John Lees (1832-1907) was born in Stockport, England, and died in Fall River, Massachusetts. He married Frances B. Lees (b. Walmsley) in Lancashire county, England, in 1859. The couple kept a lodging house there before emigrating to the United States in the 1860s. In 1870 they were living in Fall River, and Lees was working in a cotton mill. By 1880 they were living in Tiverton, Rhode Island. In 1888 their youngest child, Mary L. Hillson (b. Lees), wrote to Mary Baker Eddy from Fall River that her family wanted to join the Church of Christ (Scientist). It is unclear whether or not the family joined the church at that time; however their other daughter, Emma Lees, later joined The First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston, Massachusetts, on April 6, 1895. Lees was a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.

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