General Henry Horatio Wells of the 26th Michigan was a famed abolitionist lawyer, born in Rochester, New York on September, 17, 1823, and was educated at Romeo Academy, Michigan, then studied law in Detroit with Theodore Romeyn. He was admitted to the bar in 1846, and in 1854-‘6 was a member of the legislature. He entered the army in September, 1862, as Major and then Lieutenant Colonel of the 26th Michigan Infantry, and served until September, 1866. In February, 1863, he was made Provost-Marshal-General of the defenses south of Potomac River, which office he held until the close of the war. In March of 1864 he was promoted to Colonel. On the assassination of President Lincoln, Wells played a significant role in the manhunt for John Wilkes Booth, taking charge of the investigation in Washington (and questioning of Dr. Samuel Mudd) that resulted in the capture of the conspirators, and afterward he was associate counsel in the criminal proceedings against Jefferson Davis for treason. In May, 1865, he received the brevet of Brigadier-General of Volunteers "For meritorious service" and mustered out on September 27, 1865 where, settling in Virginia in 1868-‘9, he was military governor of that state and began a law practice. He was appointed provisional governor of Virginia when the Civil War ended and his administration was marked by efforts toward passage of a constitution under which, in its initial form, blacks would have been given the right to vote. He was the Republican candidate for governor in the latter year, but was defeated by Gilbert C. Walker. He had several dealings with General John M. Schofield, Union Cavalry General George Stoneman, and later General Edward R.S. Canby. In 1870-‘1 he was counsel, with Henry A. Wise, in the Chohoon and Ellyson mayoralty case, establishing who was the proper leadership in the City of Richmond after Reconstruction, during the trial of which he was almost fatally injured by the falling of a gallery, crowded with a large attendance of people, in the capitol at Richmond. In 1871-‘2 President Ulysses Grant appointed him United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, and he then removed to Washington, where, in 1875-‘80, he was U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia. Governor, General Wells died in Palmyra, New York on February 12, 1900

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