J. C. Fargo

James Congdell Fargo (1829 – 1915) is a former president of American Express.

He was the younger brother of William Fargo, co-founder of American Express and Wells, Fargo & Co., and became the third president of American Express after William's death in 1881.James was also a co-founder along with William Fargo of American Express. He was succeeded as president in 1914 by George Chadbourne Taylor.

Sometime between 1888 and 1890, J.C. Fargo took a trip to Europe and returned frustrated and infuriated. Despite the fact that he was president of American Express and that he carried with him traditional letters of credit, he found it difficult to obtain cash anywhere except in major cities. Mr. Fargo went to Marcellus Flemming Berry and asked him to create a better solution than the traditional letter of credit. Mr. Berry, who had invented the express money order in 1882, created the American Express Travelers Cheque which was launched in 1891 in denominations of $10, $20, $50, and $100.^[1]

References

Grossman, Peter Z., American Express: The Unofficial History of the People Who Built the Great Financial Empire, New York: Crown, 1987.