John Welles (1764-1855)

He was born at Boston and graduated from Harvard in 1782. He became a partner in Welles & Co. at Paris with his first cousin, Samuel Welles. Back in Boston in 1816, he partnered with Samuel's brother, Benjamin, and established J & B Welles, agents in the United States to Welles & Co. in Paris. When Samuel died in 1841, John was chosen to act as his executor. John's own estate was estimated to be worth $1-million in 1851, making him one of the richest men in Massachusetts. He married his first cousin, Abigail Welles (the eldest sister of Samuel and Benjamin) and they had one daughter, Isabella, who married the multi-millionaire railroad financier, H. Hollis Hunnewell, who started his career as a partner with Welles & Co. in Paris and founded the town of Wellesley in Massachusetts, named in honor of his wife's family.