Erastus Wells

Erastus Wells ( born December 2, 1823 in Sackets Harbor, New York, † October 2, 1893 in St. Louis, Missouri ) was an American politician. Between 1869 and 1881 he represented two times the state of Missouri in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Career

Erastus Wells attended the public schools of his home. In 1842 he moved to St. Louis, Missouri, where he founded the public transport with horse-drawn buses. Later he worked with horse-drawn streetcars. From 1853 to 1867 he was a member of the city council of his new hometown. Wells has been renowned in the railroad business, and was 1859-1883 president of the Missouri Railroad Company.

Politically, Wells member of the Democratic Party. In the congressional elections of 1868 he was the first electoral district of Missouri in the U.S. House of Representatives in Washington DC chosen, where he succeeded the Republican William A. Pile on 4 March 1869. After three re- elections, he was able to complete in Congress until March 3, 1877 four legislative sessions. Since 1873, he represented there as a successor of Gustavus A. Finkelnburg the second district of his state. In 1876 he defeated Nathan Cole. Two years later he was able to regain his seat in Congress and do another term of between 4 March 1879 to 3 March 1881.

In 1880, Erastus Wells opted not to run again. By 1883 he was president of the Laclede Gas Light Company. He died on October 2, 1893 in St. Louis, where he was also buried.