were folks from the east who helped to develop Minnesota. If you look at newspapers from Herman, Morris and Wheaton from the 1880s you will see the Wells name in advertising, in the news columns and in the social news. Earlier in this space, we amplified the life of Rufus M. Wells, a child. We followed his surviving family and their progression into the 20th Century.
This story is about Rufus P. Wells. Uncle of Rufus M. and brother to Alpheus (father of young Rufus). In many documents and articles, he is referred to as R.P.
R.P., like the rest of his brothers and sisters was an immigrant from Canada. He was born in the village of L’Orignal (The Moose), Ontario on April 27, 1834. L’Orignal is a hamlet about halfway between Montreal and Ottawa on the Ottawa River. His father, Abel Waters Wells, was born in Prescott, Ontario Canada to parents who were immigrants to Canada from Rhode Island. His mother, Hannah Cass, was born in Connecticut.
The Wells family did not all immigrate at once to the United States. R.P. moved to Omro, Wisconsin in 1853. Other family trailed in after that. Then he moved to Belle Plain, MN and some of the family followed. R.P. then landed in neighboring Jordan/Sand Creek, MN in 1859. His father, Abel Waters Wells is buried there. His mother Hannah (Cass) Wells is buried in Summit Cemetery in Morris, MN. In the Canadian census of 1851 Abel’s (R.P.’s father) occupation is listed as ‘farmer’. Strangely, farming itself was not what made the family’s fortunes.
R.P. was one of a family of eight. Of the 5 surviving adult children. All of them, male and female, were engaged in retail and financial enterprises. No farming. Perhaps it was mother Hannah’s influence or it seemed like the prime time to seize a new profession. Older sister Polly (married to Herman Stone) founded and ran the mill southeast of Morris on the Pomme de Terre river with her husband and was involved in the mercantile business early on. Sister Ann married William W. Wilcox, who was a carpenter. Sister Azelia married H.B. Wolff who was in the mercantile business with Henry H. Wells and Herman Stone in Morris, MN. Brother Abel Waters Wells, Jr., moved to Battle Creek, MI and made a fortune manufacturing hosiery and fruit packaging containers. Brother Henry H. Wells was a businessman and politician in Morris.
As a way to continue our 6 Degrees of Herman, MN – (Our six degrees of connection to the famous and powerful of MN) – R.P.’s sister, Polly Wells Stone had a son named Royal A. Stone. Royal was educated at Morris, MN, Carleton College, the U of MN Minneapolis and Washington Univ. in St. Louis. He began practicing law in Morris. He was appointed to the MN Supreme Court in 1923. Herman may have been small and rural but it was definitely connected.
R.P. had a diverse background in business. While in Wisconsin he worked in the lumber business. In Jordan, he was engaged in carpentering, but he also ran a flour mill jointly with Edwin and James Foss. In 1858 the Foss family and the Wells family jointly build a residence at 102 Sawmill Road in Jordan. The residence still stands and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Jordan, MN is where R.P. enlisted in the 4th MN Infantry, Co. ‘A’. He volunteered at the same time as his brother Joseph and served the entire Civil War. He survived the battles of Iuka, Corinth, Raymond, Jackson, Champion Hill and Vicksburg. His brother, Joseph, was mortally wounded in the Siege of Vicksburg and is buried in Tennessee. Rufus survived the war and was mustered out on 07/19/1865 as a Captain and returned to Scott County.
R.P. meets Mary “Libbie” Caswell of Jordan. Libbie was born in Rensselaer County, NY in 1847. They marry on 03/04/1869 in Scott County. Rufus is 13 years her senior.
R.P. and Libbie expand their household. Six of their children are born in Jordan - Marian (1868-1942), George (1871-1892), Abel Waters (1873-1931), Joseph “Raymond” (1877-1950), Azelia (1878-1962), James (1880-1965). Betsy, the youngest (1884-1970) is born in Herman. According to the “Biographies of the Red River”, his oldest two children attended high school in Minneapolis.
In 1883 Rufus sells his interest in the mill and moves to Herman, MN and organizes the Grant County Bank, he is 50 years old. He is elected president of that bank. Family members, son Abel Waters Wells and brothers Alpheus and Henry are also invested in the bank. He builds a bank building in Herman. It was the building that most recently housed Denny’s Café in Herman and is no longer standing. See picture. In addition to housing the banking enterprise, the upstairs was used for Freemason meetings and other fraternal organization meetings.
Rufus also had an interest in the Wells Brothers firm of general merchants in Herman, Wheaton, Morris and Litchfield, MN. Additionally, he was invested, along with his brothers, in the Stevens County Bank.
In community matters, R.P. served as president of the village council (or mayor), served on the school board and was elected president at one time. He was involved many fraternal organizations such as: Grand Army of the Republic, the Royal Arch Masons, Knight Templar and a member of the Knights of Pythias and others.
R.P. was also heavily involved in regional civic matters making trips to Minneapolis/St. Paul to represent the rural interests. His name can be found in the metropolitan papers regularly. Whether he was in Mpls/St. Paul for hearings about railroads and their mis-dealings with producers or if it was for a gathering of the GAR, he took his community service seriously.
Rufus was a well ‘networked’ entrepreneur and businessman, with many connections to the movers and shakers of early Minnesota. He was all in with his business dealings and was well known in business and political circles.
R.P. and Mary built a very grand house on the corner of Berlin and Second Street. It was the first home in the village with hot-water heat and a flushing toilet. Their son James and his wife Belva lived in the home from 1919 to 1942 after R.P. and Mary. The house burned in 1972. At that time, it was owned by Mrs. B.E. Corey (See pictures) The carriage step remained in the yard for many years, but it has since been removed to the Grant County Fairgrounds.
R.P. and Mary were also one of the first residents of Herman to own an automobile. The postcard in the photos is a picture of him in his 1908 Maxwell.
To connect Rufus to current area residents, here are some threads. The Blumes and the Dvoraks relocated to Herman from Jordan in the later 1800s. No doubt the Wells had connections with these families and thoughts were shared about opportunities in West Central Minnesota. Communities closer to Minneapolis/St. Paul and along the major rivers were becoming boom towns and much of the land available for homesteading was claimed. Often, the original homesteaders who had proved up their claims and could sell their land for a profit and then move on to the available land further west. For context, the population of Scott County (where Jordan is located) was 13,516 in 1880 with a land area of 738 square miles. Grant County is 575 square miles and currently has a population that is less than half of the 1880 population of Scott County. People were looking for new opportunities and cheaper land and maybe less congestion.
R.P. came to the area already financially secure. Even so, he came to Grant County ready to invest both time and money into the local community. He took financial risks and while some endeavors fell flat, others expanded rapidly. It was the type of financial lift that pioneer settlements needed to grow their economies. Also, perhaps because of his banking dealings (foreclosures), R.P. owned a significant amount of land around the Herman area. In 1904, Rufus owned over 1500 acres alone in Logan Township of Grant County.
As stated in other stories, the Wells family was large. Many were far flung, but there are still descendants that live in the area. Jill Cosh and Heidi Cosh Abel are great-great granddaughters of Rufus. Their paternal grandmother, Mary, was the daughter of Abel Waters Wells, the son of Rufus and Libbie Wells.
Rufus died in September 1914 having reached the age of 80. He is buried at Lakeside, near his namesake, young Rufus and next to his wife Elizabeth and daughter, Azelia. His granddaughter, Mary Elaine and her husband Donald Cosh are buried nearby as well.
