Listed in Kansas as Wm, head of household and a farmer (30, IL) in 1910, with both his parents. He is also listed as W. N. Wells (37) with the family of Wm H Johnson, adjacent to his parents in the 1915 Kansas state census.
On 12 Sep 1918 he registered for the WWI Draft in Saline Co, KS, where he is listed as a farmer in Mentor, living with his father, J. R. Wells. It lists his full name, and birth as 1 Jan 1878 (he doesn't appear to be married yet).
In 1920, he is listed as W. N. Wells (42, IL) a farmer, with his wife Chloe (38, IL) and his widowed father J. R. Wells (80, KY).
An April 3rd 1920 newspaper clipping from Salina, Saline Co, KS states:
REAL ESTATE TRANSFERS
James R. Wells to William Wells, undivided half interest in lots 23, 25, 27, and 20, Grand Avenue, Mentor, $1
Minnie A. Cloud and husband to William Wells, same property, $1. (not yet known how/when she received the property)
He is listed as M. Wells (45, IL) and widowed in 1925. His widowed father (85, KY) and neice Dorothy McCloud (21, NE) are living with him.
Listed as William N. Wells (52, IL) in 1930 as a farmer, with his (2nd) wife Mary E. (52, KS). It says he was first married at age 36, and she at age 19.
William (62, IL) is listed with Mary E. (69, KS) in 1940, living in Brookville. It says the had been living in Cowley, KS in 1935, and that they had 3rd and 4th grade educations.
[Obituary]
William N. Wells was born in Paris, Illinois, on January 1, 1878. He died at the Salina Nursing Home in Salina, Kansas. He had been in poor health for about three years and had been in the home for about two months.
Mr. Wells had lived in Salina and the Mentor community since 1886. He was a retired farmer and a member of the Christian Church.
Survivors included his widow, Mary Ellen; two step-sons, John and Lee Carlson; and a stepdaughter, Mrs. Howard Dent.