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James N. Wells' Sons records

Call Number

MS 599

Date

1700s-1981 (bulk, 1820s-1930s), inclusive

Creator

James N. Wells' Sons (New York, N.Y.)
Wells, James Nicholas, 1790-1860
Moore, Clement Clarke, 1779-1863

Extent

44 Linear feet in 39 boxes of various sizes.

Language of Materials

The bulk of the documents in the collection are in English, with a few in French and German.

Abstract

James N. Wells (1790-1860), his descendants, and the real estate firm of James Wells' Sons were central figures in the development of the Chelsea neighborhood of New York City's Manhattan borough. Clement Clarke Moore (1779-1863) was a major landowner in Chelsea, which takes its name from Moore's estate, and Wells was Moore's agent in the development and management of the properties. The properties of Moore's heirs and extended family were managed by Wells's son, grandsons, and successor businesses into the twentieth century. This collection, with extensive real estate transaction documentation, provides an in-depth view of the property holdings of the Moore family from the 18th to early 20th centuries, and the intricacies and long tail of generational wealth transfers.

Biographical / Historical

James N. Wells (1790-1860), his descendants, and the real estate firm of James Wells' Sons were central figures in the development of the Chelsea neighborhood of New York City's Manhattan borough. Although the firm of James Wells' Sons did not appear by that name until the 1890s, it traced its existence back to 1819 and its founder, carpenter James Nicholas Wells. (The firm no longer exists after being subsumed by other firms in the late twentieth century.)

By 1817, James Wells was buying property on Vandam and Varick streets and building houses especially, it appears, in what was then the city's 8th Ward, or in what is now the West Village and areas to the east. By 1830 or earlier, Wells was known, perhaps both by professional reputation and by church or religious affiliation, to Clement Clarke Moore (1779-1863). Known to later generations as the author of "A Visit from St. Nicholas," Moore was a landowner of the family estate known then as "Chelsea," the name that continues to be attached to that area of Manhattan. To at least some extent, Moore consulted with Wells on the disposition of the property. In the end, Moore retained the property and appointed Wells as his agent for handling the development, construction, leasing, and management of Chelsea, as well as of Moore's personal transactions. Wells's business relationships grew beyond Moore, though perhaps because of that reputable connection, to include others, including as agent for Columbia College when it sought to lease its developed properties in what is now midtown Manhattan during the 1840s and 1850s. He had a sufficient reputation that he was a collector for a Building Fund in the early 1830s for the Protestant Episcopal Church of St. Peter's. Part of a sizable family himself, Wells's reach extended in the 1840s to the new town of Matagorda in the independent Republic of Texas, where his son-in-law Abner Lee Clements was involved in building the first Episcopal church in Texas.

Wells died in November 1860. One of his several children, James N. Wells, Jr., was also a carpenter and by that time was likely about 40 years of age. In his will, Wells bequeathed to his son the office and all the things needed to continue the real estate business (see Wells's will in Box 29). Wells, Jr. did so, perhaps in partnership with his father's brother-in-law, William Roome, whose name appears on checks and business correspondence with Wells Jr. through the 1860s. Clement Moore died in 1863, shortly after Wells Sr., leaving his estate to various descendants. With this the Wells-Moore relationship passed into a second generation, with Wells Jr. handling property and other financial matters for various Moore descendants and relations, both for Chelsea holdings and beyond, such as assisting Moore's son, Benjamin (1818–1886), with building a house in Sing Sing, New York (now Ossining).

Wells Jr. died in 1892, and his two sons, James N. Wells III and William J. Wells became the third generation of Wellses in the real estate business. It was at this time that the business then took on the name James N. Wells' Sons, continuing to handle business for the extended Moore descendants and other real estate matters. The Wells family connections ended early in the twentieth century with the death of James Wells III in 1908 and his brother William in 1913. In 1908, William had taken James P. Eadie on as partner. Eadie had joined the firm in 1893, shortly after the death of Wells Jr. With William's death, Eadie continued the business. Among the deals brokered by the firm during Eadie's tenure (on behalf of Clement Moore descendants) was the lease to Henry Mandel in the 1920s that led to the construction of the London Terrace apartment building, one of the largest in the world at the time.

Through multiple generations, the Wells business was run as a sole proprietorship or partnership. Only in 1931 was the firm incorporated under Eadie. And coincidentally or not, it is about this point in time that the collection, which holds primarily documents from the 1810s into the early twentieth century, begins to close, with far fewer documents from the later twentieth century. At some point in the 1930s, the firm changed location, from its building since the 1830s at 191 Ninth Avenue to one at 340 West 23rd Street, the address that successor firms continued to occupy. Eadie ran the business until his death in 1942 and it continued on with a succession of officers with longstanding ties to the firm.

In 1977 James N. Wells' Sons was acquired by another Chelsea real estate operator, Paul E. Gay, though Gay had been in the city and the business only since the 1960s. With the acquisition, the new firm was named Wells & Gay. Gay died in 1989, at which point the building and the business was acquired by realtor Elizabeth Stribling, who had been in the field since 1980. The merged entity was called Stribling, Wells & Gay Associates, and around 2000, the Stribling firm generously donated this collection of historical documents to N-YHS. The Stribling firm was acquired and became part of yet another real estate firm, Compass, around 2019.

(The above note was based on various on-line sources including, among others, the New York Times archive and Wikipedia, and documents in the collection.)

Arrangement

The collection is unprocessed and there is no overall arrangement to it. Files on particular matters, that relate to particular properties or individuals, or that hold particular formats (e.g., checks, leases, etc.) can be found across multiple boxes in the collection. Nonetheless, the documents are foldered and accessible, and in many cases, folder content relates to a particular matter.

Scope and Contents

The collection includes the business records of James N. Wells (1790-1860) and those of his son, James N. Wells, Jr., and of his grandsons, who operated under the name of James Wells' Sons. The collection is rich with documentation concerning Clement Clarke Moore's (1779-1863) finances and the development and management of his properties in what is now the Chelsea section of Manhattan, and that of Moore's family members and heirs. Moore family records in the collection extend back to the 1700s and geographically beyond New York City, including to the Kayadarosseras Patent in upstate New York. Among the surnames associated with Moore (and other Moores) are Clarke, Ogden, and Taylor, and records related to the finances and properties of these names appear throughout the collection.

The Wells family amassed a substantial number of documents in support of their work for the extended Moore family so it can be difficult to perceive whether any set of documents was related to the Moore family or to other matters that the Wells family handled. For example, many files relate to the senior Wells's work for arranging leases, furnishings, and other matters for Columbia College, reporting to trustee G.M. Ogden, a prominent Moore-related surname in the collection. Nonetheless, the records include many matters handled by the Wells, perhaps especially Wells senior, unrelated to Moore, such as his construction of a house for John Adriance on Grand Street in 1821-22 or his support in the 1840s for his son-in-law Abner Lee Clements's effort to build a church in Matagorda, Republic of Texas. One surname that appears frequently in the collection is Ray, as in Richard Ray, Robert Ray, Mary Ray de Courval, and the related Marie Madeleine Isabelle de Courval, with extensive documents for the management of their estates and properties ranging from the mid-1800s into the mid-twentieth century.

Documents in the collection include rental agreements/leases, deeds, and other indentures; correspondence, including to/from Clement Moore; survey maps of lots, primarily in Chelsea; specifications for buildings or aspects of buildings, such as masonry or plumbing; title abstracts; invoices/bills and account statements for construction material, cartage, fixtures, utilities, assessments for utilities, dry goods, property taxes, and more; insurance policies; lists of property owners and rent rolls; cancelled checks and check stubs; wills; legal filings; and more related principally to property acquisition, development, ownership, disposition, and wealth transfer through generations.

The collection is not processed and the contents have only been skimmed for content. The content of most of the boxes is generally the same: files with a broad mix of the document types noted above, ranging widely from the early 1800s into the early 1900s, most of which seem to relate to Moore and his family through generations and their properties, though other names, such as Ray, Southard, and Storm appear. Some attempt was made in the box level notes to identify materials of interest beyond Moore, such as those concerning Columbia College, the Protestant Episcopal Church of St. Peter, or the General Theological Seminary, but these cannot be relied on exclusively. Date ranges are approximate as they are based on skims.

Access Restrictions

Open to qualified researchers. Materials are stored offsite and advance notice is required for use. Please contact manuscripts@nyhistory.org prior to your research visit to coordinate access. Keep in mind that it will take between two (2) and five (5) business days for collections to arrive, and you should plan your research accordingly.

Use Restrictions

Taking images of documents from the library collections for reference purposes by using hand-held cameras and in accordance with the library's photography guidelines is encouraged. As an alternative, patrons may request up to 20 images per day from staff.

Application to use images from this collection for publication should be made in writing to: Department of Rights and Reproductions, The New-York Historical Society, 170 Central Park West, New York, NY 10024-5194, rightsandrepro@nyhistory.org. Phone: (212) 873-3400 ext. 282.

Copyrights and other proprietary rights may subsist in individuals and entities other than the New-York Historical Society, in which case the patron is responsible for securing permission from those parties. For fuller information about rights and reproductions from N-YHS visit: https://www.nyhistory.org/about/rights-reproductions

Preferred Citation

The collection should be cited as: James N. Wells' Sons Records, MS 599, New-York Historical Society.

Location of Materials

Materials are stored offsite and advance notice is required for use. Please contact manuscripts@nyhistory.org prior to your research visit to coordinate access. Keep in mind that it will take between two (2) and five (5) business days for collections to arrive, and you should plan your research accordingly.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Gift of the firm of Stribling, Wells and Gay Associates, 2000.

Collection processed by

Larry Weimer and Elise Winks

About this Guide

This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2023-08-21 15:46:21 -0400.
Using Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language: Finding aid written in English

Processing Information

At time of acquisition, various conservation steps were taken with the collection and the documents were placed in archival folders and boxes. But no processing, in terms of arrangement or otherwise rationalizing the content of the collection, has been done. In 2020 and 2021, surveys of the content were made by archivists Elise Winks and Larry Weimer for this summary finding aid.

Repository

New-York Historical Society
New-York Historical Society
170 Central Park West
New York, NY 10024