Mrs. Amy Lee Wells, was brought to this country with her mother as a slave from Madagascar Africa and settled in Kentucky, the exact region is not known. She and her mother never lived in the slave quarters, they were kept in the Big House. Her job was to wait or serve the mistresses of the house. These were hard and cruel times. Amys mother refused to meet the sexual demands of the slave master and others, as was the custom.
Because she refused one night the slave owner and some of the other men tied her to a tree and made Amy watch as they beat her mother to death. Needless to say Amy was devastated and ran away. It is not known how old she was at the time After the slaves were freed, it was custom and then became law that the slaves would carry the name of their last master. Many brothers and sisters therefore although of the same parental lineage had different last names. Ben Wells had two brothers one with the last name of Wells and the other named Andrew Stenson..
Ben and Amy managed during difficult times, of their union they had eight children, Joseph, tom, Francis, Maggie, Luther, John, Stella and Robert. They moved to a little town called Pritchett, Texas. Ben Wells was a very successful farmer and eventually bought up most of the land in the area. He was a generous man, he donated enough land for the small community to build a church and a school.
The slaves had been freed but that did not stop the evil hand of segregation that forced Ben and Amy to give up their home. One morning when, they got up to find a note pinned to the gatepost, it read, Ben Wells, don't let the sun go down on you here today. Fearing for his family, Ben and Amy gathered up as much as they could carry and moved their family to Gilmer, Texas. He was not able to trade or sell most of his property because they had to leave so quickly. It is believed that much of the land is still there, unclaimed.
Ben Wells was affectionately known as Grand Pa and Amy as Granny. Ben wells went home to be with the Lord in 1917 and Amy joined him in 1942 she was ninety-six (96) years old.