Bulkeley Wells - also Buckeley Wells - 1918

Bulkeley Wells (March 10, 1872–1931), also spelled Buckeley Wells, was an American businessperson involved in mining. Born in Chicago to businessman Samuel Edgar Wells and Marry Agnes Bulkeley, Wells was educated at

Roxbury Latin School The Roxbury Latin School is a private boys' day school that was founded in 1645 in the town of Roxbury (now a neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts) by the Rev. John Eliot under a charter received from King Charles I of England. It bills ...

and at

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

. He married into the wealthy family of Colonel Thomas L. Livermore, to daughter Grace Livermore. He moved to

Telluride, Colorado Telluride is the county seat and most populous town of San Miguel County in the southwestern portion of the U.S. state of Colorado. The town is a former silver mining camp on the San Miguel River in the western San Juan Mountains. The firs ...

, and joined the executive board of the Telluride Mining Association, and headed up the San Miguel County Citizens' Alliance (SMCCA). He had a deputy sheriff's commission, and was captain of Troop A of the

Colorado National Guard The Colorado National Guard consists of the Colorado Army National Guard and Colorado Air National Guard, forming the state of Colorado's component to the United States National Guard. Founded in 1860, the Colorado National Guard falls under t ...

. He was also a Mason, and an Elk. Wells became president and manager of the Smuggler-Union Mining Company after the murder of

Arthur L. Collins Arthur Launcelot Collins (8 July 1868 – 22 November 1902) was a British metallurgy, metallurgist, mining engineer and mine manager of properties in Mexico and the United States. He was born 8 July 1868 in Truro, Cornwall, England, the son of a ...

.MaryJoy Martin, ''The Corpse On Boomerang Road: Telluride's War On Labor 1899-1908.'' Montrose, CO: Western Reflections Publishing Co., 2004; pp. 181, 231. Bulkeley Wells was noted for his hostility to unions. He conducted a campaign of vilification of

Vincent Saint John Vincent Saint John (1876–1929) was an American labor leader and prominent Wobbly, among the most influential radical labor leaders of the 20th century. Biography Vincent St. John was born in Newport, Kentucky and was the only son of New York ...

, the head of the Telluride Miners' Union. Wells, according to writer MaryJoy Martin, was "born to privilege... nd wasconvinced laborers were beneath him," was intent upon hanging Vincent St. John, the head of the local miners union. According to Martin, Wells colluded with others, including Pinkerton Agent

James McParland James McParland (''né'' McParlan; 1844, County Armagh, Ireland – 18 May 1919, Denver, Colorado) was an American private detective and Pinkerton agent. McParland arrived in New York in 1867. He worked as a laborer, policeman and then in Chica ...

, and the Colorado

Mine Owners' Association In the United States, a Mine Owners' Association (MOA), also sometimes referred to as a Mine Operators' Association or a Mine Owners' Protective Association, is the combination of individual mining companies, or groups of mining companies, into an a ...

, to accuse St. John of conducting a "reign of terror" — and in particular, of murdering William J. Barney, a mine guard who had disappeared from his post. McParland, who decades earlier had been the special agent assigned to infiltrate the

Molly Maguires The Molly Maguires were an Irish 19th-century secret society active in Ireland, Liverpool and parts of the Eastern United States, best known for their activism among Irish-American and Irish immigrant coal miners in Pennsylvania. After a seri ...

in Pennsylvania, contributed his belief that an "Inner Circle" within the

Western Federation of Miners The Western Federation of Miners (WFM) was a trade union, labor union that gained a reputation for militancy in the mining#Human Rights, mines of the western United States and British Columbia. Its efforts to organize both hard rock miners and ...

was responsible for widespread assassinations. Former McParland stenographer

Morris Friedman Morris Friedman was, until 1905,Anthony Lukas, Big Trouble, 1997, page 687. the private stenographer for Pinkerton detective James McParland. Friedman came to the attention of the public when he published an exposé of anti-union actions by the pr ...

wrote that McParland gained considerable income from Colorado's mining interests for the

Pinkerton National Detective Agency Pinkerton is a private security guard and detective agency established around 1850 in the United States by Scottish-born cooper Allan Pinkerton and Chicago attorney Edward Rucker as the North-Western Police Agency, which later became Pinkerton ...

by making such unproved accusations. At the time of his disappearance, the Telluride authorities didn't know any details of Will Barney's age, marital status, family, or where he came from. But they found some remains, and they drew conclusions. Wells placed a skull in a shop window, adorned with a sign decrying the "Grewsome Work" of the Telluride Miners' Union. There was one complicating factor: William Julius Barney wasn't dead. Wells had an affair with socialite

Louise Sneed Hill Louise Sneed Hill (ca. June 30, 1862 – March 28, 1955) was a society leader in Denver, Colorado in the 19th century. She was the wife of Crawford Hill and daughter-in-law of senator and mining executive Nathaniel P. Hill. She created the first ...

while both were married. His wife, Grace Livermore Wells, divorced him in 1918.Debra Faulkner (December 3, 2010). Ladies of the Brown: A Women's History of Denver's Most Elegant Hotel. Arcadia Publishing Incorporated. p. PT45–PT47. .Marilyn Griggs Riley (2006). "She Decided "Who's Who in Denver Society": Louise Sneed Hill". High Altitude Attitudes: Six Savvy Colorado Women. Big Earth Publishing. pp. 7–20. . As a result of the divorce, Wells lost $15 million in mining interests and the financing he received from his wife's family. Wells and Hill continued their affair until the death of Louise's husband, Crawford Hill, in 1922. When he did not marry her, but eloped with another woman, Hill vowed to "break him." She persuaded his remaining financial backer,

Harry Payne Whitney Harry Payne Whitney (April 29, 1872 – October 26, 1930) was an American businessman, thoroughbred horse breeder, and member of the prominent Whitney family. Early years Whitney was born in New York City on April 29, 1872, as the eldest son ...

, to withdraw his support. He lost his mining empire and gas and oil speculations. He gambled and lost the last of his money. He committed suicide in 1931, while on the verge of bankruptcy.

Footnotes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wells, Bulkeley 1872 births 1931 deaths American mining businesspeople Harvard University alumni Colorado Mining Boom San Miguel County, Colorado Roxbury Latin School alumni Businesspeople from Chicago Colorado National Guard personnel 1931 suicides People from Telluride, Colorado Businesspeople from Colorado 20th-century American businesspeople