Biography of Rollin J. Wells

Rollin J. Wells, born June 24, 1848, in Moline, Illinois, was a distinguished lawyer and literary figure in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. After studying at the University of Michigan and teaching in Illinois, he pursued law, being admitted to the bar in 1878. Moving to Sioux Falls, Wells established a successful legal practice, eventually partnering with George T. Blackman. Wells was also known for his literary work, notably the dramatic poem “Hagar.” Married to Susan L. Little in 1870, Wells had five children. He was a respected public figure, noted for his contributions to law, literature, and civic life.


Rollin J. Wells, senior member of the well-known and prominent law firm of Wells & Blackman, of Sioux Falls, was born in the city of Moline, Illinois, on the 24th of June, 1848, and is a son of Luke and Harriet (Robinson) Wells. After completing the curriculum of the public schools of his native city Mr. Wells was matriculated in the University of Michigan, at Ann Arbor, in the literary department of which celebrated institution he continued his studies for two years, after which he was for a time engaged in teaching in the public schools of his native state. He began the reading of law in the office and under the direction of Judge George E. Waite, of Geneseo, Illinois, and was admitted to the bar of the state in 1878. In the same year he came to Sioux Falls and established himself in practice as one of the pioneer members of the bar of this state, while in 1887 he was admitted to practice in the supreme court of the United States. Mr. Wells conducted an individual practice until 1881, when he entered into a professional partnership with William A. Wilkes, under the firm name of Wilkes & Wells, this alliance continuing until 1890, when he entered into his present professional association with George T. Blackman. Mr. Wells has attained high prestige as an able advocate and counselor, being thoroughly well informed in the minutiae of the science of jurisprudence, preparing his causes with most punctilious care and presenting the same with force and directness, so that he has naturally been successful as a trial lawyer, while he has so ordered his course as to retain the unqualified respect of his professional confreres as well as the general public. His firm has a clientage of a distinctively important and representative character throughout and incidentally it should be noted that it has charge of the financial business in the state of the Phoenix Mutual Life Insurance Company, of Hartford, Connecticut.

Mr. Wells is known as one of the city’s most public-spirited and loyal citizens and has been identified with a large number of important enterprises, while he has lent his aid and influence in the furtherance of all measures tending to conserve the material and civic advancement and prosperity of his home city and state. In politics he may be designated as an independent Republican, having taken an active interest in public affairs but never having sought the honors or emoluments of political office. Fraternally he is a master Mason, and he and his wife are members of the Congregational church.

It is signally consonant that in this connection reference be made to the exceptional literary taste and ability possessed by Mr. Wells, who has written several books, the most notable of which is a dramatic poem in three acts, entitled Hagar, and having to do with the pitiful story of Hagar and her son, Ishmael, whose tragic wanderings, as told in the Bible, have been a favored theme of painters and poets from the earliest times. That in the midst of an intensely busy and practical life Mr. Wells should have found time and inclination to bring forth even this one beautiful literary gem speaks well for his appreciation and insistent gift of poesy. The work is one which merits a place in every ecclesiastical and secular library and is a distinctive contribution to the sum total of pure and undefiled English—a veritable classic in its dignity and exaltation of thought and felicity of expression. Concerning this work the Chicago Chronicle spoke as follows:

“From Sioux Falls, South Dakota, comes an unexpected piece of literary work that commends itself to public attention. ‘Hagar,’ by Rollin J. Wells, is a dramatic poem in three acts. The story, as given in the Bible, is altered somewhat, but not in any wise distorted. Mr. Wells has accented and modified certain points, as the literary artist has the right to do in order to heighten poetic effect. The beauty of Hagar, her misfortunes through no fault of her own, the important part her descendants have played in history, have made a frequent and worthy subject for pen and pencil. A special merit of Mr. Wells’ poem is that he has brought out in strong light the moral character of the heroine.

The maid Hagar has a lover, Athuriel. The bond between them is the purest, and nothing seems possible to mar their happiness. Suddenly Hagar is informed through a priest that it is the will of God that she should be the proud mother of Abraham’s race. The heart of the girl instinctively rebels at the proposition and she declares she will die before submitting to such a violation of her love. Deeply religious, and accustomed to venerating the commands of God, she has a prolonged struggle between what is pointed out as duty and what seems to her the rights of her own heart. Finally she yields, knowing

‘The ways of God are strange to men, but he
Makes known his wishes through his priests.’

This moral beauty in Hagar’s character lends added pathos to the situation. The poet, however, does not leave his heroine a mere helpless victim of the priest’s command. Ethical justice steps in, and the final scene shows Abraham kneeling at the feet of the banished Hagar, who is now the happy wife of Athuriel. The poem is characterized by simplicity, strength and beauty, and with slight modification could easily be adapted to the needs of the stage. The fitting illustrations are by William L. Hudson. (Broadway Publishing Company. New York.)”

Of the work the South Dakotan, a monthly magazine, gave the following estimate:

“South Dakota may take proper pride in its book literature, and no single piece of it is more pride-engendering than the last contribution to it—Mr. Rollin J. Wells’ dramatic poem, ‘Hagar.’ It is a rare proposition for a busy and successful lawyer to give up his leisure to refined literature, but Mr. Wells has found his most congenial recreation in producing verses of graceful measure and exquisite diction, and in ‘Hagar,’ his most ambitious production, he has reached a high plane. It is the Biblical story elaborated into one hundred and twenty-five pages of heroic verse, introducing many dramatic situations and lines of extraordinary strength, stamping Mr. Wells a poet of high order.

As showing the stately measure employed we quote a few lines from the third act of this remarkable work, the action being carried into the field of battle, as Athuriel has sworn to avenge Hagar’s wrongs:

‘Most gloriously to battle goes the King of Kings.
The heavens are rent asunder, while the earth in tremor swings;
The mountains smoke before Him and the moon grows dark with blood:
And the angry seas are lifted in a great and swelling flood.'”

In concluding this brief sketch we enter the following data in regard to the domestic chapter in the life of Mr. Wells: On the 20th of December, 1870, he was united in marriage to Miss Susan L. Little, of Geneseo, Illinois, and they have five children, Robert L., who is in the employ of the great wholesale grocery house of Sprague, Warner & Company, of Chicago; Bertha, who remains at the parental home; Helen W., who is the wife of Frederick E. Phillips, of Sioux Falls; Ruth, who is a popular teacher in the high school of this city, and Mary L., who is at home.


Source: Robinson, Doane, History of South Dakota: together with mention of Citizens of South Dakota, [Logansport? IN] : B. F. Bowen, 1904.


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