By 1805, many Mennonites from Pennsylvania had settled in Berlin.
In 1837, John Philip Schweitzer from Germany had what is now Hawkesville. John Hawke received government permission to buy land on the condition that he build a grist mill and a sawmill within two years.

The town of Wellesley's first name was Schmidtsville, borrowed from its founding settler. In 1851, the town was renamed Wellesley after Richard Wellesley, 1st Marquess Wellesley, the eldest brother of Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington.

After 1866, John George Reiner became known as “the Builder of Wellesley,” because he built 32 new buildings. There were various mills, an implement manufacturing establishment, hotels, stores, and a brewery. By the 1890s the village boasted many programs as well as a school and churches.

The first library in Wellesley Village was incorporated in 1900, and except for the period between 1916 and 1921, there has been continuous public library service ever since.