Erastus Wells

Erastus Wells (December 2, 1823 – October 2, 1893) was a 19th-century politician and businessman from Missouri. Wells was born in Jefferson County, New York, and was the only son of Otis Wells, a descendant of Hugh Welles, an early colonist of Wethersfield, Connecticut.

Professional career Wells lived on a farm and attended district schools from ages 12 to 16. At 16, Wells left the farm and moved to Watertown, New York, later moving on to Lockport, New York. He moved to St. Louis, Missouri, in September, 1843.

After the success of the bus lines, Wells helped in organizing another transportation venture, the Missouri Railway Company, and served as its president until 1881. The first Missouri Railway Company car operated on July 4, 1859. Wells eventually sold his interest in the Railway Company, but moved on to many other prominent positions. He was president of the Narrow-Gauge Railway, director in the Ohio and Mississippi Railroad, president of the Accommodation Bank, director and vice-president of the Commercial Bank, and president of the Laclede Gas-Light Company. Wells also had a part in the erection of the Southern Hotel.

Wells and Page proposed construction of the West End Narrow Gauge line in 1871, and again in 1872. The original plan would run via Wellston from Grand Ave. 140 ft north of Olive to Florissant. The Florissant extension was to be funded by their issue of $25K in bonds. Florissant agreed but state law limited bonds to 10% of assessed valuation making the bonds illegal. A route to Creve Coeur Lake was surveyed as an alternate. In 1873, 100 men were grading the route. Construction was delayed by the Panic of 1873.

It was January 9, 1875 before final construction began. The first train ran on June 11, 1875 from Grand Avenue to Kienlan Avenue in Wellston, a distance of five miles. The line was formally opened on June 17. An excursion train brought guests in two passenger cars and a flat car to Wellston where they were met by Wells who escorted guests to his nearby residence. The 8 mile trip from 4th & Olive was expected to take 1.5 hr to Wellston. The road was equipped with two locomotives, two passenger cars, and 10 freight cars. Trains were to run every half hour.

In October 1876, they reached Normandy; October 1, 1878, Florissant. The Narrow Gauge Railroad was known as the St. Louis & Florissant Narrow Gauge Railroad. The line was sold under foreclosure on March 18, 1879, to the Missouri Horse Railroad Co. Erastus Wells was President and his son, Rolla Wells was Superintendent. The road had stations at Carsonville, Scudder, Graham's, Taylor Rd, and Florissant. An additional station was reportedly located at Union Ave. The roundhouse and machine shop was in St. Ferdinand.

Sale of the railroad by Erastus Wells to an unnamed buyer was first reported in 1882. It was never a “paying concern." It had 16 miles of track from Grand to Florissant. On June 7, 1883, the buyer was revealed as the Cable & Western Railway, an Indianapolis syndicate. They planned to build a cable car line to downtown St. Louis.

In 1887, the narrow gauge railroad was considered as a possible route to Forest Park. The city objected to the smoke of the railroad. They favored conversion of the line to cable with a branch to Forest Park down Taylor Ave. In return they required the railroad to stop using steam within the city limits. The width of the narrow gauge right of way did not allow two directional cable and was considered impractical. Wells' Missouri Railway was a cable car line that ran down Olive Street. A route down Boyle to Maryland Street, and then to Kingshighway was approved. Service began on June 1, 1889.

In June 1890, the Cable & Western Railway was sold to the St. Louis & Suburban Railway. The cable was abandoned in 1891; the route was converted to electric streetcars to Wellston. It was known as the Suburban line. The streetcar lines of St. Louis were consolidated under United Railways. In 1905, they were acquired by North American Co., which also owned Laclede Gas Light and Union Electric.

In 1906, Suburban was the only car line in St. Louis not operated by United Railways. United Railways acquired Suburban in December 1909. The streetcar line to Wellston was renamed the Hodiamont line.

Political career Erastus Wells's political career began in 1848, with an election to the city council. He retained his seat there for fourteen years until he resigned to take his seat in Congress in 1869. After returning to St. Louis, the committee drafted a report of their findings, which spurred the legislature to pass an act authorizing the City of St. Louis to fund the construction of a new water-works, at a cost of three million dollars. Wells also introduced one of many bills put forward between 1870 and 1873 to establish the Territory of Oklahoma.

Death and legacy Wells died on October 2, 1893, aged 69, at Wellston, his country home.

The city of Wellston, Missouri, was named after him. Wells purchased 66 acres of land in St. Louis County in 1868 and built a three-story brick house on the property, which was the family's country home. That piece of land is part of what is now Wellston. A few years after his death in 1893, the house burned down; the cause of the fire was never determined.