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Note: James Harry Wells was born in the family home in South Bound Brook, Somerset Co., New Jersey on December 26, 1910, the seventh child of Harry James Wells and Anna Corle Durling. His mother died in childbirth on August 3rd, 1914 and his father died of pneumonia on December 11, 1916 just before he turned 6 years old. He lived with his grandfather William H. Durling, Sr. until December 31, 1917 at which time he was sent to the Children's Home Society of New Jersey, a Presbyterian orphanage in Trenton, Mercer Co., New Jersey and over the next three years lived with various families. On February 26, 1921 he was placed with Eli, Jr. and Carrie (Van Nostrand) Dow, and their daughter Alice and her husband Roy Bleasdale on their farm on Pluckemin Road (Route 202/206N) in Bridgewater, NJ and there spent the next 11 years until about July 1932. This farm was next door to his 5th cousin Abram Powelson, although they were unaware of the family relationship and were lifelong friends. From then until his late 20's (@1932-1936) he traveled the country holding various jobs as a cook, mechanic, and roustabout in carnivals. During this time in one of the carnivals he met actor Burt Lancaster (not yet an actor) who was a trapeze artist at the time. He returned to the Bound Brook area about 1936 where he met his future wife Irene Gonzol. They were married on Oct 1, 1938 in Elkton, MD, and they subsequently lived in Plainfield, Piscataway, Bound Brook and Middlesex, NJ. He was drafted into the service in July 1943, and was sent to the Pacific Theater WW 2 in the winter, where he served with the 13th General Hospital Corp. as a Corporal, driving medical supplies, achieving the rank of Tech 5. After VJ Day in August 1945 he was sent to Japan and was stationed there until January 1946 when he was discharged and sent home. He and his wife Irene purchased a house in Piscataway, NJ in September 1946. They had two children, Robert and Jacqueline. He worked for Mack Motors in Plainfield, NJ in the test room for the diesel engines until they closed and moved to Maryland in 1961. After that he worked at various jobs until his last permanent one with the Piscataway Road Department, Buildings and Grounds section, where he was in charge of maintaining the parks in the township. His wife Irene died on May 16, 1968 of a brain tumor. He died the following year on May 30, 1969 in his Piscataway home of a heart attack after walking in the Memorial Day Parade. He is buried in Bound Brook Cemetery, Bound Brook, NJ, not far from from the Durling Family Plot which holds his parents, grandparents, sister, brother, and other family relatives. Records held by daughter Jacqueline Wells Lubinski
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