“The Wells”

[Clint]

Here’s another reel I could use some help with on age and value. It says Thos Conroy maker N.Y. and “The Wells”
Any help would be greatly appreciated, thanks.

[RonG]

Reel shown in 1891 Thos. Conroy catalog



Reel shown in 1888 Forest & Stream Magazine



Value: A lot

[Shellbelly]

Clint....TURN OFF YOUR PHONE!!

[Steve]

One of the very few reels designed by a lawyer!

[Mike N]

Steve’s comment about Henry P. Wells piqued my interest. He was quite the Renaissance man.



Mr. Wells also acted on this occasion as Julius Vom Hofe’s patent lawyer.


Henry Parkhurst Wells also created an artificial fly he named the Parmachenee Belle in remembrance of fishing on Parmachenee Lake. The pattern was widely copied.



From downeast.com:

The striking Parmachenee Belle is designed to imitate a brook trout’s ivory-edged pelvic fins and reddish underbelly. “It’s the ultimate underdog, an overachiever fly,” Bill Pierce says, dependable for trout and salmon, known to eat smaller fish. Created in 1878 by Henry P. Wells, the original was made of white chicken and duck feathers, with several dipped in scarlet dye. Wells named it after western Maine’s Parmachenee Lake, his favorite salmon-fishing waters.

[RonG]

That's some good info Mike. It's very interesting to learn about some of these people.

[Mike N]

According to this 1888 article in The NY Times, Mr. Wells was president of the the National Rod and Reel Association (sounds like an ORCA predecessor). Note at the end of the article that “gold reels” would be presented as tournament prizes…

[Clint]

https://www.spinozarods.com/products/co ... trout-reel

Is this accurate, only 4-6 of these made?

Has anyone dealt with Spinoza?

Here’s a shot of the foot.

[RonG]

If you look at the 1891 Thos. Conroy catalog photo above, you can see he was selling them in quantities of a dozen. I doubt the 4 - 6 is realistic.

[cwfly-2]

On October 8, 1889, Julius Vom Hofe was issued patent 412,685 as assignor to Charles F. Imbrie. That patent appears on some Spalding “Kosmic” reels. Vom Hofe’s patent attorney was Henry Parkhurst Wells. Small world back then.

[RonG]

And, you can buy his book on eBay.

[cwfly-2]

There are two editions of his book. 1885 and 1901. I scanned these illustrations from the later edition.

[Teal]

Wells was one of the early and most famous rod makers. The "Wells Half-Grip" is a fly rod grip still in wide use today.

I have a manuscript about his rodmaking writings that I need to publish. Very interesting guy.

-- Dr. Todd

[cwfly-2]

Some family history:
Dr. Phineas Parkhurst Wells was born in Hopkinton, NH, in 1808 and graduated from Dartmouth Medical College in 1833. He was married to Catherine French Wells and he practiced medicine in Providence where his son Henry Parkhurst Wells was born in 1842. While in Providence Dr. Wells began the study of homeopathic medicine in 1843 and shortly thereafter moved, with his family in 1843 to Brooklyn, New York. Dr. Wells was one of the founders of the American Institute of Homeopathy in 1844, and the first president of The International Hahnemannian Association in 1881. He was the co-editor of the American Homeopathic Review from 1862-66. Dr. Wells died on November 23, 1891 at home. Services were held at his residence at 158 Clinton Street in Brooklyn.
His son, Henry Parkhurst Wells died on November 20, 1904 at home and his services were, like his father before him, held at his home at his residence at 158 Clinton Street in Brooklyn.
H. P. Wells attended Amherst College. He left college to serve during the Civil War and actually had graduated from Columbia Law School before he was awarded his undergraduate degree. The record for his Amherst class reports the following in 1904:
“ HENRY PARKHURST WELLS, the son of Dr. Phineas-
P. and Catherine J. (French) Wells, was born in Providence, R. I.,
Sept. 14, 1842, and was fitted for college at Williston
Seminary, and Mt. Pleasant School, Amherst.
He left college in 1862, at the end of his Junior year. He
was commissioned ist Lieut., Co. K. I3th Regt. New York
Heavy Artillery, Sept. 30, 1863; served with Naval Brigade,
generally in command of gunboats on the James, the Chesapeake,
and on the coast of the Carolinas ; was mustered out, June
28, 1865. The degree of A. B. was conferred upon him in
1882, and he was enrolled with his class.
He studied law with C. E. Soule, Esq., in New York City
and at Columbia University Law-school, and was admitted to
the bar in 1869. He practiced his profession in that city the
rest of his life, making a specialty of patent law, and attaining
eminence in that branch of jurisprudence.
His health was broken down by over-work and he died of
apoplexy at Brooklyn, N. Y., Nov. 23, 1904. "
Mr. Wells was an enthusiastic yachtsman, a licensed navigator,
a sportsman and expert in the making of all sporting paraphernalia.
He was the author of Flv Rods and Flv Tackle,
The American Salmon Fisherman, and A Citv Boy in the Woods,
all published by Harper & Bros., New York, 1885 — 1890."
Mr. Wells was never married. “
Henry P. Wells had, as far as I can determine, two sisters. His older sister Mary E. Wells died on March 6, 1914 at her home at 34 Livingston Street in Brooklyn. She apparently never married but was close to home, Livingston Street being right around the corner from Clinton Street.
Another sister, Catherine Wells Beach was married to Rev. Henry Hudson Beach. She died in Grand Junction, Colorado, where she and her husband lived, on January 30, 1912.

[reelsmith.]

Is this accurate, only 4-6 of these made?

No.

I've had 3 and know a collector who has 4.

Its by no means common, nor is it rare. I'd call it scarce.

Dean.

[joe klaus]

Very interesting discussion today. Thanks to all that contributed.

[reelsmith.]

Here are pictures of one I had, which was a bit unusual ...






Dean.

[Clint]

Thanks Dean!

But I don’t see it marked as “The Wells” does this marking have any bearing on its standing?

[reelsmith.]

Thanks Dean!

But I don’t see it marked as “The Wells” does this marking have any bearing on its standing?

Hey Clint.

Take a look at Ron's reply to your first post, the one with the two Conroy ads. Same reel and referred to as "The Wells" in the ads.

Dean.

[Mike N]

Very interesting discussion today. Thanks to all that contributed.

Thanks, Joe. That’s just ORCA doing that thing that it does— sharing knowledge with a little provocative discussion.

Here is a 2008 link to a Classic Fly Rod Forum thread with some interesting insights on The Wells, including the “unmarked” issue:

http://classicflyrodforum.com/forum/vie ... hp?t=10856

[Mike N]

https://www.spinozarods.com/products/co ... trout-reel

Is this accurate, only 4-6 of these made?

I think cwfly addressed this issue in the 2008 Classic Fly Rod Forum link I posted above:

“… Wells wrote as of the 1901 edition that although he had made four reels from aluminum, he had concluded it was a wretched material to use for reels and had, by inference later, made reels out of other metals in preference to aluminum. Can't say if the number of aluminum reels (4) was (1) accurate, (2) accurate as of 1901 or 1885, or (3) Mr. Wells was referring to reels he may have personally tinkered with as opposed to reels made by JVH.”

[Clint]

This is quite an education, so much different then researching more modern reels.

Does my reel appear to have ever had a factory finish or was it always more of a raw aluminum?

[Mike N]

This is quite an education, so much different then researching more modern reels.

Does my reel appear to have ever had a factory finish or was it always more of a raw aluminum?

This old thread about an aluminum Meek No. 33 might help you reach a conclusion about your reel:


viewtopic.php?f=1&t=20540&p=96547&hilit ... eek#p96547

[RonG]

Hey Dean,

That bronze spooled Wells reel is amazing. Do you think it's one of a kind?

[reelsmith.]

Hey Dean,

That bronze spooled Wells reel is amazing. Do you think it's one of a kind?

I think that's possible.

It's the only one I have seen and no one who has seen it said they have seen another.

Dean.