1. William George Fargo was an American businessman and politician who founded the Wells Fargo banking corporation and American Express company.
18 Facts About William Fargo
1. 2.
William George Fargo was born in Pompey in Onondaga County, New York, on May 20,1818.
3.
William Fargo was the eldest of twelve children of William C Fargo and Stacy Chappel Strong.
4.
William Fargo's father, who was born in New London, Connecticut, fought in the War of 1812.
5.
The elder William Fargo was stationed at Fort Niagara and fought in the battle of Queenston Heights under General Van Rensselaer that resulted in the death of British General Isaac Brock.
6.
William Fargo was wounded in his right thigh, just before the Americans took possession of the ground.
7.
William Fargo's great-grandfather was the son of Moses Fargo and the grandson of Moses Fargo, who was born in Lyon, France.
8.
At the age of 13, William Fargo left school and started carrying mail for his native village of Pompey, New York.
9.
William Fargo remained there for a year until he went to work with the grocers Roswell and Willett Hinman.
10.
At that time, there were no railroad facilities west of Buffalo, and William Fargo, who was in charge of the business, made use of steamboats and wagons.
11.
In 1866, upon the resignation of Henry Wells and American Express' merger with the Merchants Union Express Company, William Fargo was elected President of the American Express Company.
12.
William Fargo was the company's president until he died in 1881, at which point his brother, J C Fargo, assumed the presidency, holding the post until 1914.
13.
William Fargo opened for business in the gold rush city of San Francisco, and soon the company's agents opened offices in the other new cities and mining camps in the West.
14.
William Fargo was a director and vice-president of New York Central Railroad Company, a director and shareholder of the Northern Pacific Railway, a director of the Buffalo, New York and Philadelphia Railroad Company, and a shareholder in the Buffalo Coal Company and the McKean and Buffalo Railroad Company.
15.
William Fargo was a stockholder in several large manufacturing establishments in Buffalo.
16.
William Fargo supported the Union during the Civil War by paying a part of the salary of his employees that were drafted.
17.
In January 1840, Fargo married Anna H Williams, daughter of Nathan Williams, one of the proprietors of Pompey, with whom he had eight children:.
18.
William Fargo died on August 3,1881, after battling an illness for several months.