Alexander Wells (California Judge)
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Alexander Wells (October 7, 1819 – October 31, 1854) was an associate justice of the
Supreme Court of California The Supreme Court of California is the Supreme court, highest and final court of appeals in the judiciary of California, courts of the U.S. state of California. It is headquartered in San Francisco at the Earl Warren Building, but it regularly ...
.


Early life

Wells was born on October 7, 1819, in
New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
.


Career

He was admitted to the bar about 1842, and practiced law in New York City. He also entered politics as a
Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (Cyprus) (DCY) **Democratic Part ...
, and was a member of the
New York State Assembly The New York State Assembly is the lower house of the New York State Legislature, with the New York State Senate being the upper house. There are 150 seats in the Assembly. Assembly members serve two-year terms without term limits. The Ass ...
in
1846 Events January–March * January 5 – The United States House of Representatives votes to stop sharing the Oregon Country with the United Kingdom. * January 13 – The Milan–Venice railway's bridge, over the Venetian Lagoon betwee ...
. About 1850, he moved to
California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
. In April 1852, he was appointed a temporary Associate Justice of the California Supreme Court, to serve during the absence of Justice
Solomon Heydenfeldt Solomon Heydenfeldt (1816 – September 15, 1890) was an American attorney who was an associate justice of the California Supreme Court from 1852 to 1857. He was the second Jewish justice of the court, after Henry A. Lyons, but was the first ...
, and remained on the bench until October. In 1852, he won the Democratic nomination in a special election for Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of California, defeating the incumbent Alexander O. Anderson who had been appointed to the vacancy caused by the resignation of
Henry A. Lyons Henry Augustus Lyons (October 5, 1809 – July 27, 1872) was the second Chief Justice of California, appointed to the court by the California State Legislature at the formation of the state. He was the first Jewish justice on the court. Bac ...
. On November 2, 1852, Wells was elected for the remainder of the term, which expired at the end of 1854. In 1854, he was nominated for election to a full term, but died before the election. One historian summed up his judicial career as follows: "The sixth associate justice, Alexander Wells, who came to the bench in 1853 at the age of 59, died a year later, leaving no published legal mark on the court".


Personal life

On October 7, 1846, he married Annie Van Rensselaer Van Wyck (1822–1919),''The American Monthly Magazine''
(Vol. 3; 1893; pg. 686) the daughter of Philip Gilbert Van Wyck (1786–1870) and Mary Smith (
née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...
Gardiner) Van Wyck (1788–1858). Her paternal grandparents were Catherine Van Cortlandt (1751–1829) and Abraham Van Wyck (1748–1786) and her uncles were Pierre Van Cortlandt Van Wyck and David Gardiner. Wells was introduced to Annie by her cousin, Stephen Van Rensselaer. Together they had: * Ann Van Cortlandt Wells (1848–1848), who died young. * Gertrude Van Cortlandt Wells (1849–1944), who married Schuyler Hamilton, Jr. (1853–1907), the son of
Schuyler Hamilton Schuyler Hamilton (July 22, 1822 – March 18, 1903) was an American soldier, farmer, engineer, and a grandson of Alexander Hamilton. Early life Hamilton was born on July 22, 1822, in New York City. He was the fifth of 14 children born to John C ...
and grandson of
Alexander Hamilton Alexander Hamilton (January 11, 1755 or 1757July 12, 1804) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the first U.S. secretary of the treasury from 1789 to 1795 dur ...
, in 1877. Before their divorce in 1884, they had three children. In 1901, she married the Baron Raoul Nicholas de Graffenried. He was the son of Baron Emanuel de Graffenried, Ambassador from Switzerland to Austria, and his wife, Baroness Gabrielle de Barco,
lady-in-waiting A lady-in-waiting (alternatively written lady in waiting) or court lady is a female personal assistant at a Royal court, court, attending on a royal woman or a high-ranking nobility, noblewoman. Historically, in Europe, a lady-in-waiting was o ...
to the
Empress of Austria This is a list of the Austrian empresses, archduchesses, duchesses and margravines, wives of the List of rulers of Austria, rulers of Austria. The monarchy in Austria was abolished at the end of the First World War in 1918. The different title ...
, assassinated at Geneva, while traveling the
Swiss Alps The Alps, Alpine region of Switzerland, conventionally referred to as the Swiss Alps, represents a major natural feature of the country and is, along with the Swiss Plateau and the Swiss portion of the Jura Mountains, one of its three main Physica ...
. They divorced in 1908. * Grady Wells (1852–1854), who died young. Wells died suddenly on October 31, 1854, at his home in
San Jose, California San Jose, officially the City of San José ( ; ), is a cultural, commercial, and political center within Silicon Valley and the San Francisco Bay Area. With a city population of 997,368 and a metropolitan area population of 1.95 million, it is ...
.''History of the Supreme Court justices of California''
by J. Edward Johnson (1963; pg. 1831) In 1903, his widow inherited the estate of her sister, Joanna L. Van Wyck, estimated at several million dollars.


See also

*
List of justices of the Supreme Court of California The Supreme Court of California is the highest judicial body in the state and sits at the apex of the judiciary of California. Its membership consists of the Chief Justice of California and six associate justices who are nominated by the Govern ...
* Hugh Murray *
Solomon Heydenfeldt Solomon Heydenfeldt (1816 – September 15, 1890) was an American attorney who was an associate justice of the California Supreme Court from 1852 to 1857. He was the second Jewish justice of the court, after Henry A. Lyons, but was the first ...


References


External links


Portrait of Alexander Wells
at the California Supreme Court Historical Society

California State Courts. Retrieved July 19, 2017. {{DEFAULTSORT:Wells, Alexander 1819 births 1854 deaths California Democrats Democratic Party members of the New York State Assembly Justices of the Supreme Court of California 19th-century American judges 19th-century American lawyers 19th-century members of the New York State Legislature