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ARTIFACT COLLECTION

Daniel Wells Jr.

M1988.015.001
c. mid 19th century

Oil on canvas. Oval frame. Portrait depicts a middle aged man with a salt and pepper beard and dark hair.

Daniel Wells Jr. was an early settler of Milwaukee. Arriving by 1835, in what is considered the pioneer period, he traveled west from New England. Wells invested in land when he arrived, and quickly became a leader of the fledgling city. He was respected businessman and financier, serving as the vice president of Milwaukee’s Board of Trade, founded in 1849. He was also the president of the LaCrosse and Milwaukee Railroad lines, and a director at the Northwestern National Insurance Company. As a Democrat, Wells was also interested in politics and by 1852 had been elected to Congress, as well as re-elected in 1854. At his death, in 1902, Wells was one of the wealthiest men in Wisconsin with a value of well over 10 million dollars to his name.