Joseph C. Wells

'''Joseph Collins Wells''' (1814–1860)<ref name=COD>{{cite web|title=Collections on Display|publisher=Historic New England|url=http://www.historicnewengland.org/historic-properties/homes/roseland-cottage/collections-on-display}}(providing year of birth and death)</ref><ref name=CT>{{cite web|title=Jonathan Sturges House|publisher=CT Trust for Historic Preservation|url=http://www.historicdistrictsct.org/maps/Jonathan%20Sturges%20House.htm}}(providing middle name and years of birth and death)</ref> was an English-born architect who practiced in New York City from 1839 to 1860. He was a founding member of the American Institute of Architects, and several of his works have been listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Two of his works, the Henry C. Bowen House and the Jonathan Sturges House, have been designated as U.S. National Historic Landmarks. He also designed First Presbyterian Church ("Old First"), a New York City Landmark in Greenwich Village.

==Life and career== Wells was born in England in 1814 and emigrated to the United States in 1839.<ref name=COD/><ref name=WR>{{cite web|title=William Ranlett|publisher=The Hermitage Museum|url=http://www.thehermitage.org/history/history_architecture_gothic_tell_me_ranlett.html}}</ref> His first known work in the United States is the Jonathan Sturges House in Connecticut.<ref name=CT/> By 1840, Wells had formed a partnership with architect William Ranlett in New York City; that partnership lasted one year.<ref name=WR/> Wells has been credited with designing some of "the earliest Gothic Revival cottages in this country", a style later popularized by Andrew Jackson Downing.<ref name=CT/>

In February 1857, Wells was one of 13 architects who met to form an organization to "promote the scientific and practical perfection of its members" and "elevate the standing of the profession."<ref name=AIA/> The organization became the American Institute of Architects.<ref name=AIA>{{cite web|title=History of the American Institute of Architects|publisher=The American Institute of Architects|url=http://www.aia.org/about/history/AIAB028819|access-date=2012-10-02|archive-date=2012-10-31|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121031203519/http://www.aia.org/about/history/AIAB028819|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="AIAHIST">{{cite web |title=History of The American Institute of Architects |publisher=American Institute of Architects |url=http://www.aia.org/about_history |accessdate=2008-03-04| archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20080302111213/http://www.aia.org/about_history| archivedate= 2 March 2008 | url-status= live}}</ref> Others at that meeting included Richard Morris Hunt, Charles Babcock, Richard Upjohn, his son Richard Mitchell Upjohn and Leopold Eidlitz.<ref>Stanton, Phoebe B., ''The Gothic Revival & American Church Architecture: An Episode in Taste 1840–1856'', the Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, 1997 p. 321</ref>

A number of his works are listed on the National Register of Historic Places,<ref name=nris>{{NRISref|version=2010a}}</ref> and two, the Henry C. Bowen House and the Jonathan Sturges House, are U.S. National Historic Landmarks.

==Works== Wells' works include: *Former Century Association Building, 1857 renovation and extension by Wells, 111 East 15th St, Manhattan, New York City.<ref name="Ochsner 1982 p41">{{cite book |last1=Ochsner |first1=Jeffrey Karl |authorlink1=Jeffrey Karl Ochsner |title=H. H. Richardson: Complete Architectural Works |year=1982 |publisher=MIT Press |location=Cambridge, Massachusetts |isbn=978-0-262-65015-1 |page=[https://archive.org/details/hhrichardsoncomp00ochs/page/41 41] |url=https://archive.org/details/hhrichardsoncomp00ochs/page/41 }}</ref><ref name="Breiner 1993 p2">{{cite web |url=http://npclibrary.org/db/bb_files/CAB046.pdf |title=(Former) Century Association Building |first=David |last=Breiner |date=January 5, 1993 |publisher=New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission |location=New York |page=2 }}</ref> *First Presbyterian Church (1846), also known as "Old First," 48 Fifth Avenue, Greenwich Village, New York, New York, designated a New York City Landmark. Wells designed the original 1846 structure.<ref name=nycland>{{cite nycland|pages=55–56}}</ref><ref>{{cite aia5|page=135}}</ref> *Luzerne County Courthouse (1856, former), Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania<ref>{{cite web|title=Luzerne County Courthouse|publisher=Luzerne County|url=http://www.luzernecounty.org/living/history_of_luzerne_county/luzerne_county_courthouse_history|access-date=2012-10-02|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180317102352/http://www.luzernecounty.org/living/history_of_luzerne_county/luzerne_county_courthouse_history|archive-date=2018-03-17|url-status=dead}}</ref> *E. B. Morgan House, 431 Main Street, Aurora, New York, part of the NRHP-listed Aurora Village–Wells College Historic District<ref name="nrhptext">{{cite web |last1=Herschensohn |first1=Michael J. |last2=Reed |first2=Roger |title=National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Aurora Village-Wells College Historic District |url=http://www.oprhp.state.ny.us/hpimaging/hp_view.asp?GroupView=903 |date=February 1980 |accessdate=2008-08-03 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120304035327/http://www.oprhp.state.ny.us/hpimaging/hp_view.asp?GroupView=903 |archivedate=2012-03-04 }} and [http://www.oprhp.state.ny.us/hpimaging/hp_view.asp?GroupView=902 ''Accompanying 33 photos from 1977–1980''] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120304035333/http://www.oprhp.state.ny.us/hpimaging/hp_view.asp?GroupView=902 |date=2012-03-04 }}</ref> *Plymouth Church of the Pilgrims (1849–1850), 75 Hicks Street, New York, New York (Wells, J. C.), NRHP-listed<ref name=nris/><ref>AIA Guide to New York City, p. 610.</ref> *The Reef (built 1852–1853, burned 1942), also known as Sea-Cliffe and the Christopher Wolfe House, 562 Bellevue Avenue, Newport, Rhode Island<ref>{{cite book|author=James L. Yarnall|title=Newport Through Its Architecture|page=55|publisher=UPNE|year=2005|isbn=1584654910}}</ref> *Roseland Cottage, also known as ''Henry C. Bowen House'', CT 169, Woodstock, Connecticut (Wells, Joseph Collins), NRHP-listed<ref name=nris/> *Store-and-loft building at 47 Murray Street (c. 1855), 47 Murray Street, Manhattan, New York, New York (attributed to Joseph C. Wells)<ref>{{cite web|title=Tribeca South Historic District Extension, Designation Report|date=November 19, 2002|publisher=New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission|pages=42–43|url=http://www.nyc.gov/html/lpc/downloads/pdf/reports/tsouthext.pdf|access-date=October 2, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100302193500/http://www.nyc.gov/html/lpc/downloads/pdf/reports/tsouthext.pdf|archive-date=March 2, 2010|url-status=dead}}</ref> *Jonathan Sturges House, 449 Mill Plain Road, Fairfield, Connecticut (Wells, Joseph Collins), NRHP-listed<ref name=nris/> *United Congregational Church, Spring and Pelham Streets, Newport, Rhode Island (Wells, Joseph C.), NRHP-listed<ref name=nris/>

The Villard Houses are sometimes misattributed to Wells, but they were in fact built more than 20 years after he died, and were actually designed by Joseph Morrill Wells (1853–1890) of the McKim, Mead & White firm.<ref>[http://architectsandartisans.com/index.php/2011/01/mckim-mead-white-and-wells/ "McKim, Mead, White (and Wells)"] ''Architects and Artisans'' (25 January 2011)</ref>

==References== '''Notes''' {{Reflist}}

==External links== *{{Commons category-inline}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wells, Joseph C.}} Category:1814 births Category:1860 deaths Category:Architects from New York City Category:English emigrants to the United States Category:Founder of American Institute of Architects Category:19th-century American architects