October 29, 2009- Polly Stewart, Sister of Jane Stewart Manning

Jane Stewart Manning and her sister Polly Stewart probably had many things in common. Two things are they both had sons that became physicians and they both moved to Walker county, Georgia.

Mary "Polly" Stewart was four years younger than her sister Jane Stewart. Polly Stewart was born in York, South Carolina on January 14, 1811 to John Stewart and Sarah Mullinax. Polly married John Wells in 1837 in Habersham, Georgia. Their first two children were born in Habersham county. In 1839 or 1840, Polly and John Wells moved to Walker county, Georgia where her sister Jane Stewart Manning and her family were living. They are first seen on the 1850 census living in East Armuchee, Walker, Georgia. Polly and John Wells had the following children:

William Boyden Wells-born in 1838 in Habersham, Georgia and died in 1892 in Chattanooga, Tennessee. He married Mary Pope.
Mary J. Wells- born in 1839 in Habersham, Georgia. She married Mr. Pope.
Benjamin Franklin Wells-born in 1841 in Georgia.
Artamecy Caroline Wells- born December 31, 1843 in Georgia and died January 14, 1919. She married William Huff Carter Freeman.
Cynthia Ann Wells- born in 1845 in Georgia and died November 24, 1924 in Whitfield, Georgia. She is buried at the Mill Creek Cemetery in Whitfield. She married John Robert Love. He is also buried at Mill Creek Cemetery.
Martha Darsilla Wells-born September 1847 and died April 1912. She married William Allison Love.
John Wells, Jr.-born August 22, 1849 in Walker County, Georgia and died July 10, 1926 in Springtown, Benton county, Arkansas. He married Alpha Edwina Frances Tate.
Jerome Wells- born November 18, 1851 in Whitfield county, Georgia. He married Telitha C. Love.

Polly's son, William Boyden Wells was a physician, just as his cousin Thomas Jefferson Manning (my great great grandfather). William apprenticed under Dr. Adam Clement, a Walker county pioneer doctor. Since learning that Dr. Clement apprenticed students, I think it is possible that Thomas Jefferson Manning may have studied with him. You may recall my earlier post about the University of Nashville Medical department, the medical school Thomas Jefferson Manning attended, required students to have studied for three years with a physician before they were accepted into the medical program.

Dr. William Wells served in the Civil War as a physician and surgeon. After the war, Dr. William Boyden Wells went to medical school at the Atlanta Medical College and graduated with a medical degree. He lived in Red Clay, Whitfield county as seen on the 1870 and 1880 census. A notation made on a Rootsweb site by a unknown person stated that Dr. Wells was a Medical Instructor. On the 1880 census, a young man named Robert J. Jamerson was living with he and his family and noted to be a medical student. It is likely that Dr. Wells was mentoring Robert Jamerson, just as he was mentored by Dr. Adam Clement. Between 1880 and 1885 Dr. Wells moved to Chattanooga, Tennessee. His granddaughter, Anna Marie Landress states in her "Reminiscences" book that she grew up in the house that Dr. Wells built in 1885. William Wells died in 1892 leaving his wife Mary with a young daughter, also named Mary.

Polly's other children migrated to Arkansas and Texas, except for Cynthia. Cynthia Ann Wells married John Robert Love and stayed in the Whitfield, Georgia area where her parents, Polly and John Wells were living in 1870. John Wells died January 3, 1879 and Polly Stewart Wells died December 8 1885. Both John and Polly are buried at the Mill Creek Cemetery in Whitfield county, Georgia.

P. S. Since writing this post, I have learned more about the young man, Robert J. Jamerson, that I mentioned as being mentored by Dr. William B. Wells in 1880. Robert J. Jamerson attended the University of Georgia and graduated in 1881 with a degree in medicine. I found this information in a book entitled, Historical Sketch of the University of Georgia by A. L. Hull, published in 1884.