William Wells (general) - Postbellum Career

Postbellum Career

Soon after General Wells' return to civil life, he became a partner in a firm of wholesale druggists at Waterbury. In 1868 they transferred their business to Burlington, which was thereafter his residence. He represented Waterbury in the legislature of 1865-66, being chairman of the military committee and an influential legislator. In 1866 he was elected adjutant general of Vermont, and held the office until 1872, when he was appointed collector of customs for the district of Vermont, a position which he filled with efficiency and credit for thirteen years. At the end of that time, he resumed his active connection with the business house known the world over as the Wells Richardson Company, manufacturer of Paine's Celery Compound. General Wells was married with two children — Frank Richardson and Bertha Richardson Wells (who later married Dr. Horatio Nelson Jackson).

In 1886, Wells was state senator from Chittenden County, Vermont. He was active in veteran soldiers' societies; was one of the presidents of the Reunion Society of Vermont Officers, and president of the Society of the First Vermont Cavalry. He was one of the trustees, and first president of the Vermont Soldiers' Home, and was a member of the Gettysburg Commission of 1889-90. He was the first commander of the Vermont Commandery of the Loyal Legion, and would have been re-elected had he lived until the coming annual meeting of the Commandery. He was a member of Stannard Post, No. 2, G. A. R., Department of Vermont, and would have been made department commander several years ago had he been willing to accept an election as such. He was a member of the Vermont Society of Sons of the American Revolution.

General Wells was identified with many important business enterprises in the city, being president of the Burlington Trust Company, president of the Burlington Gas-Light Company, president of the Burlington Board of Trade, director in the Burlington Cold Storage Company, director in the Rutland Railroad Company and director in the Champlain Transportation Company. He was a member and a vestryman of St. Paul's church, and was one of the trustees of the Young Men's Christian Association of Burlington, and one of its most liberal supporters. Few men, if any, touched the life of the community in which he lived in so many important capacities.

His sudden death from angina pectoris in New York City removed, while in the prime of life, a most genial, courteous and kind-hearted man, a gallant soldier, and one of the most respected citizens of the Green Mountain state. Burlington effectively shut down for his funeral. His remains lie at Lakeside Cemetery on North Avenue.