Catherine Alley Wells
Born 28 Mar. 1853 in Salt Lake City.[1] Daughter of Daniel Hanmer Wells and Lydia Ann Alley.[2] Counselor to Flora L. Shipp, first president of the Salt Lake City Thirteenth Ward Young Ladies’ Department of the Ladies’ Cooperative Retrenchment Association, 27 June 1870.[3] Member of the Wasatch Literary Club, organized 1874.[4] With her parents, accompanied Brigham Young’s party to the dedication of the St. George temple, 1877.[5] President of the Thirteenth Ward Primary, 1887–1889.[6] Noted by EBW as a gifted artist.[7] Treasurer of the Salt Lake Stake Board Primary Association, Sept. 1896–1904.[8] Member of the Utah Society of Daughters of the Revolution, beginning 1898, holding many elected positions, including chair of the first press committee, 1898; recording secretary, 1903; regent, 19 Mar. 1912; and registrar, 1914–1917.[9] Died 10 Nov. 1922 in Salt Lake City.[10]
[1] “Endowments of the Living, 1866–1868,” The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake Temple, vol. F, 1866–1868, 351, 9, Catherine Wells, 15 Aug. 1868, microfilm 183405, DGS 5270328 (restricted access), FHL. “Family Tree,” database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org, accessed 5 June 2019), Catherine Alley Wells (KWVR-9BZ).
[2] “Endowments of the Living, 1866–1868,” The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake Temple, vol. F, 1866–1868, 351, 9, Catherine Wells, 15 Aug. 1868, microfilm 183405, DGS 5270328 (restricted access), FHL. Quentin Thomas Wells, Defender: The Life of Daniel H. Wells (Logan: Utah State University Press, 2016), 141.
[3] Susa Young Gates, History of the Young Ladies’ Mutual Improvement Association of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from November 1869 to June 1910 (Salt Lake City: Deseret News, 1911), 62.
[4] Ronald W. Walker, “Growing Up in Early Utah: The Wasatch Literary Association 1874–1878,” BYU Studies Quarterly 43, no. 1 (Jan. 2004): 68, 79n40.
[5] Utah State Society Daughters of the Revolution, “History of the Utah State Society Daughters of the Revolution,” MS 30642, image 86/504, CHL.
[6] Thirteenth Ward Manuscript History and Historical Reports, 1849–1908, Catherine Wells, Record of Members Collection, 1836–1970, LR 6133 2 folder 1 (limited access), CHL.
[7] EBW, Diary, 28 Mar. 1892. Lorenzo Stenhouse, Utah Gazetteer and Directory of Salt Lake, Ogden, Provo and Logan Cities for 1888, and a Complete Business Directory of the Territory: Utah Gazetteer and Directory, p. 259, microfilm 1004522, DGS, 7950691, image 657/748, FHL.
[8] “Brief History of the Stake Board Primary Association of the Salt Lake Stake,” Woman’s Exponent, Apr. 1904, 76–77.
[9] Utah State Society Daughters of the Revolution, “History of the Utah State Society Daughters of the Revolution,” pp. 1, 82, 83, 130, 243, 251, 253, MS 30642, images 7, 86, 87, 130, 245, 255, 257/504, CHL. “Daughters of the Revolution,” Woman’s Exponent, May 1912, 72.
[10] “Utah State Archives Indexes,” database and images, Utah State Archives (https://archives.utah.gov, accessed 6 June 2019); Utah Department of Health Office of Vital Records and Statistics Death Certificates, series 81448, file 1692/430, film no. 2259288, 1922, Catherine Alley Wells. “Wells Service Will Be Held Monday,” Salt Lake Telegram, 11 Nov. 1922, 7.