Wells family settles Walnut Creek

Wells family settles Walnut Creek

Written by Karen R. Thompson Monday, 24 March 2008

In 1827, as a lad of eleven years, Wayman Wells came to Bastrop County with his parents Martin and Sarah Wells. About a decade later he would be a noted spy for Gen. Sam Houston in the Texas Revolution, and would help Texas win the Battle of San Jacinto April 21, 1836.

As the Texas revolution geared up in the fall of 1835, Wayman enlisted as a volunteer soldier under Captain R. M. Coleman Mina’s Volunteers and participated in the Battle of Conception south of San Antonio and the Grass Fight/Seige of Bexar in which the famous soldier and Indian fighter Ben Milam was killed.

Wells received numerous land grants for his participation in the fight for Texas independence, during which he served under both Col. Stephen F. Austin and General Edward Burleson.

To claim his land grants, Wells and his wife Mary settled on several hundred acres of land along Walnut Creek in north Travis County. The Wells were parents to nine children and in order for them to receive a better education, the family decided to build an additional home in Austin closer to educational institutions.

The Martin Wells family was very well known in the early days of Texas. In 1839 Wayman Wells’ brother-in-law, John B. Walters, was killed by Indians at the Battle of Brushy Creek near present day Taylor. Wayman’s younger brother, Martin Jones Wells, served in the Texas Revolution and three terms in the early Texas Rangers.

Another brother-in-law, Norman B. Woods, husband of Jane Wells, was killed in Mexico’s Perote prison after drawing a “black bean of death” following the ill-fated Mier expedition of Republic of Texas president, Mirabeau B. Lamar, in 1842.

In 1850 Wells engaged Abner Cook, the best architect in Austin, to design his home. The most noted Abner Cook designed house is the Texas Governor’s Mansion, just west of the Capital on 11th Street. The Wells home was simple, but served the purpose of housing the family when they were away from the farm.

Wayman was elected Travis County Commissioner and also served as a trustee of the State Insane Asylum. As a devoted Methodist he was a major contributor to the building of Southwestern University in Georgetown. He also donated land to the Walnut Creek Baptist Church.

Wayman Wells died in 1878 after serving the Republic of Texas, State of Texas, County of Travis and city of Austin. His wife outlived him twenty years, passing away in 1898. They are both buried in the small Davis Cemetery off of Shoal Creek Boulevard.

The Wells Branch area was named after Wayman Wells because he lived along a tributary of Walnut Creek. The area also contains other historical sites and markers, with the main one being the Gault Homestead. In the 1850s John Gault bought 320 acres from J.P. Whelin, who was awarded the land as payment for military service. In the 1980s the Wells Branch neighborhood built up around the homestead, and it is now where the Wells Branch municipal utility district hosts its annual PioneerFest.

In addition to lending its name to the Wells Branch subdivison, the Wells family name is also attached to a home in downtown Austin known as the Wells-LaRue home. The Wells-LaRue home was built by Abner Cook, the same architect as the Governor’s Mansion, on W. 26th Street. The home, which has been moved several times, bears a historical marker and is now located at 4524 Avenue F.