Wells, Emmeline B.

In 1896 Utah Republican Emmeline B. Wells, a noted leader, ran for the office of state senator. She did not win. Wells became a Mormon at the age of fourteen while still living in the east (after her mother's conversion). She moved to Utah, married, had a family, and worked as a writer for the "Woman's Exponent," becoming its editor for more than two decades. Wells was a tireless activist on behalf of Mormon relations with the U.S. government, woman suffrage, and local relief societies. In the 1880s she belonged to the People's party but changed affiliations in the 1890s. She became vice president of the Republic state committee in the mid-1890s. Wells wrote under the nom de plume, "Blanch Beechwood."