James Madison Wells (7 January 1808 – 28 February 1899) was Governor of Louisiana from 4 March 1865 to 3 June 1867, succeeding Henry Watkins Allen/Michael Hahn and preceding Benjamin Flanders. A US Republican Party member, he was elected Governor during Reconstruction.
Biography[]
James Madison Wells was born in Alexandria, Louisiana on 7 January 1808. In 1829, he moved to Rapides Parish to manage several plantations owned by his family, and he inherited a substantial estate, the New Hope cotton plantation, the Wellswood sugar plantation, and the Jessamine Hill summer home after getting married in 1833. Wells was a member of the American Whig Party before its collapse, upon which he joined the US Democratic Party. In 1860, he supported Stephen A. Douglas during his campaign for the presidency, and he was arrested by the Confederate States of America for his pro-Union views during the American Civil War. Wells would escape from captivity and lead "Jayhawker" partisans in Louisiana in a guerrilla war against the Confederate States Army, attacking rebel supply trains. In 1864, he became Lieutenant-Governor of Louisiana under provisional governor Michael Hahn, and he succeeded Hahn as Governor in 1865 after the end of the war.
As Governor of Louisiana, Wells was a conservative, although he was officially a Republican. Wells removed radical politicians from office, and he appointed former Confederates to state and local offices. Wells also attempted to appease racists by paying for freedmen's schools with African-American taxes only, although he pushed for black suffrage. In 1867, General Philip Sheridan had Wells removed from the governorship due to his failure to prevent anti-black violence in Louisiana. He died in Lecompte, Louisiana in 1899 at the age of 91.