Frances Louisa Wells
Born 13 Mar. 1852 in Salt Lake City.[1] Daughter of Daniel Hanmer Wells and Louisa Free, sister wife of EBW.[2] Baptized as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1860.[3] Attended the University of Deseret, 1870–1871.[4] Counselor to Flora L. Shipp, first president of the Salt Lake City Thirteenth Ward Young Ladies’ Department of the Ladies’ Cooperative Retrenchment Association (later the Young Ladies’ Mutual Improvement Association), 1870.[5] Married George Naylor, 16 Aug. 1875; one daughter.[6] Divorced Dec. 1875.[7] Widely known as a pianist.[8] EBW expressed concern about her health.[9] Died 5 Mar. 1944 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, p. 18, line 3, Frances Louisa Wells, 16 Aug. 1866, microfilm 183405, DGS 5270328 (restricted access), FHL. Quentin Thomas Wells, Defender: The Life of Daniel H. Wells (Logan: Utah State University Press, 2016), 136. “Family Tree,” database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org, accessed 25 June 2019), Frances Louisa Wells (KWVR-9RP).
[2] “Endowments of the Living, 1866–1868,” The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake Temple, vol. F, 1866–1868, p. 18, line 3, Frances Louisa Wells, 16 Aug. 1866, microfilm 183405, DGS 5270328 (restricted access), FHL. Quentin Thomas Wells, Defender: The Life of Daniel H. Wells (Logan: Utah State University Press, 2016), 136.
[3] “Endowments of the Living, 1866–1868,” The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake Temple, vol. F, 1866–1868, p. 18, line 3, Frances Louisa Wells, 16 Aug. 1866, microfilm 183405, DGS 5270328 (restricted access), FHL.
[4] Holiness to the Lord!: Third Annual Catalogue of the Officers and Students in the University of Deseret for the Academical Year 1870–1871 (Salt Lake City: Deseret News Office, 1871), 11.
[5] 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.
[6] “Sealings of Couples, Living and by Proxy, 1851–1889,” The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Endowment House, vol. J, 2 Sept. 1874–15 Nov. 1875, p. 350, line 4584, George Naylor and Frances Louisa Wells, 16 Aug. 1875, microfilm 183400, DGS 5270323 (restricted access), FHL. Quentin Thomas Wells, Defender: The Life of Daniel H. Wells (Logan: Utah State University Press, 2016), 377. Junius F Wells, “The Wells Family Genealogy,” Utah Genealogical and Historical Magazine 6, no. 1 (Jan. 1915): 11–12.
[7] Brigham Young Office Files, CR 1234 1, box 68, folder 11, CHL.
[8] “Frontier Days Resident Dies,” Deseret News (Salt Lake City), 6 Mar. 1944, 6. EBW, Diary, 29 Feb. 1888; 27 Oct. 1893. “Two Pleasant Parties,” Woman’s Exponent, 13 June and 1 July 1897, 166.
[9] EBW, Diary, 24 June 1891; 13 Mar. 1894; 13 Mar. 1896.
[10] Salt Lake City, UT, Office of Vital Statistics, City Clerk, Death Records, 1848–Sept. 1950, microfilm 26577, DGS 7578813, FHL. “Frontier Days Resident Dies,” Deseret News (Salt Lake City), 6 Mar. 1944, 6.