| Honorific-Prefix: | The Honorable |
| Horatio Wells | |
| Office: | County Judge of Milwaukee County, Wisconsin |
| Term Start: | January 7, 1850 |
| Term End: | January 2, 1854 |
| Predecessor: | Position established |
| Successor: | Charles E. Jenkins |
| Order1: | 2nd |
| Title1: | Mayor of Milwaukee |
| Term Start1: | April 1847 |
| Term End1: | April 1848 |
| Predecessor1: | Solomon Juneau |
| Successor1: | Byron Kilbourn |
| Office2: | President of the Council of the |
| Term Start2: | January 4, 1847 |
| Term End2: | May 29, 1848 |
| Predecessor2: | Nelson Dewey |
| Successor2: | Position abolished |
| Order3: | 2nd |
| Title3: | Attorney General of the |
| Governor3: | Henry Dodge |
| Term Start3: | December 1839 |
| Term End3: | December 1841 |
| Predecessor3: | Henry S. Baird |
| Successor3: | Mortimer M. Jackson |
| Office4: | Member of the Council of the from Milwaukee County |
| Term Start4: | January 4, 1847 |
| Term End4: | May 29, 1848 |
| Successor4: | Position abolished |
| Party: | Democratic |
| Birth Date: | 4 November 1808 |
| Birth Place: | Hinesburg, Vermont, U.S. |
| Death Place: | Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S. |
| Restingplace: | Forest Home Cemetery, |
Horatio Nelson Wells (November 4, 1808August 8, 1858) was an American lawyer, Democratic politician, and Wisconsin pioneer. He was the 2nd mayor of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and the 2nd attorney general of the Wisconsin Territory. He also served as the last president of the Council (upper legislative house) of the Wisconsin Territory (during the 5th Wisconsin Territorial Assembly).
Wells was born in Hinesburg, Vermont, and studied law in Burlington, Vermont.[1] After practicing law in the East for several years, he moved to the Wisconsin Territory in 1836. In Milwaukee, he entered a legal partnership with Hans Crocker called Wells & Crocker.[1] [2]
As a lawyer, Wells was prolific in the first ten years of his career. According to Berryman's History of the Bench and Bar of Wisconsin, his success as an advocate was mostly due to his wit, his intuitive knowledge of human nature, and a vast array of useful anecdotes.[2]
Wells was served as a member of the lower house of the Legislative Assembly of the Wisconsin Territory from 1839 to 1840, as Attorney General for the Territory of Wisconsin from 1839 to 1841.[3]
After a short break from elected office, Wells served as a member of the upper house of the Legislative Assembly from 1847 to 1848, where he was also selected as president of the council. Wells also served a short stint as mayor of Milwaukee from 1847 to 1848.
In the 2nd Wisconsin Legislature new county-level courts were established, and, in the first election for Milwaukee County judge, Wells was elected to a four-year term, serving from 1850 to 1854.[1] [2]
Wells also ran the Milwaukee Sentinel for a short time in 1841.[1]
Wells was known to be an alcoholic and his alcoholism factored significantly in accounts of his decline and death.[2] [4] [5]
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