Wilderness land speculation often resulted in multiple and overlapping land claims that were frequently reconciled via wheeling and dealing.  According to a 1906 History of Follansbee, Wells took a suit against the heirs of John Decker and won ownership of  some of the land comprising present day Follansbee.  Prior to the suit against Decker, Wells received a patent for 200 acres granted by Thomas Jefferson, Governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia.   The patent was based on Wells’ rights as a former soldier whose service in the French & Indian war awarded him land grants in the frontier territory.  It is not certain when Wells actually took sole possession of the property from John Decker.

Wells had extensive property and business interest in Washington County, Pa., and along Cross Creek, where he erected a gristmill and distillery.   For more information on Alexander Wells, see “The Little Wells Family..” below.  In 1799, Wells’ land became the property of his son, Henry Wells, who remained owner until his death in 1815. Henry Wells built a one-room addition to the old log house constructed originally on the land by Isaac Cox in 1772.

• History of the City of Follansbee (1906) http://www.angelfire.com/wv/bcg/fol.html