Jeffery Wells is a native Georgian. Educated in Georgia public schools, he went on to receive his bachelor's degree in history from the University of Georgia in 1996, when he graduated cum laude. In 2006, he received his master's degree in history from Georgia College and State University in Milledgeville, where he received the William Ivey Hair Outstanding Graduate Student in History award. Beginning his teaching career in 1998, Wells has taught at the middle school, high school, technical college and community college levels. Currently, he is the Social and Behavioral Sciences Division chair at Georgia Military College, where he also serves as assistant professor of history. He has authored several books on Georgia history, including In Atlanta or In Hell: The Camp Creek Train Crash of 1900, also published by The History Press; Bigfoot in Georgia: Legends, Myths, and Sightings, published by Pine Winds Press; and Moments in McDonough History. In addition, he is the author of several articles on Georgia history. He is a member of the Georgia Association of Historians, the Southern Historical Association, the Georgia Old Capital Museum Society, the Old Campbell County Historical Society and the Genealogical Society of Clayton and Henry Counties. He resides in metro Atlanta.