Governor Heber M. Wells
“It is with trepidation I approach the duties of my office, conscious of many defects and sensible of great responsibility... I regard public office as a public trust, and officers are the servants, not the masters of the people. It is my ambition to merit the confluence of all the citizens of the State, and I invite their co-operation and support for the general good. Let us build for the future and let us build for the future and let the foundation of the building about to be laid be firm and deep.”
(Heber M. Wells, Inaugural Address, 1896)
Utah native Heber M. Wells was a banker, amateur actor, and one of 36 children of polygamist Church leader Daniel H. Wells, himself a three-term Salt Lake City mayor. Wells worked as a tax collector and then as deputy city recorder under John Thomas Caine before becoming city recorder. However, he was an unsuccessful candidate during the 1892 mayoral election. In 1895 he served as a delegate to the Constitutional Convention.
Despite his previous experience, Wells was a surprising gubernatorial candidate. The Republican party was divided between two prominent but controversial politicians, Utah Republican Party chairman Charles Crane, and former territorial governor Arthur Lloyd Thomas. During the contentious gubernatorial nominations at the 1895 Republican state convention, Wells became the party’s compromise.
In a vote of support, future senator Elmer B. Jones declared,“a bitter war has been raging in our party that it is unwise to concede to either faction. Therefore, it is my pleasant duty to nominate one under whose banner all factions can work together, namely Heber M. Wells.”
In the general election, Wells defeated Democrat nominee John Thomas Caine to become the first governor of the state of Utah.
Although just thirty-six years old, Wells took on the complicated work of guiding elected officials toward unity. While writing and rewriting his inaugural address, Wells sought political advice from other western governors. In that critical speech, he reminded lawmakers they had been granted authority to assume, for the first time, “entire control of their affairs.”
In the first session, Wells rose to the challenge of creating a new government that conformed to American ideals, drawing upon the state’s constitution as a legislative guiding star. Still, some critics charged he was too loyal to leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. However, over his two terms, Wells earned respect for his financial expertise and ability to steer gracefully through partisanship battles, which helped set the fledgling state on a path to stability.