Samuel Wells was born in Virginia in 1754, probably a son of Charles Wells, whose wife was a Carty. As early as 1775 he was in Mason County, Kentucky, surveying and building cabins with Haydon Wells, Matthew Rust and others. He returned in February of the following year and surveyed more land with the same group. In 1779 he was in the present Shelby County with Captain Bland Ballard and others and about this time built Wells' Station, three and one half miles northwest of the present town of Shelbyville. he was with Colonel John Floyd as an Indian fighter and was credited with saving Floyd's life at the latter's defeat by Indians a few miles east of the present city of Louisville, September 15, 1781.

Colonel Wells' military career in Kentucky became a matter of record with the formation of the State in 1792 and the creation of archival materials. On December 20, 1793, he was appointed by Governor Isaac Shelby as Major of the 9th Regiment, Kentucky Militia, to rank from August, 1792. On December 21, 1794, he was appointed Lieutenant Colonel, Commmandant, 1st Regiment of of the militia, from July 21, 1792.

Settling in Louisville in the early 1780's he soon became identified with the history of that community, appearing often in the court records of Jefferson County. On April 1, 1795, he was commissioned by Governor Shelby one of the Justices of the Peace for Jefferson County, and given the same post again December 19, 1795. Taking an interest in politics he ran for and was elected to the State House of Representatives, from Jefferson County, in 1795-1796 and again in 1799.

With the outbreak of the War of 1812 colonel Wells again came forward for military service, and was at once commissioned Major, Battalion Light Dragoons, October 11, 1811, and rendered conspicuous service at the battle of Tippecanoe. On March 12, 1812, he received an appointment in the United States Army as Colonel of the 17th Infantry, recruited largely in Kentucky shortly afterward. He held this rank until honorably discharged June 1, 1814.

Mr. William Graves in his account of the Wells family (see bibliography below) states that Colonel Samuel Wells married a Haden. DAR Lineage records indicate the he married, first in 1780, Rebecca Pope. [Note: from Orin Wells - this author has 1) partially confused Colonel Samuel Wells with his father Capt. Samuel Wells and 2) he did not marry 1) Rebecca Pope]

Jefferson County marriage records reveal that he married December 30, 1781, Mary Spear and that the bondsman was Moses Spear. The Louisville Courier of October 15, 1812, carried the following item: "Mrs. Mary, consort of Col. Samuel Wells, of the 17th U. S. Army, died in Louisville October 10, 1812." Colonel Wells died November 20, 1835, probably at St. Louis. Other sources give the date of his date as 1830. [Note: from Orin Wells - his tombstone carries 1830].

The known children of Colonel Samuel Wells usually are given as:
Samuel Wells, Jr., born 1784 and died 1859 (other sources give 788-1853). He married in 1813 Mary Kearney, born in 1788 and died in 1833 (other sources give 1797-1853). They had at least one daughter, Mary Spears Wells.

Levi Wells, Ensign at River Raisin and killed in action there.

Rebecca Wells, born in 1788 and died in 1853 (see Samuel Wells, Jr. above). She married in 1811 Nathan Heald (1755-1832).

[The Wells Family, 1 p., n.d. unsigned leaf at Kentucky Historical Society; Clift, G. C. History of Maysville and Mason County, Kentucky, v. 1; D. A. R. Lineage Books, v. 66, 145, 160; Register, v. 10 Filson Club History Quarterly, v. 3, 6, 8; Executive Journal of Gov. Isaac Shelby; Pirtle, Alfred, The Battle fo Tippecanoe; Heitman, Francis B., Historical Register and Dictionary of the U. S. Army; Graves, William Graves Genealogy, compiled and presented to the Filson Club, 1943; William Wells Family, p. 19-29a]

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