William Apekonit Wells (abt. 1770 - 1812)

Born about 1770 in Jacob's Creek, Pennsylvania

Died 15 Aug 1812 at about age 42 in Chicago, Cook, Illinois

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Biography

Born in Pennsylvania, William Wells’ father (Hayden Wells) moved the family to the Louisville, Kentucky area when he was a boy. In 1781, by the time he was 11 years old, his mother had died and his father had been killed in an Indian raid. A friend of the family, Colonel William Pope, took the orphaned William and his brothers in. Three years later, in 1784, William was taken captive by a Miami Indian war party. He was adopted by Chief Gaviahatte (The Porcupine). Living with the Indians appealed to William who was given the name Apekonit (Carrot) most likely due to his red hair. He would marry an Indian girl and they would have a child by the time his brothers found him. William was urged to return to their home but he wouldn’t under the circumstances. In time, William became important among the Miamis as a warrior and as a negotiator with his knowledge of English. He became friends with Little Turtle, a famous Miami war chief, so much so that when his first wife and child were taken hostage and probably assumed dead, William would marry Chief Little Turtle’s daughter, Sweet Breeze.

William would stay with the Miami tribe until 1794 when he decided for some reason to join Anthony Wayne’s army and become an interpreter. Some have suggested he may have become a spy for Little Turtle while others believe he’d had enough bloodshed and wanted to work towards peace, something William hadn’t known in his life.

He eventually attained the rank of captain while with Wayne and was present at the negotiating and signing of the Treaty of Greeneville in 1795. This treaty forced the Indians to give up all of their lands in present-day Ohio except for a small area in the northwest of the state. Wells retired from the military after the Treaty of Greeneville and settled near Fort Wayne, Indiana, with his wife where he lived as a farmer and traded with the local Indians. But he wasn’t done working as a go between with the Indians and Americans. In 1802, President Thomas Jefferson appointed Wells as an Indian agent. He assisted the government in negotiating treaties with the natives, serving in this position until 1809. As a show of gratitude for Wells' good service as an agent and as an interpreter and scout for Wayne, the United States Congress gave Wells 320 acres of land near Fort Wayne in 1808.

Finally, when the War of 1812 broke out, William rejoined the American Army. He continued trying to forge an honorable and just relationship between his two incompatible cultures. William Wells was killed by Potawatami Indians on August 15, 1812, while leading some Miamis and soldiers from the besieged Fort Dearborn (Chicago). He was beheaded and his heart was devoured by his attackers, who hoped to ingest their victim's courage.

Sources

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Wells_(soldier)

• http://touringohio.com/history/william-wells.html

• https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/18787304/william-wells