Ebenezer Francis (1775-1858)

He formed a business partnership in the East India and China trade with Colonel Israel Thorndike and David Sears. He invested in property and railroads and would later serve as President of the Suffolk Bank and a director of the Boston Bank. He was involved with numerous companies, notably insurance companies and was President of the Life Office. He was also Chairman of the Trustees and President of the Massachusetts General Hospital. He was reputed to be worth $3-million in 1851 and when he died in 1858 with an estimated $3.5-million fortune he was thought to be one of the two wealthiest men in Boston and his estate, "the largest estate ever accumulated in New England". He lived in Boston on Somerset Street at the corner of Pemberton Square (see images) and in 1799 married Elizabeth, the daughter of his business partner, Israel Thorndike. They had three children (all daughters, listed) who lived to adulthood.