Oklahoma Family Tree Stories
This beautiful sculpture of three redbud trees is located just outside the Eleanor and John Kirkpatrick Research Center in the Oklahoma History Center. Each leaf of the Oklahoma Family Tree memorializes an Oklahoma family with the family surname, first name(s), and the town or county where they lived. In addition, a short family history is preserved in the digital family history book at the base of the tree. Sponsoring a leaf is a special way to recognize your family history and benefit future generations at the same time. To find out how to honor your own family with a leaf visit the Oklahoma Family Tree Project page.
Wells Family
Family Tree Leaf
Wells, John C. & Lucinda E.
Pottawatomie County
(Family information provided by donor)
John Columbus Wells was born in Kentucky on November 22, 1861. His parents names have been lost to history, and nobody knows when he left Kentucky or how he wound up in Grayson County, Texas. Lucinda Evaline Waller was born in Monroe County, Tennessee on August 11, 1867, to William B.
T. and Margaret Caroline (née Gregory) Waller. The Wallers were living in Monroe County in 1880. At some point, they relocated to Texas.
John Wells and Lucinda Waller were married on May 5, 1889, in Grayson County, Texas. Their son, Edgar, was born there on February 10, 1892. The family and Lucinda's parents moved to Pottawatomie County, Oklahoma Territory, in 1893. John was a farmer and filed a homestead application for forty acres in the northwest quarter of the southeast quarter of section 18, township 8 north, range 4 east, in Pottawatomie County. He then built a frame house and barn, made other improvements, and began farming. He received his patent for the land on December 12, 1898. Their son, Edward, was born on the farm on March 17, 1900. Over the next few years, John purchased and farmed additional acreage. They raised their sons on the original homestead.
John and Lucinda lived on the farm until Lucinda's death on October 21, 1945. Following her death, John lived in Shawnee with his son, Edgar. He died there on January 10, 1948. John and Lucinda were buried in the Mission Cemetery in Tecumseh.
