David W. Wells' great-grandmother was named Hannah Howard Osborne, who lived from 1735 until an unknown year. This is where the Wells line intersects with the Howards, who may have been descended from the Dukes of Norfolk in England. Here is the lineage:
- Matthew Howard (1609, Wardour, Wiltshire, England—4 September 1659, Anne Arundel County, Maryland), married Anne Hall (1610, England—1640, Annapolis, Maryland), daughter of Richard Hall 1585-1645) and Marion Lee Loveland (1580-1645)
- Captain Cornelius Howard (1637, Norfolk, Virginia—15 October 1680, Anne Arundel County, Maryland), married Elizabeth Todd or Gorsuch (sources differ)
- Captain Cornelius Howard, Jr. (1664, Anne Arundel County, Maryland—23 February 1717, St. Annes Parish, Anne Arundel, Maryland), married Mary Katherine Hammond (1689, Anne Arundel—24 December 1714, St. Annes Parish), daughter of Major John Hammond (5 December 1643, Anne Arundel County—24 November 1707, Anne Arundel County) and Mary Howard (1647, Anne Arundel County—4 April 1721, Anne Arundel County), whose parents were Matthew and Anne Hall Howard
- Captain John Howard (1698-1765), married Elizabeth Gassaway (28 March 1712, Anne Arundel—unknown), daughter of Thomas Gassaway (20 February 1683, Anne Arundel County—10 September 1739, Anne Arundel County) and Susanna Hanslap (8 February 1682, Anne Arundel County—24 February 1740, Anne Arundel)
- Hannah Howard (1735, Virginia—unknown), married Caleb Osborne (1725 or 1731, James City (Williamsburg), Virginia—7 August 1781, Rowan County, North Carolina)
- Elizabeth Abigail Osborne (1757-1856), married Zachariah Wells (1745-1825)
- Dr. Jeremiah Wells (1792, Scott County, Virginia—18 November 1845, Wise County, Virginia), married Elizabeth Culbertson (1792 or 1796, Scott County, Virginia—5 April 1859, Wise County, Virginia), daughter of Joseph Culbertson (1766-1815) and Agnes Chittleton
- David W Wells (c 1815, Virginia—9 April 1865), married Nancy Jane Elkins (1822, Russell, Virginia—22 December 1887, Wise, Virginia), daughter of Joseph Elkins (c 1789, Russell County, Virginia—after 1865) and Margaret (1803-unknown)
- Virginia Elizabeth Wells, married Squire Benjamin Martin Bentley
- Lucy Jane Bentley, married Nelson Hyder