Harvey Wells is the founder of Wellston Ohio. Wells wrote a book called The new system of lightning calculation. Wells sold the book and took the earnings to purchase a prominent piece of land and planned to build a fine hotel. He tried to convince some Jackson men to join him on his endeavor, but they laughed at him and called him fool and a speculator. Wells left Jackson and got an option on 1000 acres of land rich with coal. He had no money to pay for the land, but he gave his promise to pay. He then went back to Jackson, to his lot and built 6 tenement houses. The men who had scoffed at him earlier came to him saying, We thought you were going to build a great hotel. This won't do. These houses will spoil this part of town. So Wells sold the land back to the scoffers at a handsome profit and told them his plans to build a new town, with the two largest iron furnaces in Ohio. Wells Stated: I'll have 40,000 to 50,000 people in 5 years because we have coal, clay, iron ore and everything needed to make iron. Then we'll come back to Jackson and move the courthouse to Wellston. And for a generation the Jackson men feared he would do it. Harvey Wells then placed a headquarters in Hamden and set about creating his city. Wells invited a delegation of businessmen and farmers to come see if they would be interested in investing in the town. The men were more than impressed with the area and its readily accessible natural resources. They agreed to invest in the city and thus Wellston was formed in 1873.
Learn more about Wellston Ohio HERE.