[1][2] He was also evidently kin to the Benjamin Cheney or Cheany of Hartford, Connecticut, from whom John Fitch, the inventor of the steamboat, learned the trade of clocksmith in 1760.

Cheney built relationships with some of his passengers at this time, including Daniel Webster, whose friendship lasted the rest of his life.

With a reputation for honesty and reliability, he was frequently entrusted with large sums of money destined for banks on his route.

[4][5] Cheney joined Nathaniel White and William Walker in 1842 to organize an express line between Boston and Montreal.

[6] Cheney was elected a director of Wells Fargo & Company in September 1854 in place of Alpheus Reynolds, who had resigned.

He helped finance the Northern Pacific and the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe, and had much to do with getting Wells Fargo's express service on both roads.

Cheney, by contrast, refused to take advantage of his inside information and held his shares, suffering a significant personal loss when the railroad went bankrupt in the Panic of 1893 and was reorganized.

"History of Elm Bank" Mass Horticultural Society website Cheney amassed a fortune estimated at $10,000,000.

He retired to this 198-acre (0.80 km2) property on the Charles River in his last years and occupied himself with beautifying the land with conservatories and gardens.