Name Heber Wells Profession Politician | Parents Daniel H. Wells Children 6 Role Former Governor of Utah | |
Born August 11, 1859Salt Lake City, Utah ( 1859-08-11 ) Spouse(s) Mary Elizabeth BeatieTeresa Clawson CummingsEmily Katz Previous office Governor of Utah (1896–1905) Similar People Daniel H Wells, Rulon S Wells, Emmeline B Wells, Heber J Grant, George Q Cannon | ||
Heber Manning Wells (August 11, 1859 – March 12, 1938) was an American politician and the first Governor of the State of Utah. Utah gained statehood on January 4, 1896; Wells served as governor from January 6, 1896, until January 2, 1905.
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Biography
Wells was born on August 11, 1859. His father was apostle Daniel H. Wells. He graduated from the University of Utah in 1875, and began early to take an active part in public life.
Wells was a recorder for Salt Lake City from 1882 to 1890, and a member of the city board of public works in 1890 and in 1893. He was a member of the constitutional convention which framed the constitution under which Utah was admitted as a state. In 1895, he was elected governor of Utah for a five-year term on the Republican ticket, and in 1900 was re-elected for a four-year term. On June 5, 1901, he married Emily Katz. During the prolonged struggle between the mine owners and miners' unions in 1904, he maintained an impartial attitude as far as possible, but was firm about maintaining order.
In 1905 Wells retired from politics and engaged in banking business. He died in Salt Lake City of an apparent stroke on March 12, 1938.
Family
Wells married Mary Elizabeth Beatie in 1880; she died and he married Theresa Clawson in 1892. Then Theresa died, and in 1901 he married again, to Emily Katz.