Biographical Database of NAWSA Suffragists, 1890-1920

Biography of Anna Albertson Wells, 1854-1932

By Carrie Dunham-LaGree, professor, Drake University, Des Moines, Iowa

Anna Albertson was born July 31, 1854 in Kent, Michigan to Isaac and Anjenette Anderson. In 1856, when Anna was two, the family moved to Nebraska. Her father established a settlement called Buchanan, after then president James Buchanan. They were the first family to settle in Colfax County, Nebraska. Anna lived in the county the rest of her life. She was one of the first students to attend Peru State Normal College. She worked as a teacher at The Fisher School.

Anna married George H. Wells on June 30, 1880. They had three daughters, Clara, born in 1881, Beth, born in 1885, and Florence, born 1892. Beth died in 1887.

Anna was a charter member and past president of the Schuyler Women's Club and a suffragist. She was a keynote speaker at the 1901 Nebraska Equal Suffrage Association convention in Lincoln. Her speech was titled "It Would Tend to Develop the Higher Womanhood of Woman." Also at that convention, a resolution she submitted with Mrs. E.L. Parmelee and Nellis Taylor was adopted. That resolution resolved that tax-paying women have the right to vote on tax propositions

George died in 1924. Anna died on July 22, 1932. At the time of her death, she was the oldest continuous resident of Colfax County, Nebraska.

Sources:

"First Family Member in Colfax Co. Passes On." The Weekly Schuyler Sun (Schuyler, Nebraska), July 28, 1932, p. 1.

"Mrs. G.H. Wells, of First Colfax Family is Stricken." The Weekly Schuyler Sun (Schuyler, Nebraska), July 21, 1932, p. 1.

Pelkey, Mrs. Allie B. "Woman Suffrage Column" Custer County Republican (Broken Bow, Nebraska), Dec. 26, 1901, p. 8.

Pelkey, Mrs. Allie B. "Woman Suffrage Column" Custer County Republican (Broken Bow, Nebraska), Jan 2, 1902, p. 6.

"Woman's Work in Club and Charity." Omaha Daily Bee, Nov. 8, 1901.

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