Willoughby Wells was born in 1832 in Fairfax, Vermont. In 1858, he married Louisa France in Monona, Iowa, and later moved to Sterling Township, Blue Earth County, Minnesota. As a resident of that township he enlisted in 1861 in Company I of the 5th Iowa Cavalry and served in the southern states. In 1864 he joined Company B of Brackett's Battalion and participated in the Dakota expedition of 1864. He was mustered out in 1866 and returned to Blue Earth County, where he stayed at least until 1905. He died in Cheyenne Wells, Colorado, in 1907. Louisa France was born in 1838 in Ohio and died in 1908 in Cheyenne Wells, Colorado.
From the description of Willoughby and Louisa Wells and family correspondence, 1861-1866. (Minnesota Historical Society Library). WorldCat record id: 728673261
Sergeant, Company B, Brackett's Battalion.
From the description of Typescript, [n.d.]. (State Historical Society of North Dakota State Archives). WorldCat record id: 18084408
