Historical Society to rededicate plaque today for Robert Wells

Gemma Asel/News Tribune photo: The new historical plaque honoring Judge Robert Wells is featured in the Missouri River Regional Library in Jefferson City.
Gemma Asel/News Tribune photo: The new historical plaque honoring Judge Robert Wells is featured in the Missouri River Regional Library in Jefferson City.

Eighty years is a long time to endure the hot Missouri sun and the bitter frosty winters. The harsh seasons can break down even the toughest of materials.

That's why the plaque which marked where Judge Robert Wells' home once stood on the corner of Adams and High streets has been removed.

But thanks to the Cole County Historical Society, the corner -- which is now home to the Missouri River Regional library -- won't be unmarked for long.

Judge Robert Wells is known and respected for countless roles he fulfilled during his lifetime, including serving as state attorney general and U.S. district court judge, to designing the Missouri state seal.

The historical society is replacing the 80-year-old plaque with a new one to honor Wells' accomplishments and mark the site of his home.

The Cole County Historical Society, along with the library, are hosting a rededication ceremony for the new plaque at 2 p.m. today in the Jefferson City library branch.

The unveiling will be held inside the library in the second floor gallery following a brief talk on the history and life of Judge Robert William Wells by Bob Priddy of the historical society.

"We took it down last year," said Mary Adrian, board member of the Cole County Historical Society. "So it's ready to go back."

This replacement, which cost the Historical Society around $10,000, was done to preserve the history of Wells and the marker.

"I don't think that anyone had done a tribute to him (Wells); I had not heard of any until the historical society formed and decided to do that," Adrian said.

According to the historical society, the original marker was the first project that the Cole County Historical Society completed after it was organized.

"In 1941, the Cole County Historical Society was formed. They had it in the works to do a commemoration for Mr. Wells for the seal," Adrian said.

Henry Gensky, tour guide at the Missouri State Museum, said the historical society faced complications in the 1940s when it attempted to create the plaque for Wells.

"It was during the second World War, so metal was very scarce," Gensky said. "So that's why they used zinc instead of bronze on the original one."

The new marker will be placed on the exterior wall of the library to commemorate Wells' and mark the place where Maple Terrace, his mid 19th-century home, once stood.

"I thought it was amusing that the whole lot only cost (Wells) $32.75," Gensky said. "But he utilized that when he built the house. It was the social center of Jefferson City way back when."

Jefferson City became home for Wells in 1826.

"Mr. Wells is buried in that cemetery on East McCarty," Adrian said. "That was the very first cemetery that the capital had. So if you pull up his name, or that cemetery, it'll show you exactly where that is. In fact, there's a big picture of it (the headstone) online."

  photo  Robert William Wells.
 
 
  photo  Maple Terrace.