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David was born about 1767 in Viriginia, the son of David Wells and Susannah Nance (Taylor) Wells. He married Nancy Garrott in 1799, her father Thomas Garrott giving consent. She was the mother of all of his children and died between 1820-1823.
In 1810, he is found on the 1810 personal property tax list of Mecklenburg County Virginia with four enslaved people, 4 horses, 1 cattle. His brothers, Baker and Henry Wells, are in the same district.
The family is in Maury County, Tennessee by 1820, where David remains until his death in 1843.
About 1824, David married Elizabeth “Betsy” Hargis Worsham, daughter of Shadrack Hargis and widow of Henry Worsham. They had a rocky relationship, which ended up in court by 1836. Fortunately, the conflict did not extend to rest of the family, as Elizabeth’s daughter, Nancy Worsham, married David’s son, Samuel Wells, in 1834.
He is not found on the 1840 census by name but is likely living with a child by then.
David Wells enslaved people as early as 1810 in Virginia and listed sixteen people on the 1830 Maury County, Tennessee census. Court records reveal first names of some of them, particularly those hired out after his death in 1843.
David was the son of a David and had a son named David. These men appear in records as Sr or Jr depending on who was present at the same time at the same place. They did not appear to use the suffixes as part of their names.
Thank you to Laura Ellis for creating Wells-5466 on 23 Sep 13. Click the Changes tab for the details on contributions by Laura and others.
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David is 23 degrees from Herbert Adair, 21 degrees from Richard Adams, 16 degrees from Mel Blanc, 25 degrees from Dick Bruna, 18 degrees from Bunny DeBarge, 32 degrees from Peter Dinklage, 18 degrees from Sam Edwards, 16 degrees from Ginnifer Goodwin, 18 degrees from Marty Krofft, 12 degrees from Junius Matthews, 15 degrees from Rachel Mellon and 20 degrees from Harold Warstler on our single family tree. Login to find your connection.