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Bri

Bry, Briant Harris Wells

5 December 1871—10 June 1949

Born 5 Dec. 1871 in Salt Lake City.1 Son of Daniel Hanmer Wells and Martha Givens Harris.2 EBW regarded him as her nephew; referred to him as “our young Lieutenant.”3 Baptized as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 6 May 1890.4 Admitted to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, Orange Co., New York, 17 June 1890; commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Second Infantry Regiment, 12 June 1894.5 Married Mary Jane Jennings, 30 Dec. 1896, in Salt Lake City.6 Commander of the Utah National Guard, 1898.7 Wounded at the Battle of Santiago in Cuba, 3 July 1898.8 Posted to Salt Lake City, 1904.9 Posted to the Philippines during the Moro Rebellion, Sept. 1907.10 Representative of General Tasker Bliss at the headquarters of the general in chief of the allied armies, in Versailles, France, during World War I.11 Awarded the Legion d’honneur by Marshall Ferdinand Foch, commander of the French forces; awarded the Distinguished Service Cross of the U.S. for service as liaison between the French and American forces during World War I.12 Promoted to brigadier general in France, 1922.13 Promoted to major general; became the U.S. Army deputy chief of staff, in Washington, DC, before being posted as the commanding general of the Hawaiian Department (Pacific), 1931.14 Retired in Hawaii, 1935.15 Secretary and treasurer of the Hawaiian Sugar Planters Association until his death.16 Died 10 June 1949 in Bellflower, Los Angeles Co., California; buried at Arlington National Cemetery, in Washington, DC.17

 

Footnotes

  1. 1 “Endowments of the Living, 1893–1956,” The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake Temple, vol. A, 1893–1900, p. 58, line 2065, Briant (Bryant) Harris Wells, 22 May 2019, microfilm 184067, DGS 5271181 (restricted access), FHL. U.S. Adjutant General’s Office, World War I Service Records Abstracts, Army, Briant H. Wells, microfilm 1643894, DGS 8571542, image 831/293, FHL. Junius F. Wells, “The Wells Family Genealogy,” Utah Genealogical and Historical Magazine 6, no. 1 (Jan. 1895): 11, 14. “Family Tree,” database, FamilySearch (www.familysearch.org, accessed 15 May 2019), Briant Harris Wells (KW8S-2SG).

  2. 2 “Endowments of the Living, 1893–1956,” The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake Temple, vol. A, 1893–1900, p. 58, line 2065, Briant (Bryant) Harris Wells, 22 May 2019, microfilm 184067, DGS 5271181 (restricted access), FHL. Junius F. Wells, “The Wells Family Genealogy,” Utah Genealogical and Historical Magazine 6, no. 1 (Jan. 1895): 10. 1880 U.S. Census, Salt Lake City Twelfth Ward, Salt Lake Co., Utah Territory, ED 51, p. 9A, Bryant H. Wells.

  3. 3 EBW, Diary, 8 Mar. 1891 and 2 Jan. 1896.

  4. 4 “Endowments of the Living, 1893–1956,” The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake Temple, vol. A, 1893–1900, p. 58, line 2065, Briant (Bryant) Harris Wells, 22 May 2019, microfilm 184067, DGS 5271181 (restricted access), FHL.  

  5. 5 “Major General Briant Harris Wells,” Arlington National Cemetery (http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/bhwells.htm, accessed 16 July 2019).

  6. 6 “Sealings for the Living, 1893–1956,” The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake Temple, vol. A, 1893–1905, p. 89, line 1591, Briant (Bryant) Harris Wells and Mary Jane Jennings, 30 Dec. 1896, microfilm 186206, DGS 5266109 (restricted access), FHL. Salt Lake Co., UT, Clerk, Marriage Records, 1887–1965, Marriage Licenses, bks. E–G, 1893–1897, p. 368, Briant H. Wells and Mary Jane Jennings, microfilm 429056, DGS 4624216, image 713/782, FHL. “Wells-Jennings,” Deseret Evening News (Salt Lake City), 30 Dec. 1896, 2. “Jennings-Wells,” Salt Lake Tribune, 31 Dec. 1896, 8. EBW, Diary, 30 Dec. 1896 and 5 Jan. 1897.

  7. 7 “Mustered into the Service,” Salt Lake Herald, 10 May 1898, 8. “Utah’s Ready Response to the Call to Arms,” Salt Lake Herald, 1 Jan. 1899, 26.

  8. 8 “Lieut. Gurney Killed,” Salt Lake Herald, 8 July 1898, 8. “Our Wounded Heroes,” Salt Lake Herald, 12 July 1898, 5. EBW, Diary, 9 and 16 Aug. 1898.

  9. 9 “Society,” Salt Lake Herald, 6 Apr. 1904, 4. 1900 U.S. Census, Salt Lake City (Precinct 38), Salt Lake Co., UT, ED 37, p. 7A, Briant H. Wells.

  10. 10 George W. Cullum, Biographical Registry of the Officers and Graduates of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York Since Its Establishment in 1802, Supplement, vol. VI-A, 1910–1920 (Saginaw, MI: Seemann and Peters, 1920), 710. EBW, Diary, 5 Dec. 1900.

  11. 11 George W. Cullum, Biographical Registry of the Officers and Graduates of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York Since Its Establishment in 1802, Supplement, vol. VI-A, 1910–1920 (Saginaw, MI: Seemann and Peters, 1920), 710. Brigham H. Roberts, A Comprehensive History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Provo, UT: Brigham Young University Press, 1965), 6:456. EBW, Diary, 16 Aug. and 7 Sept. 1901.

  12. 12 “Foch Praises Salt Laker,” Salt Lake Herald, 24 May 1919, 20. “Utah General Decorated by Two Countries,” Salt Lake Herald, 24 May 1919, 20.

  13. 13 “U.S. Select Military Registers, 1862–1985,” database with images, Ancestry.com (https://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&dbid=2345&h=2251109&tid=&pid=&usePUB=true&_phsrc=piS55&_phstart=successSource, accessed 3 June 2019), Briant H. Wells, image 1074/1346.  

  14. 14 “U.S. Select Military Registers, 1862–1985,” database with images, Ancestry.com (https://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&dbid=2345&h=2251109&tid=&pid=&usePUB=true&_phsrc=piS55&_phstart=successSource, accessed 3 June 2019), Briant H. Wells, image 1074/1346. “Major General Briant Harris Wells,” Arlington National Cemetery (http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/bhwells.htm, accessed 16 July 2019). “S.L. Man Gets Coveted Place in U.S. Army,” Salt Lake Telegram, 13 Feb. 1926, 1, 8. “Utah General Promoted,” Salt Lake Telegram, 13 Feb. 1926, 1.

  15. 15 “Major General Briant Harris Wells,” Arlington National Cemetery (http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/bhwells.htm, accessed 16 July 2019). U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service, Hawaii, Honolulu, Passenger Lists, 1900–1953, roll 162, vol. 282, 14 Nov.–13 Dec. 1935, p. 214, Briant Harris Wells, DGS 7501165, image 203/610, FHL.

  16. 16 Directory of City and County of Honolulu and the Territory of Hawaii, vol. 44 (Honolulu: Polk-Hulsted Directory, 1937–1938), 295. 1940 U.S. Census, Representative District 4, Honolulu, Hawaii Territory, ED 2-31, p. 8B, Briant H. Wells.

  17. 17 “Major General Briant Harris Wells,” Arlington National Cemetery (http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/bhwells.htm, accessed 16 July 2019). “U.S. Select Military Registers, 1862–1985,” database with images, Ancestry.com (https://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&dbid=2345&h=2251109&tid=&pid=&usePUB=true&_phsrc=piS55&_phstart=successSource, accessed 3 June 2019), Briant H. Wells, image 1074/1346. California State Board of Health, Los Angeles Co., Index to Deaths, 1905–1978, and Death Records, 1889–1960, Death Certificates, file no. 8628, Briant Harris Wells, microfilm 2281840, DGS 5597282, FHL. “Briant Harris Wells,” Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington Co., VA,  Find a Grave, posted 6 Mar. 2010, memorial no. 49336129 (https://www.findagrave.com, accessed 20 May 2019).