The right Reverend Lemuel H. Wells, first Bishop of Spokane, Washington, was born in Yonkers, New York in 1841. He lived a sheltered childhood, and as a boy experienced a desire to become a missionary. He entered Trinity College in 1860. Wells was visiting his father, Horace Deming Wells, in Wisconsin in 1862 when the American Civil War broke out, and he was recruited as a member of the 32nd Wisconsin Infantry Regiment. He fought in the Battle of Vicksburg in 1863, and in 1864 was mustered out and returned to Trinity College, from which he graduated in 1867.
He prepared for ministry at Berkeley Divinity School (now part of Yale Divinity School) and was ordained a Deacon in 1869. A week after his graduation from Berkeley, Wells married Elizabeth Folger, ward of Charles J. Folger, Secretary of the Treasury. The marriage was short-lived, though, as Elizabeth died following a year spent in Europe. Wells, a newly ordained priest, was determined to act on his earlier desire to become a missionary and Bishop Benjamin Wistar Morris of the then frontier states of Oregon and Washington, asked Wells to become rector of a struggling mission in Walla Walla, Washington.
In 1872, during his 2nd year as rector in Walla Walla, Wells founded the St. Paul's Girl's School as well as a Boy's School that was never as successful. In 1880, Wells married a 2nd time to Henrietta Bright Garretson, the Principal of the Girl's School. Her father, William Garretson, was a Senator of Pennsylvania. Wells established 31 Episcopal Missions in Washington, Oregon, and Idaho - in many places, Wells' mission was the first church or religious establishment in the region. These missions included the first Episcopal congregations in WA: Waitsburg, Dayton, Colfax, Pomeroy, Ritzville, Pullman, North Yakima, Camas Prairie, Palouse, Northport, Kennewick, Zillah, Ellensburg, Sunnyside, and Roslyn. In OR: Weston, Pendleton, La Grande, Cove, and Baker City. In ID: Moscow and Lewiston.
In 1882, Wells moved to Connecticut, but was called back to Western Washington in 1885, as rector of St. Luke's Episcopal Church in Tacoma. Charles Wright, a Tacoma railroad tycoon, was responsible for the splendid new St. Luke's, and had plans to found a Girl's School in Tacoma. He showed his plans to Henrietta Wells, who made several suggestions and was recruited as Principal of the Annie Wright Seminary, a venerable and successful Tacoma school, named for Charles Wright's daughter. During Wells' tenure at St. Luke's, the congregation grew to such and extent that many mission churches were founded; many of Tacoma's present day Episcopal congregations can trace their roots to Wells' influence at St. Luke's.
In 1892, the General Convention of the Episcopal Church divided the state into 2 Dioceses, the Episcopal Diocese of Olympia in the western part of the state and the Episcopal Diocese of Spokane in the eastern part. It was Wells who was determined in Spokane as his See City, and he and Henrietta moved to Spokane from Tacoma after Wells was consecrated as the first Bishop of Spokane in New Haven, Connecticut in 1892. One of the Wells' first acts in Spokane was to found another girl's school -- Brunot Hall, which was conceived and organized on the train ride back from New Haven following Wells' consecration. While in Spokane he also founded St. Luke's Hospital, Spokane. Wells became something of an international celebrity while Bishop of Spokane, being invited to 2 Lambeth conferences in 1900 and 1910. While in England in 1900 he was seated next to Queen Victoria at a dinner, and amused her with such stories of Ulysses S. Grant (under whom Wells had served during the American Civil War) and Abraham Lincoln, whom he had met on several occasions. The Queen, thinking that the "Washington" in which Wells served was the Nation's Capital, and that Wells was some kind of chaplain to the President, invited him to family supper, and was not pleased to learn that her guest was, in fact, a missionary bishop in the rural Northwest.
In 1915, Wells retired as Bishop of Spokane, recommending that a younger man would be much more suited to the rigors of horseback and stagecoach travel that was so much a part of is position. His report read as follows:
"When I first came to Eastern Washington as a missionary in 1871, I found only 6 communicants of the Church and nothing more in this whole district; no clergymen, no institutions. Now we have 3 thousand communicants, 20 clergymen, with 22 lay readers, ministering to 60 churches and missions. We have in successful operation, 3 boarding and day schools with 20 teachers and 200 pupils, a hospital with 50 beds; a church home for children with room for 25 orphans. I doubt if any one of our mission fields can show a more remarkable growth toward self-support."
Bishop Wells and his 3rd wife, Jane T. Sheldon (Henrietta having died in 1903) moved to Tacoma in their retirement. Wells was petitioned by the Episcopal Diocese of Spokane to record his memoirs upon his retirement in 1915, and in 1931 these were published as "A Pioneer Missionary." Wells died in 1936 living as a widower in an aged home at 5340 N. Bristol in Tacoma, WA.
Lemuel and Henritta had at least one known child....a girl, Mary G., who was born in 1883 and died 4 years later in 1887. In the Tacoma Cemetery, this daughter, Mary, has a flat marker with her initials on it and a base of a monument that used to stand there is visible.
He prepared for ministry at Berkeley Divinity School (now part of Yale Divinity School) and was ordained a Deacon in 1869. A week after his graduation from Berkeley, Wells married Elizabeth Folger, ward of Charles J. Folger, Secretary of the Treasury. The marriage was short-lived, though, as Elizabeth died following a year spent in Europe. Wells, a newly ordained priest, was determined to act on his earlier desire to become a missionary and Bishop Benjamin Wistar Morris of the then frontier states of Oregon and Washington, asked Wells to become rector of a struggling mission in Walla Walla, Washington.
In 1872, during his 2nd year as rector in Walla Walla, Wells founded the St. Paul's Girl's School as well as a Boy's School that was never as successful. In 1880, Wells married a 2nd time to Henrietta Bright Garretson, the Principal of the Girl's School. Her father, William Garretson, was a Senator of Pennsylvania. Wells established 31 Episcopal Missions in Washington, Oregon, and Idaho - in many places, Wells' mission was the first church or religious establishment in the region. These missions included the first Episcopal congregations in WA: Waitsburg, Dayton, Colfax, Pomeroy, Ritzville, Pullman, North Yakima, Camas Prairie, Palouse, Northport, Kennewick, Zillah, Ellensburg, Sunnyside, and Roslyn. In OR: Weston, Pendleton, La Grande, Cove, and Baker City. In ID: Moscow and Lewiston.
In 1882, Wells moved to Connecticut, but was called back to Western Washington in 1885, as rector of St. Luke's Episcopal Church in Tacoma. Charles Wright, a Tacoma railroad tycoon, was responsible for the splendid new St. Luke's, and had plans to found a Girl's School in Tacoma. He showed his plans to Henrietta Wells, who made several suggestions and was recruited as Principal of the Annie Wright Seminary, a venerable and successful Tacoma school, named for Charles Wright's daughter. During Wells' tenure at St. Luke's, the congregation grew to such and extent that many mission churches were founded; many of Tacoma's present day Episcopal congregations can trace their roots to Wells' influence at St. Luke's.
In 1892, the General Convention of the Episcopal Church divided the state into 2 Dioceses, the Episcopal Diocese of Olympia in the western part of the state and the Episcopal Diocese of Spokane in the eastern part. It was Wells who was determined in Spokane as his See City, and he and Henrietta moved to Spokane from Tacoma after Wells was consecrated as the first Bishop of Spokane in New Haven, Connecticut in 1892. One of the Wells' first acts in Spokane was to found another girl's school -- Brunot Hall, which was conceived and organized on the train ride back from New Haven following Wells' consecration. While in Spokane he also founded St. Luke's Hospital, Spokane. Wells became something of an international celebrity while Bishop of Spokane, being invited to 2 Lambeth conferences in 1900 and 1910. While in England in 1900 he was seated next to Queen Victoria at a dinner, and amused her with such stories of Ulysses S. Grant (under whom Wells had served during the American Civil War) and Abraham Lincoln, whom he had met on several occasions. The Queen, thinking that the "Washington" in which Wells served was the Nation's Capital, and that Wells was some kind of chaplain to the President, invited him to family supper, and was not pleased to learn that her guest was, in fact, a missionary bishop in the rural Northwest.
In 1915, Wells retired as Bishop of Spokane, recommending that a younger man would be much more suited to the rigors of horseback and stagecoach travel that was so much a part of is position. His report read as follows:
"When I first came to Eastern Washington as a missionary in 1871, I found only 6 communicants of the Church and nothing more in this whole district; no clergymen, no institutions. Now we have 3 thousand communicants, 20 clergymen, with 22 lay readers, ministering to 60 churches and missions. We have in successful operation, 3 boarding and day schools with 20 teachers and 200 pupils, a hospital with 50 beds; a church home for children with room for 25 orphans. I doubt if any one of our mission fields can show a more remarkable growth toward self-support."
Bishop Wells and his 3rd wife, Jane T. Sheldon (Henrietta having died in 1903) moved to Tacoma in their retirement. Wells was petitioned by the Episcopal Diocese of Spokane to record his memoirs upon his retirement in 1915, and in 1931 these were published as "A Pioneer Missionary." Wells died in 1936 living as a widower in an aged home at 5340 N. Bristol in Tacoma, WA.
Lemuel and Henritta had at least one known child....a girl, Mary G., who was born in 1883 and died 4 years later in 1887. In the Tacoma Cemetery, this daughter, Mary, has a flat marker with her initials on it and a base of a monument that used to stand there is visible.
The right Reverend Lemuel H. Wells, first Bishop of Spokane, Washington, was born in Yonkers, New York in 1841. He lived a sheltered childhood, and as a boy experienced a desire to become a missionary. He entered Trinity College in 1860. Wells was visiting his father, Horace Deming Wells, in Wisconsin in 1862 when the American Civil War broke out, and he was recruited as a member of the 32nd Wisconsin Infantry Regiment. He fought in the Battle of Vicksburg in 1863, and in 1864 was mustered out and returned to Trinity College, from which he graduated in 1867.
He prepared for ministry at Berkeley Divinity School (now part of Yale Divinity School) and was ordained a Deacon in 1869. A week after his graduation from Berkeley, Wells married Elizabeth Folger, ward of Charles J. Folger, Secretary of the Treasury. The marriage was short-lived, though, as Elizabeth died following a year spent in Europe. Wells, a newly ordained priest, was determined to act on his earlier desire to become a missionary and Bishop Benjamin Wistar Morris of the then frontier states of Oregon and Washington, asked Wells to become rector of a struggling mission in Walla Walla, Washington.
In 1872, during his 2nd year as rector in Walla Walla, Wells founded the St. Paul's Girl's School as well as a Boy's School that was never as successful. In 1880, Wells married a 2nd time to Henrietta Bright Garretson, the Principal of the Girl's School. Her father, William Garretson, was a Senator of Pennsylvania. Wells established 31 Episcopal Missions in Washington, Oregon, and Idaho - in many places, Wells' mission was the first church or religious establishment in the region. These missions included the first Episcopal congregations in WA: Waitsburg, Dayton, Colfax, Pomeroy, Ritzville, Pullman, North Yakima, Camas Prairie, Palouse, Northport, Kennewick, Zillah, Ellensburg, Sunnyside, and Roslyn. In OR: Weston, Pendleton, La Grande, Cove, and Baker City. In ID: Moscow and Lewiston.
In 1882, Wells moved to Connecticut, but was called back to Western Washington in 1885, as rector of St. Luke's Episcopal Church in Tacoma. Charles Wright, a Tacoma railroad tycoon, was responsible for the splendid new St. Luke's, and had plans to found a Girl's School in Tacoma. He showed his plans to Henrietta Wells, who made several suggestions and was recruited as Principal of the Annie Wright Seminary, a venerable and successful Tacoma school, named for Charles Wright's daughter. During Wells' tenure at St. Luke's, the congregation grew to such and extent that many mission churches were founded; many of Tacoma's present day Episcopal congregations can trace their roots to Wells' influence at St. Luke's.
In 1892, the General Convention of the Episcopal Church divided the state into 2 Dioceses, the Episcopal Diocese of Olympia in the western part of the state and the Episcopal Diocese of Spokane in the eastern part. It was Wells who was determined in Spokane as his See City, and he and Henrietta moved to Spokane from Tacoma after Wells was consecrated as the first Bishop of Spokane in New Haven, Connecticut in 1892. One of the Wells' first acts in Spokane was to found another girl's school -- Brunot Hall, which was conceived and organized on the train ride back from New Haven following Wells' consecration. While in Spokane he also founded St. Luke's Hospital, Spokane. Wells became something of an international celebrity while Bishop of Spokane, being invited to 2 Lambeth conferences in 1900 and 1910. While in England in 1900 he was seated next to Queen Victoria at a dinner, and amused her with such stories of Ulysses S. Grant (under whom Wells had served during the American Civil War) and Abraham Lincoln, whom he had met on several occasions. The Queen, thinking that the "Washington" in which Wells served was the Nation's Capital, and that Wells was some kind of chaplain to the President, invited him to family supper, and was not pleased to learn that her guest was, in fact, a missionary bishop in the rural Northwest.
In 1915, Wells retired as Bishop of Spokane, recommending that a younger man would be much more suited to the rigors of horseback and stagecoach travel that was so much a part of is position. His report read as follows:
"When I first came to Eastern Washington as a missionary in 1871, I found only 6 communicants of the Church and nothing more in this whole district; no clergymen, no institutions. Now we have 3 thousand communicants, 20 clergymen, with 22 lay readers, ministering to 60 churches and missions. We have in successful operation, 3 boarding and day schools with 20 teachers and 200 pupils, a hospital with 50 beds; a church home for children with room for 25 orphans. I doubt if any one of our mission fields can show a more remarkable growth toward self-support."
Bishop Wells and his 3rd wife, Jane T. Sheldon (Henrietta having died in 1903) moved to Tacoma in their retirement. Wells was petitioned by the Episcopal Diocese of Spokane to record his memoirs upon his retirement in 1915, and in 1931 these were published as "A Pioneer Missionary." Wells died in 1936 living as a widower in an aged home at 5340 N. Bristol in Tacoma, WA.
Lemuel and Henritta had at least one known child....a girl, Mary G., who was born in 1883 and died 4 years later in 1887. In the Tacoma Cemetery, this daughter, Mary, has a flat marker with her initials on it and a base of a monument that used to stand there is visible.
He prepared for ministry at Berkeley Divinity School (now part of Yale Divinity School) and was ordained a Deacon in 1869. A week after his graduation from Berkeley, Wells married Elizabeth Folger, ward of Charles J. Folger, Secretary of the Treasury. The marriage was short-lived, though, as Elizabeth died following a year spent in Europe. Wells, a newly ordained priest, was determined to act on his earlier desire to become a missionary and Bishop Benjamin Wistar Morris of the then frontier states of Oregon and Washington, asked Wells to become rector of a struggling mission in Walla Walla, Washington.
In 1872, during his 2nd year as rector in Walla Walla, Wells founded the St. Paul's Girl's School as well as a Boy's School that was never as successful. In 1880, Wells married a 2nd time to Henrietta Bright Garretson, the Principal of the Girl's School. Her father, William Garretson, was a Senator of Pennsylvania. Wells established 31 Episcopal Missions in Washington, Oregon, and Idaho - in many places, Wells' mission was the first church or religious establishment in the region. These missions included the first Episcopal congregations in WA: Waitsburg, Dayton, Colfax, Pomeroy, Ritzville, Pullman, North Yakima, Camas Prairie, Palouse, Northport, Kennewick, Zillah, Ellensburg, Sunnyside, and Roslyn. In OR: Weston, Pendleton, La Grande, Cove, and Baker City. In ID: Moscow and Lewiston.
In 1882, Wells moved to Connecticut, but was called back to Western Washington in 1885, as rector of St. Luke's Episcopal Church in Tacoma. Charles Wright, a Tacoma railroad tycoon, was responsible for the splendid new St. Luke's, and had plans to found a Girl's School in Tacoma. He showed his plans to Henrietta Wells, who made several suggestions and was recruited as Principal of the Annie Wright Seminary, a venerable and successful Tacoma school, named for Charles Wright's daughter. During Wells' tenure at St. Luke's, the congregation grew to such and extent that many mission churches were founded; many of Tacoma's present day Episcopal congregations can trace their roots to Wells' influence at St. Luke's.
In 1892, the General Convention of the Episcopal Church divided the state into 2 Dioceses, the Episcopal Diocese of Olympia in the western part of the state and the Episcopal Diocese of Spokane in the eastern part. It was Wells who was determined in Spokane as his See City, and he and Henrietta moved to Spokane from Tacoma after Wells was consecrated as the first Bishop of Spokane in New Haven, Connecticut in 1892. One of the Wells' first acts in Spokane was to found another girl's school -- Brunot Hall, which was conceived and organized on the train ride back from New Haven following Wells' consecration. While in Spokane he also founded St. Luke's Hospital, Spokane. Wells became something of an international celebrity while Bishop of Spokane, being invited to 2 Lambeth conferences in 1900 and 1910. While in England in 1900 he was seated next to Queen Victoria at a dinner, and amused her with such stories of Ulysses S. Grant (under whom Wells had served during the American Civil War) and Abraham Lincoln, whom he had met on several occasions. The Queen, thinking that the "Washington" in which Wells served was the Nation's Capital, and that Wells was some kind of chaplain to the President, invited him to family supper, and was not pleased to learn that her guest was, in fact, a missionary bishop in the rural Northwest.
In 1915, Wells retired as Bishop of Spokane, recommending that a younger man would be much more suited to the rigors of horseback and stagecoach travel that was so much a part of is position. His report read as follows:
"When I first came to Eastern Washington as a missionary in 1871, I found only 6 communicants of the Church and nothing more in this whole district; no clergymen, no institutions. Now we have 3 thousand communicants, 20 clergymen, with 22 lay readers, ministering to 60 churches and missions. We have in successful operation, 3 boarding and day schools with 20 teachers and 200 pupils, a hospital with 50 beds; a church home for children with room for 25 orphans. I doubt if any one of our mission fields can show a more remarkable growth toward self-support."
Bishop Wells and his 3rd wife, Jane T. Sheldon (Henrietta having died in 1903) moved to Tacoma in their retirement. Wells was petitioned by the Episcopal Diocese of Spokane to record his memoirs upon his retirement in 1915, and in 1931 these were published as "A Pioneer Missionary." Wells died in 1936 living as a widower in an aged home at 5340 N. Bristol in Tacoma, WA.
Lemuel and Henritta had at least one known child....a girl, Mary G., who was born in 1883 and died 4 years later in 1887. In the Tacoma Cemetery, this daughter, Mary, has a flat marker with her initials on it and a base of a monument that used to stand there is visible.
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