James Madison Wells

Wells was educated at the Jesuit-run St. Joseph's College in Bardstown south of Louisville, Kentucky; Partridge's Academy, Middletown, Connecticut; and Cincinnati Law School.[citation needed] Wells remained on his plantation outside Alexandria until the spring of 1863 when he remarked that the recently deceased Gen. "Stonewall" Jackson should be buried "in a gum coffin, and that the bottom plank might be very thin, so that he might eat his way down to where it was intended that he should go."Soon thereafter, he fled into the woods and briefly organized a band of unionist partisans, or Jayhawkers, to attack rebel supply trains.One year later, on March 4, 1865, Wells was inaugurated as governor when Michael Hahn resigned to become a United States Senator.[citation needed] Governor Wells did little to prevent violence, and General Philip Sheridan held him responsible.In 1873, he was appointed chairman of the State Returning Board, which was responsible for determining the legality of ballots and for discarding fraudulent votes.
Depiction of Wells, c. 1865.
James M. Wells IIIJames Monroe WellsGovernor of LouisianaLieutenantAlbert VoorhiesMichael HahnBenjamin FlandersLieutenant Governor of LouisianaBenjamin W. PearceAlexandria, LouisianaLecompte, LouisianaRepublican20th Governor of LouisianaReconstructionAlexandriaSt. Joseph's CollegeBardstownLouisville, KentuckyMiddletown, ConnecticutCincinnati Law SchoolCincinnati GazetteRapides ParishplantationsestatecottonplantationBayou HuffpowerAvoyelles ParishSheriffAndre B. Romanlarge slave holderDemocratThomas Overton MooreStephen A. DouglasCivil WarConfederate"Stonewall" JacksonJayhawkersUnion troopsparishesLieutenant Governorcompensated emancipationspecial electionHenry W. AllenNathaniel P. BanksHugh KennedyofficersblacksfreedmenleveesLouisiana State LegislaturesuffragePhilip SheridanUlysses S. GrantscalawagPort of New OrleansLouisiana Historical SocietyFind a GraveE. R. S. CanbyHenry C. WarmothGovernors of LouisianaState (1812–1861)ClaiborneVilleréRobertsonThibodauxH. JohnsonDerbignyBeauvaisDupréMoutonI. JohnsonWalkerHébertWickliffeConfederate (1861–1865)H. AllenUnion (1862–1865)ShepleyReconstruction (1865–1868)FlandersWarmothPinchbackJ. McEneryKelloggPackardNichollsS. McEneryM. J. FosterBlanchardSandersPleasantParkerSimpsonH. LongO. AllenE. LongKennonMcKeithenE. EdwardsRoemerM. FosterBlancoJindalJ. EdwardsLandryLieutenant governors of LouisianaPlauchéFarmerC. MoutonGriffinPearceVoorhiesAntoineMcEneryWaltonKnoblochJeffriesParlangeSnyderEstopinalLambremontBarretF. MoutonBouanchaudJohnsonGilbertFournetWingateLindseyM. MoutonVerretBarhamFrazarAycockFitzmorrisFreemanSchwegmannLandrieuAngelleDardenneNungesser