State Senator W.V. Wells and his 1915 Mitchell sedan.
Original Photo
The original photo used as reference for the mural was photographed by an unknown photographer in the early 1900s.
William Virgil Wells was born March 3, 1866 in Mannsville, New York. He was the son of Jeanette Lowry and John Wells.
He attended the Leavenworth Institute in New York before he switched to the Lima seminary in Lima, New York. In 1886, he went to Helena, Montana and later to Jamestown, North Dakota where he finished his education at Jamestown College and was admitted to the bar. William moved to Anacortes in 1890 and a year later he became the police judge and justice of the peace in Anacortes. He took a couple years long break away from Anacortes, between 1897 and 1901, to experience the Klondike excitement of prospecting. On his return, he resumed the practice of law.
W. V. Wells served as Mayor of Anacortes in 1909. He was elected by the Republican party and served two years, from 1912 to 1914, in the state house of representatives and later in the state senate from 1914 to 1922. From 1936 to 1944 he served as City Attorney and actively practiced law until 1947.
As one of the organizers of the Methodist Church, he was the last surviving member of the original board of trustees at the time of his death. He was also a charter member of the Elks, a member of Kiwanis club, Odd Fellow and Rebekah lodges. And at one point he was the president of the Chamber of Commerce and the Rotary Club.
William married Daisy Bell McLean in 1894, but she passed away in 1897 while pregnant with twins. He later remarried in 1916, to Verna Wolverton and they had two boys: William Virgil Wells Jr. and John A. Wells.
William passed away on May 11, 1951 in Anacortes, Washington and is interred at Grand View Cemetery in Anacortes, Washington.
