He also was a magazine founder, an author, and the chief organizer of the LDS Church's efforts to build a number of historical monuments in the early 1900s.
In 1880, John Taylor released Wells from his duties and revised the leadership of the YMMIA, appointing Wilford Woodruff as the general superintendent.
Wells was also the founding editor and publisher of The Contributor, an independent publication that sought to represent the YMMIA and the church's equivalent organization for young women.
Wells was also the author of eleven biographies, including those of John C. Frémont, Thomas L. Kane, Charles C. Rich, James A. Garfield, and Orson Pratt.
In 1884, Wells visited the birthplace of church founder Joseph Smith in Sharon, Vermont, and conceived a plan to build a monument to the Mormon prophet.