Fargo served on the board from to , the year he died. He also served as president of Wells Fargo from to and president of American Express from to He devoted his fortune to founding Wells College in Aurora, New York, in — one of the nation's first institutions of higher learning for women. As for Fargo, he served twice as mayor of Buffalo during the Civil War. And yet, it was never more important that our local governments should be properly administered.
He paid to ship care packages to Buffalo troops, provided a local regiment with a regimental flag, and, in , helped Union forces prevent a Confederate plot to invade Buffalo and other Lake Erie cities.
Today, Wells Fargo follows in the footsteps of its founders, adapting to the demands of a changing world and seeking innovative solutions to help its customers succeed financially.
Wells Fargo teamed up with personal finance and organizational experts Marsha Barnes and Jen Robin to bring the joy of simplicity to your finances with a wallet edit. Bringing financial relief to a global crisis. You are leaving wellsfargo. Wells Fargo has provided this link for your convenience, but does not endorse and is not responsible for the content, links, privacy policy, or security policy of this website. Photo: Wells Fargo Corporate Archives. History March 16, Before express companies, people gathered by the dock to find a friend willing to make a delivery.
Soon after the new company was formed, Wells, the first president of American Express, and Fargo, its vice-president, proposed expanding their business to California. Fearing that American Express's most powerful rival, Adams and Company later renamed Adams Express Company , would acquire a monopoly in the West, the majority of the American Express Company's directors balked. Undaunted, Wells and Fargo decided to start their own business while continuing to fulfill their responsibilities as officers and directors of American Express.
Financier Edwin B. Morgan was appointed Wells Fargo's first president. The company opened its first office, in San Francisco, in July The immediate challenge facing Morgan and Danforth N. Barney, who became president in , was to establish the company in two highly competitive fields under conditions of rapid growth and unpredictable change.
At the time, California regulated neither the banking nor the express industry, so both fields were wide open.
Anyone with a wagon and team of horses could open an express company and all it took to open a bank was a safe and a room to keep it in. Because of its late entry into the California market, Wells Fargo faced well established competition in both fields.
From the beginning, the fledgling company offered diverse and mutually supportive services: general forwarding and commissions; buying and selling of gold dust, bullion, and specie or coin ; and freight service between New York and California. Under Morgan's and Barney's direction, express and banking offices were quickly established in key communities bordering the gold fields and a network of freight and messenger routes was soon in place throughout California.
Barney's policy of subcontracting express services to established companies, rather than duplicating existing services, was a key factor in Wells Fargo's early success. In , Wells Fargo faced its first crisis when the California banking system collapsed as a result of overspeculation.
Louis, Missouri, parent was made public. The run soon spread to other major financial institutions, all of which, including Wells Fargo, were forced to close their doors. The following Tuesday Wells Fargo reopened in sound condition, despite a loss of one-third of its net worth. Wells Fargo was one of the few financial and express companies to survive the panic, partly because it kept sufficient assets on hand to meet customers' demands rather than transferring all its assets to New York.
Surviving the Panic of gave Wells Fargo two advantages. First, it faced virtually no competition in the banking and express business in California after the crisis; second, Wells Fargo attained a reputation for dependability and soundness. From through , Wells Fargo expanded rapidly, becoming the West's all-purpose business, communications, and transportation agent. Under Barney's direction, the company developed its own stagecoach business, helped start and then took over the Overland Mail Company, and participated in the Pony Express.
This period culminated with the 'grand consolidation' of when Wells Fargo consolidated under its own name the ownership and operation of the entire overland mail route from the Missouri River to the Pacific Ocean and many stagecoach lines in the western states.
In its early days, Wells Fargo participated in the staging business to support its banking and express businesses. But the character of Wells Fargo's participation changed when it helped start the Overland Mail Company. In , Overland Mail was awarded a government contract to carry the U. Louis to California. From the beginning, Wells Fargo was Overland Mail's banker and primary lender. In there was a crisis when Congress failed to pass the annual post office appropriation bill and left the post office with no way to pay for the Overland Mail Company's services.
As Overland Mail's indebtedness to Wells Fargo climbed, Wells Fargo became increasingly disenchanted with Butterfield's management strategy. In March Wells Fargo threatened to foreclose. As a compromise. Butterfield resigned as president of Overland Mail and control of the company passed to Wells Fargo. Wells Fargo, however, did not acquire ownership of the company until the consolidation of Wells Fargo's involvement in Overland Mail led to its participation in the Pony Express in the last six of the express's 18 months of existence.
By the end of , the Pony Express was in deep financial trouble; its fees did not cover its costs and, without government subsidies and lucrative mail contracts, it could not make up the difference. Joseph, Missouri, under subcontract. The Pony Express ended when transcontinental telegraph lines were completed in late Overland mail and express services were continued, however, by the coordinated efforts of several companies.
By , Holladay had built a staging empire with lines in eight western states and was challenging Wells Fargo's supremacy in the West. A showdown between the two transportation giants in late resulted in Wells Fargo's purchase of Holladay's operations.
The 'grand consolidation' spawned a new enterprise that operated under the Wells Fargo name and combined the Wells Fargo, Holladay, and Overland Mail lines and became the undisputed stagecoach leader. The Wells Fargo stagecoach empire was short lived. McLane had reached an agreement with a railroad group that failed. Although the Central Pacific Railroad, already operating over the Sierra Mountains to Reno, Nevada, carried Wells Fargo's express, the company did not have an exclusive contract.
Moreover, the Union Pacific Railroad was encroaching on the territory served by Wells Fargo stagelines. Ashbel H. The transcontinental railroad was completed in the following year, causing the stage business to dwindle and Wells Fargo's stock to fall.
The Tevis group also started buying up Wells Fargo stock at its sharply reduced price. There Wells Fargo agreed to buy the Pacific Express Company at a much-inflated price and received exclusive express rights for ten years on the Central Pacific Railroad and a much needed infusion of capital. All of this, however, came at a price: control of Wells Fargo shifted to Tevis. Ashbel Barney resigned in and was replaced as president by William Fargo.
In William Fargo also resigned to devote full time to his duties as president of American Express. Lloyd Tevis replaced Fargo as president of Wells Fargo, and the company expanded rapidly under his management. The number of banking and express offices grew from in to 3, at the turn of the century. During this period, Wells Fargo also established the first transcontinental express line, using more than a dozen railroads. The company first gained access to the lucrative East Coast markets beginning in ; successfully promoted the use of refrigerated freight cars in California; had opened branch banks in Virginia City, Carson City, and Salt Lake City by ; and expanded its express services to Japan, Australia, Hong Kong, South America, Mexico, and Europe.
In Wells Fargo also began selling money orders. In Wells Fargo separated its banking and express operations. Edward H. Harriman, a prominent financier and dominant figure in the Southern Pacific and Union Pacific railroads, had gained control of Wells Fargo. Harriman reached an agreement with Isaias W. In the government forced Wells Fargo Express to consolidate its domestic operations with those of the other major express companies.
Wells Fargo continued some overseas express operations until the s. The two years following the merger tested the newly reorganized bank's, and Hellman's, capacities. In April the San Francisco earthquake and fire destroyed most of the city's business district, including the Wells Fargo Nevada National Bank building.
The bank's vaults and credit were left intact, however, and the bank committed its resources to restoring San Francisco. Money flowed into San Francisco from around the country to support rapid reconstruction of the city.
The Panic of , begun in New York in October, followed on the heels of this frenetic reconstruction period. The stock market had crashed in March. Several New York banks, deeply involved in efforts to manipulate the market after the crash, experienced a run when speculators were unable to pay for stock they had purchased. The compassion to lend a hand. The motivation to always look ahead. These things are alive in all of us.
The history of Wells Fargo is the story of always looking forward. Discover the innovations that have been part of our DNA since day one.
Meet the visionaries, trailblazers, inventors, and local heroes who explored new horizons and embraced diverse perspectives to become a part of our history. Our guided tours make the American experience come alive for your students with stories, interactive exhibits, and of course stagecoaches.
See it in person. By Brandy Woodfolk. By Scott Jeffries. By Cynthia Bowman. By Joel Anderson. By Lia Sestric. Sign up for our daily newsletter for the latest financial news and trending topics. For our full Privacy Policy, click here. Advertiser Disclosure. A Better Way to Bank. About the Author. She lives in LA with her various animals. She began writing for GOBankingRates because she believes in the distribution of information, especially regarding one's money.
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