Lydia Wells was the second wife of Thomas Wells, and inherited from him his "negro man Jeff." Jeff was in turn left by Lydia to their son Nathaniel. Please refer to the "Research Articles & Highlights" entry entitled "A Negro Man Jeff" for additional information.

Lydia Gale of Salem, Mass., was the widow of Abraham Gale, and then the second wife of Thomas Wells. Thomas and Lydia were married in Salem on Oct 12, 1704. Thomas's first wife and their children were killed in an Indian raid in Wells in 1703 when he was away from home.

"Thomas, with his [second] wife Lydia and children, returned to Wells the second time probably about 1713, though perhaps not till 1717. He was chosen Deacon of the church at Wells, March 3, 1718 ... He died in Wells, Aug. 26, 1737 ... He mentions in his will his wife Lydia, his sons Nathaniel and Joshua, and his daughter Lydia Clark. One clause in his will reads thus: 'I give and bequeath unto my dearly beloved wife Lydia Wells all my household stuff of every sort and kind, my negro man Jeff.'" - Charles K. Wells, pp. 16

"Deacon Thomas Wells owned one [an enslaved person] by the name of Jeff, who came down as an heir-loom to several successive generations." - Bourne, p. 408

In his 1737 will, Thomas Wells stated "I give & bequeath unto my Dearly beloved Wife Lydia Wells all my Household stuff of every sort & kind [and] my Negro man Jeff ... during ye term of her Natural Life & at ye Expiration thereof to return to my sd son Nath Wells."

Bibliography:

The History of Wells and Kennebunk from the Earliest Settlement to the Year 1820 - by Edward Bourne (1875)

Genealogy of the Wells Family of Wells, Maine - Charles K. Wells (1874)