Daniel H. Wells

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Painting of D. H. Wells found at the Salt Lake City and County Building.

Daniel Hanmer Wells (October 27, 1814 – March 24, 1891) was an apostle of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and the third mayor of Salt Lake City, Utah, USA, as well as a polygamist.

He lived in Commerce—later Nauvoo—Illinois and was a "Jack Mormon", a term originally applied to non-members who nonetheless defended the Saints. Wells was not baptized into the LDS Church until August 9, 1846,

Mobs invaded Nauvoo after the assassination of Church founder Joseph Smith, Jr.. Wells defended the city and fought as a Lieutenant General of the Nauvoo Legion, and also provided shelter for evacuees. Wells traveled west with the Mormon pioneers and helped settle the Salt Lake Valley.

Well respected for his integrity and loyal service, he was elected Attorney General of State of Deseret in 1849. When Jedediah M. Grant died in 1856, Wells was ordained an Apostle of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and set apart as Second Counselor to President Brigham Young. Although serving as an Apostle, President Wells was never sustained as a member of the Quorum of Twelve Apostles. Upon Young's death in 1877, Wells was sustained as a Counselor to the Twelve Apostles. Wells dedicated the St. George Utah Temple on April 6, 1877.

In 1866, Wells was elected mayor of Salt Lake City as a member of the newly-formed People's Party and re-elected in both 1872 and 1874. In 1871 he was arrested by U.S. marshals on charges of polygamy. In 1852, Wells married feminist and LDS Relief Society President Emmeline B. Wells as a seventh wife. She bore him three daughters.

Wells died in Salt Lake City in 1891 in Salt Lake City at the age of seventy-six. Wells' son, Heber Manning Wells, by Martha G. Harris was the first governor of the state of Utah, serving from 1896 to 1905.