Edit filter log

[ 0 => '{{Short description|American businessman (1855–1910)}}', 1 => '{{Use American English|date=December 2024}}', 2 => '{{Use mdy dates|date=December 2024}}', 3 => '{{Infobox person', 4 => '| name = Thomas E. Wells', 5 => '| image = ', 6 => '| caption = ', 7 => '| birth_name = Thomas Edmund Wells', 8 => '| birth_date = {{birth date|1855|01|28}}', 9 => '| birth_place = [[Birmingham]], [[Warwickshire]], [[England]], [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|United Kingdom]]', 10 => '| death_date = {{death date and age|1910|08|04|1855|01|28}}', 11 => '| death_place = [[Broadway, Worcestershire]], England, United Kingdom', 12 => '| party = ', 13 => '| spouse = {{Marriage|Mary [[Nash's House|Nash]]|1878}}', 14 => '| children = 7 ', 15 => '| parents = John Wells <br/> Diana Nash', 16 => '| relatives = [[Preston A. Wells Jr.]] (grandson)', 17 => '| education = ', 18 => '| occupation = {{hlist|Businessman|philanthropist}}', 19 => '| known_for = ', 20 => '| nationality = [[British subject]] <br> [[Citizenship of the United States|American citizen]]', 21 => '}}', 22 => '', 23 => ''''Thomas Edmund Wells''' (January 28, 1855&nbsp;– August 4, 1910) was a British American [[business magnate]] and philanthropist. He served as a member of the [[Chicago Board of Trade]] before leading one of the largest [[meat-packing industry|meat-packing companies]] in the United States. He was also one of the founders of the [[Quaker Oats Company]].<ref name=bh>{{Cite news |title=Thomas Edmund Wells (1855-1910) of Chicago and Broadway |url=https://broadwayhistorysociety.wordpress.com/2019/10/28/thomas-edmund-wells-1855-1910-of-chicago-and-broadway/ |access-date=2024-12-23 |publisher=Broadway History Society |language=en}}</ref>', 24 => '', 25 => 'Born and raised in [[Birmingham]], [[England]], Wells immigrated to the United States as a teenager in 1870. During the [[First Gilded Age]], he became a [[Self-made man|self-made]] [[millionaire]].<ref name=ct>{{Cite news |date=August 13, 1941|title=Thomas E. Wells' Widow Leaves 2 Million Estate |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/chicago-tribune-thomas-e-wells-widow-l/161442476/ |access-date=2024-12-23 |newspaper=[[Chicago Tribune]] |language=en}}</ref> He eventually returned to England where he lived in retirement and died from [[appendicitis]] in 1910.<ref>{{Cite news |date=August 19, 1910 |title=Wells Retreats To Aged Couples |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/chicago-tribune-wells-retreats-to-aged-c/161450222/ |access-date=2024-12-23 |newspaper=[[Chicago Tribune]] |language=en}}</ref>', 26 => '', 27 => '==Early life==', 28 => 'Thomas Edmund Wells was born on January 28, 1855, in Birmingham, England to John Wells and Diana Nash, grandniece of historian [[Treadway Russell Nash]]. He was baptized on June 3, 1855 in [[St George's Church, Edgbaston]] and was raised alongside his younger brother, Samuel.<ref name=bh/> In the summer of 1869, his mother died and the family decided to relocate the following year. In 1870, Wells, his father, and Samuel immigrated to the United States and settled in [[Hyde Park Township, Illinois]]. After immigrating, Wells dropped-out of school at age 15 and began his career.<ref>{{Cite news |date=February 15, 1900 |title=Oatmeal Trust Prospering |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/pittsburgh-post-gazette-oatmeal-trust-pr/161450017/ |access-date=2024-12-23 |newspaper=[[Pittsburgh Post-Gazette]] |language=en}}</ref>', 29 => '', 30 => '==Career==', 31 => 'In 1870, he began working as a bank messenger for Lunt, Preston, and Kean. He was working at the bank house during the [[Great Chicago Fire]]; escaping the building as it caught fire and collapsed. In 1873, he went to work for the [[Chicago Board of Trade]] and was made parter of the firm in 1876, alongside [[Robert Stuart (businessman)|Robert Stuart]]. By the late 1870s, Wells was appointed [[Board of directors|director]] of Stuart's new company, [[Quaker Oats Company|Quaker Oats]]; a position he would retain until his death. He would later serve as vice president.<ref>{{Cite news |date=February 14, 1905|title=Thomas E. Wells: Quaker Oats |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-inter-ocean-thomas-e-wells-quaker/161443245/ |access-date=2024-12-23 |newspaper=[[Chicago Inter Ocean]] |language=en}}</ref> At that time, the Quaker Oats Company was doing $16 million of sales annually, selling [[Breakfast cereal|wheat cereals]], [[Farina (food)|farina]], [[hominy]], [[cornmeal]], [[baby food]], and [[Fodder|animal feed]]. By 1918, the company did $123 million in sales.<ref>{{Cite news |date=February 13, 1901 |title=American Cereal Company |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-akron-beacon-journal-american-cereal/161449795/ |access-date=2024-12-23 |newspaper=[[Akron Beacon Journal]] |language=en}}</ref>', 32 => '', 33 => 'After a debter defaulted on their loan, Wells received several thousand head of [[Beef cattle|cattle]] as collateral. In 1890, he initially purchased 10,000 acres of land in the [[Sandhills (Nebraska)|Sandhills]] of the [[Nebraska panhandle]] from the [[Union Pacific Railroad]], establishing [[Rush Creek Ranch|Rush Creek Land & Livestock Company]]. Before his death, the ranch would grow to 155,864 acres and, as of 2024, the Wells family still owns and operates Rush Creek.<ref>{{Cite journal|date=July 19, 2021|title=Customer Highlight: Rush Creek|url=https://pwcbank.com/blog/2021/07/19/customer-highlight-rush-creek/#blog-post|access-date=2024-12-22|work=Points West Community Bank}}</ref>', 34 => '', 35 => '[[File:Henry Adkins firing his pistol toward Thomas E. Wells.jpg|thumb|Etching of Adkins firing his pistol on the trading floor; ''[[Chicago Inter Ocean]]'']]', 36 => 'In 1891, Henry Adkins, an "eccentric Englishman" who lost heavily in the market, stormed the floor of the Chicago Board of Trade and discharged his firearm three times before pointing the pistol at Wells in an apparent attempt to "call his attention". Adkins was arrested on site and charged with "assault to kill".<ref>{{Cite news |date=July 23, 1891|title=Attempted assassination of Thomas E. Wells |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-inter-ocean-attempted-assassination/161444385/ |access-date=2024-12-23 |newspaper=[[Chicago Inter Ocean]] |language=en}}</ref>', 37 => '', 38 => 'In 1896, Wells left the Chicago Board of Trade to become president of Continental Packing Company. He opened his own [[Proprietary trading|trading firm]], T.E. Wells & Co., in 1902 and became a major leader in the meat-packing industry.<ref>{{Cite news |date=September 30, 1916|title=Longest Spite Fence Doomed |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/chicago-tribune-longest-spite-fence-doom/161443793/ |access-date=2024-12-23 |newspaper=[[Chicago Tribune]] |language=en}}</ref>', 39 => '', 40 => '==Personal life==', 41 => 'Wells married his first cousin Mary Nash of [[Inkberrow]] in Chicago on October 17, 1878.<ref name=ct/> They had seven children together and lived in [[Hyde Park, Chicago]] until their retirement. They acquired [[English country house|Top Farm]] in the [[Cotswolds]] and the couple moved back to England where they lived until Thomas's death from [[appendicitis]] on August 4, 1910. His funeral service was conducted by Rev. [[Francis Xavier Morgan]] the following day and a memorial was held. His body was transported back to Chicago on the [[SS Baltic (1871)|SS ''Baltic'']], escorted by his son Preston. He was buried in Winnetka Congregational Church Cemetery.<ref name=bh/>', 42 => '', 43 => 'For many years, Wells was a member of the [[Chicago Club]].<ref name=bh/>', 44 => '', 45 => 'Children of Thomas E. Wells and Mary Nash:<ref name=bh/>', 46 => '* Mary Wells (1879–1969)', 47 => '* John Edward Wells (1881–1945)', 48 => '* Anne Diana Wells (1883–1957)', 49 => '* Thomas Edmund Wells Jr (1885–1940)', 50 => '* Richard Albert Wells (1888–1895)', 51 => '* Preston Albert Wells (1891–1974)', 52 => '* Eleanor May Wells (1896–1978)', 53 => '', 54 => '== References ==', 55 => '<references />', 56 => '', 57 => '{{Authority control}}', 58 => '', 59 => '{{DEFAULTSORT:Wells, Thomas E.}}', 60 => '[[Category:1855 births]]', 61 => '[[Category:1910 deaths]]', 62 => '[[Category:19th-century American businesspeople]]', 63 => '[[Category:19th-century British businesspeople]]', 64 => '[[Category:20th-century American businesspeople]]', 65 => '[[Category:20th-century British businesspeople]]', 66 => '[[Category:Businesspeople from Chicago]]', 67 => '[[Category:Businesspeople from Birmingham, West Midlands]]', 68 => '[[Category:American food company founders]]', 69 => '[[Category:Quaker Oats Company people]]', 70 => '[[Category:Businesspeople in the meat packing industry]]', 71 => '[[Category:19th-century American philanthropists]]', 72 => '[[Category:19th-century British philanthropists]]', 73 => '[[Category:20th-century American philanthropists]]' ]