Pages 918-923, publisher and date of publication unknown but certainly post 1906.

In the western part of Warrington township in a fertile region of country, lies the interesting town of Wellsville. It si situated a short distance northwest of the Warrington Friends' Meeting House, on the road leading from York to Dillsburg. The land upon which this town has been built was originally purchased from the sons of William Penn in 1737 by William Ayles, one of the original Quaker settlers in Warrington. The town assumed its name shortly after the establishment of the whip factory in 1843. It became a post village about 1850. Owing to the prosperity of the manufacturing interests, Wellsville has become one of the most attractive towns in York County. The population is composed entirely of English-speaking people and the community is noted for its general intelligence and its earnest support of public education. Wellsville was incorporated into a borough June 30, 1892.

The industry that has brought prosperity to Wellsville is a large whip factory, one of the leading establishments of this kind in the United States. In 1837 Peter McIntyre, one of the associate judges fo York County, and Abraham Wells started this business at York, under the firm name of McIntyre & Wells and moved to Wellsville and started the business of whip making. John E. Wells became a partner in 1841 and aided in building up an extensive manufacturing business. The whips made were of an excellent quality and found a ready sale. Wells Brothers also started a tannery nearby for the manufacture of leather to be used in the making of ships. In 1859 William Riddle of Pittsburg became a member of the firm operating the whip factory and a branch of this business was established in that city. From 1861 to 1865, during the period of the Civil War, Wells, Riddle & Company made large quantities of artillery whips and army belts for the United States government

The patriotic spirit of Wellsville and vicinity was quite prominent and during the continuance of the war, about sixty of the employees of this factory enlisted for the defence of the Union. Owing to the departure of so many of the young men to join the army, the factory at Wellsville was compelled to employ boys from the Pensylvania House of Refuge. In 1865 the factory at Pittsburg was discontinued and from that time forth the business at Wellsville was conducted by the firm of A. and J. E. Wells. Abraham Wells, the senior member of the firm, died in 1870, and the business was then continued by J. E. Wells & Company, with James Gowen Wells, a son of Abraham Wells as a partner. In 1878 Mrs. Margaret Wells purchased the interest of J. E. Wells and the name of the company was then changed to J. G. Wells & Company and later in that year was again changed to Wells Whip Company.

A large factory building was erected in 1886 by the side of the original one. It was well equipped with modern machinery for increased facilities of manufacture. A fifteen horse power engine and a thirty horse power boiler were put to use in this building, which was heated by steam. With the enlarged accommodations afforded in the new building, all kinds and varieties of whips used, were then made and distributed throughout the United States, by a dozen or more travelling salesmen. For several years this company engaged in the manufacture of whips by employing the inmates of the state prison in Trenton. This was done under a contract entered into with the State of New Jersey. About fifteen employees at different times at the Wellsville factory were brought there from Girard College in Philadelphia. In 1887 Wells Whip company was incorporated.

R. J. Belt has been manager of the business at Wellsville since 1878. In 1892 the factory which had been erected in 1886, all of its equipments, and a large number of manufactured whips were destroyed by fire. It was then rebuilt and again consumed by fire in 1901 and the present stone structure erected in 1902.

Wellsville Manufacturing Company operates an industrial plant which has given employment in Wellsville and vicinity since the time of organization in 1893. The equipment stock was $50,000 in 500 shares of $100 each. The company began the manufacture of fly nets in one of the apartments of the building owned by the Wells Whip Company, and continued there until the factory was destroyed by fire in 1901. The loss of a large quantity of finished goods in this fire did not prevent the company from continuing business on a more extensive scale. In 1903 the present three story fram building was erected and has been used as a factory. Joseph Milligan is president of the company and T. B. Hoover, secretary, treasurer and general manager.

With its enlarged facilities the company has extended its business and is engaged in the manufacture of fine leather driving nets, leather and cord nets for work horses and cotton mesh nets. The products of this factory have found a ready sale throughout the United States, Canada, Germany and other European countries.

W. D. Brougher Net Company, engaged in the manufacture of leather fly nets, has about thirty employees. This business was originated in 1902 by E. L. Apple who later entered into partnership with W. D. Brougher. The latter purchased the entire interest in the business in 1906.

L. J. Seiple owns a creamery which was conducted for several years by the Cleaver brothers. Dr. V. C. Hetrick conducts a drug store in a building formerly owned and occupied as the Harlacher Store for many years. Steck Brothers have a general store in the large building owned by Dr. A. C. Hetrick and R. J. Belt. Powell and Baker own a general store with a millinery department.

The Wellsville National Bank was organized January 1, 1907, with a capital stock of $25,000. The bank began business by the election of Dr. A. C. Hetrick, president; E. L. Apple, vice president; Joseph Milligan, cashier; William Morthland, E. L. Apple, William Smith, Joseph Milligan, Anton G. Smith, Mitchell Ferrence, J. Frank Lerew, and W. H. Owen, directors.

The following is a list of postmasters at Wellsville in order of succession, with dates of appointment: Abraham Wells 1850; John E. Wells 1870; R. J. Belt 1878; J. G. Wells 1883; Dr. J. R. Garretson1887; James G. Wells 1891; John Irrgang 1896; C. N. Kuhn, 1900.

Churches Methodist Episcopal Church - Religious services were held by the Methodists in the vicinity of Wellsville as early as 1830. Meetings were conducted in the farm house of Edward Wells, later owned by Jacob Brenneman and now by his son M. L. Brenneman, and the dwellings of Abraham Harman and Mrs. Wolgemuth. Permission was obtained to use the old frame school house which …of the borough.

Some of the early Methodist clergymen who preached here were George Cooper, H. Boggs, John Monroe, and William Pettyman. Arrangements were made to build a church. Abraham Wells presented the lot, and $2,200 were raised by subscription toward which amount Mr. Wells was also a contributor. The cornerstone was laid in 1852, and the building completed in 1853. The dedicatory services were completed the same year by Rev. Dr. Wentworth of Dickinson College.

The building committee were: Abraham Wells, Daniel Coover, J. E. Wells, George Heyd, Joseph Mosser, Wells A. Farrah and Jacob Byers. Rev. John Monroe and Rev. William Gwynn travelled the circuit at that time. Many changes have been made since. The Sunday School which is connected with this church, was organized in 1842 in the old school house with George Bushey as superintendent and Catherine Harman as assistand superintendent. The ministers who served this congregation sinc e1886 were Joseph F. Anderson, C. V. Hartzel, R. M. Armstrong, Alexander Lamberson, W. A. Carver, J. W. Forrest, George S. Womer, M. S. Derstine, F. E. Hartman and J. B. Mann.

United Evangelical Church conducted religious services for several years in the building formerly used as a village school house. In 1907 plans were laid for the construction of a church. The congregation was then under the pastoral care of Rev. Ralph Smith, who preached to several other congregations in the upper end of York County.

Schools The children of the first residents of Wellsville and vicinity attended school in a building near the Friends' Meeting House. A township school house was built within the limits of the village and was used for many years until a new one was erected with two rooms. In 1907 Frank Green, a noted architect of New York city, prepared plans for the William Wells Young school building. This is to be erected as a memorial to her son by Mrs. Richard Young, daughter of the late Abraham Wells. The plan of the building shows that it will contain three rooms and a library. In the basement are two apartments for boys and girls to play separately on rainy days. This building when completed will be one of the most ornamental structures of its kind in York County

Military Company H of the 87^th Regiment Pennsylvania volunteers which served for a period of three years during the Civil War, was enlisted at Wellsville in August 1861. Ross L. Harman, the first captain of the company, Wells A. Farrah, the first lieutenant and John L. Shilito, second lieutenant, were all from Warrington. The company joined the regiment at York, and served with it in the mountain campaign of West Virginia in 1862 and 1863, and in the Army of the Potomac under Grant in 1864. During the entire war this company lost in killed and wounded five commissioned officers. Lieutenant Slothower was killed near Winchester, Virginia June 13, 1863, and Sergeant John H. Griffith was wounded. The following day Wells A. Farrah, who had been promoted to captain, was mortally wounded in the battle of Carter's Woods. In the hard fought battle at Monocacy near Frederick, Maryland, on July 9, 1864, Lieutenant Daniel P. Dietrich, of this company, a native of Warrington Township, was instantly killed and several of his men wounded. During the entire three years of service, Company H. took part in the regiment in twenty-eight skirmishes and battles.

Hillside Park. Richard Young, prominent and influential in the business affairs of New York city, within recent years has purchased five farms in the vicinity of Wellsville, and has since been deeply interested in the growth and prosperity of the borough and the surrounding country.

Rest a While, a large dwelling on his barm adjoining Wellsville, is a beautiful home, fitted up with all modern improvements. Her Mr. Young and his family have spent several months of each summer enjoying this delightful rural retreat. A landscape gardner has transformed the surrounding fields and meadows into a beautiful par, traversed by drives and walks.

In 1905 Mr. Young purchased a stone house situated in the southern boundary of his park. This historic building is of pure colonial architecture. It was built by a practical mason from native sandstone found along the Conewago. On a large cornerstone is neatly carved the date 1641 placed there by the first owner of this pioneer dwelling which stood in the primeval forests when the region west of the Susquehanna was still occupied by the Indians

Abraham Wells in whose honor the borough of Wellsville received its name.

<Editor's note: Two paragraphs of erroneous information pertaining to Wells ancestry has been intentionally deleted from this text lest it lead some researchers astray - Orin Wells>

The town of Rye, New York, which antedates White Plains, was located on the shore of Long Island Sound by residents of Connecticut. Just across the hills was Quarroppas, which in English means White Plains, consisting of the rich lands of a peaceful Indian tribe. Toward these lands some of the settlers looked with longing eyes, and finally in 1684 purchased them from the Indians. To this settlement of White Plains, James Wells, the ancestor of the York County Wells, was attracted when he left his Connecticut home.

Just when he broke his home ties in Connecticut and how long he stayed in White Plains, is not clear, but it is definitely known that he was living in Robeson Township, Berks County, Pennsylvania, in 1764. James Wells was of Dorsetshire, England, ancestry. His wife's name was Dorothy and the children mentioned in his will were Benjamin, Isaac, Abraham, Henry, Dinah and Jemima.

Henry Wells, one of the sons of James Wells and Dorothy, married Elizabeth Holmes. He was a weaver by trade, lived in Robeson Township, and died in 1802. His wife Elizabeth, and son Edward, were joint administrators of the estate and a copy of the report was made to the court at Reading. The children of Henry and Elizabeth Holmes Wells were: Edward, James, born in 1768; Abraham, born April 13, 1774; Isaac, Henry, Mordecai, Miriam and Hannah.

Abraham Wells, son of Henry, was born April 13, 1774 and married Hannah Hoffman June 4, 1800. They were both of West Whiteland Township, Chester County, and were married in West Chester by the Friend's ceremony. Abraham and his brother Edward left their early home in Chester County, and moved to York County. It is though that they settled first in Newberry Township, and later came to Warrington where they bought adjoining farms. In 1820, Abraham bought the property taken up in 1737 by William Ayles, now occupied by the village of Wellsville andby the properties of F. A Barrett and T. B. Hoover. Edward bought the farm and built the house later owned by Martin Brenneman. He moved to Lafayette, Indiana in 1834. Abraham remained in Warrington Township until his death April 7, 1851, at the home of his son Abraham, in Wellsville. Hannah Wells was a woman of strong character, and it was largely through her influence that her son, Abraham, came home and started business for himself in Wellsville. She died June 19, 1847.

The children of Abraham and Hannah Wells were: Caroline, born March 31, 1801; Ashbury; Wesley, born March 18, 1802, died 1885. He was a minister in the Methodist Episcopal Church. His wife's name was Olive, and they had two children, Olive and Edward. The latter is a minister in the Methodist Episcopal Church in one of the Ohio conferences. Julia Ann, born August 1803, married to Immel, and died at the home of her son near Mexico, Missouri September 7, 1870, aged 67; Caroline, born February 23, 1805; Mary Ann, born March 2, 1807; Benjamin H., born October 29, 1808; Malinda, born July 15, 1810; W. T. , born October 14, 1811; Hannah, born September 15, 1813; Abraham, born August 10, 1815; Eliza, born May 29, 1817; John, born September 30, 1819, and died 1884.

Abraham Wells, the founder of Wellsville, was born August 19, 1815, and spent his boyhood on his father's farm. In early manhood he went to Dillsburg and learned the trade of whip-making. In 1837 he began business with Judge McIntyre. He married, February 23, 1837, Adeline Gowen a young woman of culture and rare graces. She died May 6, 1839. August 23 1842, Abraham Wells married Margaret Hunter, a friend fo his first wife. They were married in Pittsburg at the home of her brother, Rev. Dr. William Hunter, the famous author and writer of hymns. Their wedding journey was a drive over the mountains along the old National Pike, from Pittsburg to York In 1843, at the solicitation of his mother, Abraham Wells withdrew from the firm of McIntyre & Wells, came to his early home in Warrington Township and began the erection of a factory and homes for the men needed to carry on his business. The lumber was hauled from New Cumberland and the bricks for the church and dwelling houses were made on the farm. Here at the place of his nativity, Abraham Wells established an industry which has resulted in building up a prosperous town and furnishing employment to many people. He has transmitted a successful business and an honorable name to posterity. He was a man of many excellent qualities of mind and heart, universally popular with his fellow men and always interested in everything intended to promote the public good of the community in which he lived and was honored and respected.

His wife, Margaret Hunter Wells, was a woman of fine literary taste, familiar with the standard writers and early poets. Her sympathy and genial companionship were strong factors in sustaining and making possible much that was accomplished by her intrepid husband in the march of life. She survived him by many years, but her gentleness and noble spirit, with the vital interest she felt in all about her, filled the evening of her days with a serene peace and radiance that still reflects a memory fragrant and precious in the hearts of her children and friends. She died September 8, 1899.

Abraham Wells died December 28, 1870. Both he and his wife are buried in the cemetery connected with Warrington Friends' Meeting House.

The children of Abraham and Adeline Gowan Wells were: James Gowan and Adeline Emily Wells. James Gowan Wells married Miriam Rodman Gerbrich, January 17, 1866. They had two children, Adeline and Abram Rodman Wells, who married Ella Michalis of Bordentown, New Jersey and had two children, James Michalis and Miriam Elizabeth Wells. James Gowan Wells afterward married Elizabeth Rodman.

Adeline Emily Wells married Rev. David Clark John, May 5, 1839, and had five children, Gertrude, Annie, Miriam, James, David Clark and William Nelson John. Annie Miriam married Frank Armitage, of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and had two children, David Clark, and William Armitage.

The children of Abraham and Margaret Hunter Wells were: Emma Hannah, Olive Malinda, Harriet Maria, Mary Dinsmore, Margaret, who died January 13, 1907, and Elliotto Wels. Emma Hannah Wells was married June 1, 1876, to Francis Ashbury Barrett, of Wooster, Ohio, and died in Wellsville, July 12, 1898. Their children were: William Hunter, Ruth Dinsmore and Margaret Wells Barrett.

Olive Malinda Wells married Robert John Belt, of Wellsville, December 23, 1876, and had four children: Abram Dinsmore, Margaret, James Edward and Miriam Alice Belt. Abram Dinsmore Belt married Anna May Markley, of Steelton, and has three children, Robert Joseph, Abram Dinsmore and Margaret Markley Belt. Margaret Belt married Joseph Milligan of Wellsville, and has two children, Robert Dinsmore and Olive Miriam Milligan. Miriam Alice Belt married Jun 15, 1905, Rev. Edward Soper, son of Dr. Julius Soper, of Japan.

Harriet Maria Wells, married Richard Young, of New York, Auguts 23, 1871, and had three children, William Wells, Olive Viola and Richard Young. William Wells Young died at Flatbush, Long Island February 7, 1886, Olive Viola married in 1899 John Alfred Edward Turney, son of Sir John Turney, of Nottingham, England. They have three children, Cecil John Richard Dinsmore, Violet Edith and Audrey Wells Turney.

Mary Dinsmore Wells married Thomas Barkdale Hoover, in Wooster, Ohio, and had five children, Walter Wells, Thomas Leonard, Donald Dinsmore, Dorothy Goentner and Mary Elliotto Hoover.

Provided by Hunter L. Barrett - Wellsville, Pennsylvania.