Editing Wells County, Indiana (section)

==History==
The [[Indiana Territory|Territory of Indiana]] was established in 1800 as legitimized by the [[Northwest Ordinance]] of 1787. The governing structure established through this act began creating counties in the territory as it became increasingly populated. In December 1816, the [[Indiana|State of Indiana]] was admitted to the Union. Wells was named after famous frontiersmen [[William Wells (soldier)|William A. Wells]] who played a central role in the [[Northwest Indian War]]s and the activity surrounding [[Fort Miami (Indiana)|Fort Miami]] and [[Kekionga]].<ref>Captain William A. Wells was captured by [[Native Americans in the United States|Native Americans]] as a young boy and adopted by the [[Miami tribe|Miami]] chief [[Michikinikwa|Little Turtle]]. He eventually became a scout for Gen. [[Anthony Wayne|"Mad Anthony" Wayne]]. Capt. Wells was killed by [[Potawatomi]] allied with the British at the [[Battle of Fort Dearborn]] at the outbreak of the [[War of 1812]].</ref> It was initially assigned to [[Allen County, Indiana|Allen County]] for legislative and administrative affairs.{{Citation needed|date=April 2023}}

In the winter of 1835, Col. John Vowter of [[Jennings County, Indiana|Jennings County]], Chairman of the Committee on New Counties, introduced a bill proposing that the assembly "lay out all the unorganized territory to which the Indian title had been extinguished in the state into a suitable number of counties". This bill would be approved later that year on February 7, effectively creating thirteen [[Northern Indiana]] counties, one of which was Wells.{{sfn|Tyndall|Lesh|1918a|pp=284&ndash;286}}

On February 2, 1837, an act was passed by the state, authorizing Wells County to be organized independent of Allen County, and specifying May 1 for the date of the first meeting. However, that meeting did not take place, and so an act dated January 20, 1838, authorized the meeting of appointed commissioners to decide on a county seat. That vote was completed on March 5, 1838, selecting [[Bluffton, Indiana|Bluffton]].{{sfn|Tyndall|Lesh|1918a|pp=304&ndash;306}}