Henry Fowle Durant (1822-1881)

He was born Henry Welles Smith but changed his name to avoid confusion with another member of his family. He graduated from Harvard and became a lawyer at Boston. In 1855, he married his cousin, Pauline Adeline Fowle, and with a joint donation of circa $1.5-million they co-founded the Wellesley Female Seminary that has since become today's Wellesley College. Durant famously said, "Women can do the work. I give them the chance." They had two sons, both of whom died in childhood.