My dad's side:
It's a bit hard to trace back through early settlers of America but our
family research has turned up some interesting facts. The earliest
proven Wells of my line was a Zachariah Wells Sr. born in 1745 in Virginia
and died in Big Stone Gap in Virginia somwhere around 1830. There are
two or three pairs of Wells who *could* have been Zachariah's parents with
some fascinating stories associated with each and none so far proven. However
the one thing that we do know is that the Wells family came from England.
The provability of showing a direct link to the Baron de Welles of
around 1100 who originated this particular coat of arms is iffy at best,
however during my research of English heraldry I also found that all known
Wells families who carried coats of arms displayed the rampant two tailed
lion in one fashion or another - even though these families appear unrelated
except for name. It is also in wide usage with most current branches
of Wells families, mine included, as it is part of the coat of arms printed
in my Wells family geneology book. I am also said to have a high degree
of Cherokee blood through my dad's mother and also a little coming down from
his father. That is currently under research and if I find out more
information I will post it. I actually really like the rampant lion
as I was born a Leo and my personal emblem ( or what the Native American
would call a totem spirit ) is the black panther.
The Emperial Austrian Coat of Arms
The House of Hapsburg Family Crest
My mother's side:
It appears most of the hodgepodge mixtures appears on this side.
If most of the family legends are true I am related through my great
grandfather Oakes to the Hapsburgs who were the ruling family of Austria
and most of Europe for hundreds of years - in fact until about World War
I. According to the story I was told by my grandmother, the youngest
son of the Austrian royal family had several brothers and sisters and no
chance of inheritance so he decided to make his way to America to seek his
own fortunes. This is also currently under research and I'll post an
update when I learn something - to prove or disprove it. I am also
told I am related on this side somewhere down the line as a cousin to Daniel
Boone of frontier America fame.
A bit closer to home....
My parents met and married in Washington DC in 1966 after they got together
at a dance club for military officers. I was born a little over a year
later on July 29, 1967 in Knoxville, TN at Fort Sanders hospital downtown.
It was a bit cold, bright and a bit of a shock but once I got my breath and
a few bites to eat I got to go home. My father had already been deployed
to the middle east and was stationed in Istanbul, Turkey. When I was about
8 or 9 months old my own adventure began and I joined my dad with my mother
overseas in Turkey. I can remember such things as the small house
we lived in that had a sliding glass door to the outside. Often hawkers
would come down our cobblestone street with cartloads of animals - sheep,
goats, chickens where you could go to the curb, pay for what you wanted
and the driver would butcher your dinner for you right there in the street.
The architechture was pretty elaborate and many gold and silver domed
towers and spires rose above the streets. We traveled and toured quite
a bit while we were in the middle east and my parents took me such historical
places as the ruins at Ephesus, the house of Mary which is supposed to be
the place the mother of Jesus died. The well there is said to have
healing properties. I took some of my first steps in the original Parthenon,
sacred to the Goddess Athena, in Greece and had my first big fall running
across Her marble floors. I had my first run in with a popped balloon
strolling down the walk beside the Mediteranean Sea. When I was about
three years old, we came back Stateside and we briefly settled in Augusta
Georgia where my parents got me my first dog; a beagle named Snoopy. Not
long after that we left the U.S. again and we went to Germany. We lived
for a while in Stuutgart and then moved to Heidelburg where my sister was
born. I was five years old by then and my dad was working for the military
at a communications broadcast tower. I was a very gregarious and inquisitive
child, prone to ask lots of hard questions.
I remember quite a lot of Germany. Our German friends and
my babysitter who nearly drowned me accidentally in a swimming pool going
down the waterslide with me before I knew how to swim. I really loved
her and had we stayed much longer I would have been bilingual in German.
One of my two favorite memories of Germany was going to the Hiedelburg
castle and watching the fireworks across the river. They actually
lit fireworks inside the castle that made it look like the whole place was
on fire. My next favorite memory of Germany was traveling down the
Rhine river and seeing all the castles - white ones, gray ones, yellow ones
and even one way up on top of a mountain that was pink. While there,
we also toured Austria and it's beautiful Himalayan mountains, looking down
on the rivers which looked like tiny azure ribbons and villages and square
plots tiny as ants. The Black Forest with its stately tall trees,
and the best - stopping at the peanut vendors at the roadside stands. The
Autobahn where my dad had our car pegged at tops and cussing crazy drivers
passing us like we were sitting still.
We were in Germany for nearly three years with a brief stay - a couple
of months - in Amsterdam, Holland. I still have my pair of wooden
shoes I got there - don't ask me how you're supposed to walk in those "things".
They sure don't seem to be made for feet... Holland is a country
of flowers and windmills. While driving down the road you see fields
and acres and acres of tulips as far as the eye can see. It is also
a very wet place as it rains a lot and the ground near the coast is saturated
and spongy from the ocean levels. Public transport consists of canal
boats which meet up with the sea in the bay where you can strain your neck
to look up at the very tall foreign ships bobbing up and down with the waves
and towering above you.
While my sister was still small we moved back to America for good. We
first went to the home of my mother's parents in Powell, Tennessee. Mary
and Woodrow McKinney. We stayed there for a short time and then went
to South Carolina where my dad was stationed in Columbia at the Army base.
We were there a year or so and moved to Powell with my grandparents
when my dad retired. I was around six . When I was seven we moved
to our own house in Knoxville, Tennessee on a street called Cindy Lane -
interesting because my sister's name is Cindy. I attended West Haven
Elementary through the fifth grade and then went to NorthWest Jr. High (now
middle school) for a year. From there I moved by myself in with my
grandparents who had bought property in Harriman while my sister stayed
with my parents in Knoxville.
I graduated High School and went on to Community College where I dual majored
in Art and also computers/business. I attended two years and entered
the workforce where I utilized my skills in graphics and administrative office
work.
As I grew into myself I also began study with a local Wiccan tradition
where I stayed for over 10 years. Later after I attained an advanced degree
I also became ordained through the Universal Life Church and was also ordained
with the Nature Spirit Community Church as a minister in February of 2002.
I could make a long story short at this point and just end things here.
Only trouble is, this is only half of me. I have other proverbial
"hats" I wear on a day to day basis. There's just not enough room
to record all of my thoughts, feelings and me-ness. I have lots of
other hobbies that I enjoy doing and working on and a family that I love.
photo from our handfasting a few years ago
First and foremost in my life is my current husband - the second marriage.
Michael Holladay, also called SilverHorn in certain circles (he really
likes Unicorns). He's pretty wonderful guy, very caring and has helped
my healing process a great deal after some abuse issues. I am the
open hearted person I am today because of him. He helped me learn
to trust again and showed me that I can be so much more than I have allowed
myself. Personality wise he's a gamer ( the AD& D sort) and a
computer geek, very intelligent and a process thinker. Annoying as heck at
times. I can't imagine my life without him. Due to him I also have
a 9 year old daughter. Precocious, intelligent and talkative, very
charming. Not much common sense or wisdom though. Can be as stubborn
as me, looks like both of us. We're hoping the common sense will develop
later with age and experience along with better grades in school.
The one big hobby for me is my horses and dogs. I currently own
several purebred horses. I have two adult Collie dogs and occasionally
a puppy or three. I also have two cats; a striped "miniature tiger"
kitty named Maximum Tabby (or Maxi for short), and a black miniature panther
named Moonshadow. She gets her name from the full moon spot on her
chest. I also recently got a flock of really cute chicks so I'll have
eggs - the running joke when we're making breakfast is to kid about going
out and squeezing a hen for our breakfast eggs. They'll be old enough
to lay pretty soon though, in the meantime they get petted a lot, including
the rooster who pecks.
I have also done some medieval reenactment, swordplay and gaming through
Amtgard. I've done quite a bit of martial arts with interest in Ninjutsu
first of all, then I became involved with a school which teaches Tae Kwon
Do, Judo and Hapkido. I also did just a little Kung Fu and Kickboxing
as my favorite instructor was a Golden Gloves kickboxing champion.
I was on a martial arts demonstration team for a year where my specialties
were weapons esp. sword and nunchaku, sparring and breaking (boards). I'm
really good with 'chucks because I was a baton twirler as a pre-teen - it
uses similar hand and wrist movements...
I also do artwork, painting primarily and I enjoy writing. I don't
get enough time for either of those activities however because I am so busy
doing so many other things. Related to that I do graphic design and
create websites and do visual/audio photography.
Anyways at this point let me introduce everyone to "the kid".
Keira Holladay
Hi, my name is Keira. I am 8 years old and my favorite subject
is science. I have blue eyes and I have brown hair. I
like to roller skate, sing and dance and ride my mom's horses. I'm
learning to play piano. I also have a black rabbit named Midnight that
mom got me when she was sad I didn't get any eggs in the easter egg hunt.
I take care of him myself every day. I'm beginning to learn to do other
things with the horses. Here I am putting the stallion back in his paddock
after I lunged him one evening.
Back to Index page
I was born in 1967, the daughter of Elbert Marion Wells
and Rosemary Aileen McKinney Wells. I've done a little genealogical
research and a couple of my aunts have as well, and according to records
I come from a long line of pretty colorful characters. I have farmers,
doctors, ministers, lawyers, judges, senators, adventurers, war heros, gentlemen,
and even royalty in my ancestry. Ethnic mixture is celtic western/mid
European and Native American. The family is still researching the
mixtures but the run down on me is Irish, English, Viking, Austrian, Dutch
and Cherokee. 
The Wells Family Arms