William Fargo

William G. Fargo
27th Mayor of Buffalo
In office 1862–1866
Preceded by	Franklin A. Alberger
Succeeded by	Chandler J. Wells
Personal details
Born	May 20, 1818 Pompey, New York
Died	August 3, 1881(1881-08-03) (aged 63) Buffalo, New York
Political party	Democratic
Spouse(s)	Anna Hurd
Children	8
Religion	Episcopalian
[1]

William George Fargo (May 20, 1818 – August 3, 1881) was a pioneer American expressman who helped found the modern day financial firms of American Express Company and Wells Fargo with his business partner, Henry Wells.

Early life

William George Fargo was born in Pompey in Onondaga County, New York on May 20, 1818. He was the eldest of twelve children of William C. Fargo (1791-1878) (formerly of New London, Connecticut) and Tacy (Strong) Fargo (1799-1869). His education only consisted of the rudiments taught in a country school as he left school at the age of 13 to carry the mail in Pompey and help support his family.^[2]

Career

Early career

At the age of 13, Fargo left school and started carrying mail for his native village of Pompey, New York. In the winter of 1838, Fargo started working with Hough & Gilchrist, grocers, from Syracuse. He remained there for a year until he went to work with the grocers Roswell and Willett Hinman. After three years, Fargo obtained a clerkship in the forwarding house of Dunford & Co., Syracuse.^[3] In 1841, he became a freight agent, an express messenger between Albany and Buffalo, for the Auburn and Syracuse Railroad in Auburn. A year later in 1843, Fargo was a Resident Agent in Buffalo, New York. He left the Auburn and Syracuse Railroad and joined Livingston, Wells & Co., as messenger.^[4]

American Express Company

William G. Fargo in 1865

On April 1, 1845, along with Henry Wells and Daniel Dunning, Fargo organized the Western Express which ran from Buffalo to Cincinnati, St. Louis, Chicago and intermediate points, under the name of Wells & Co. At that time, there were no railroad facilities west of Buffalo, and Fargo, who had charge of the business, made use of steamboats and wagons.^[5]

In 1845, Daniel Dunning withdrew from the company and in 1846, Henry Wells sold out his interest in this concern to William A. Livingston, who became Fargo’s partner in Livingston, Fargo & Company. In 1850, three competing express companies: Wells & Company (Henry Wells), Livingston, Fargo & Company (Fargo and William A. Livingston), and Wells, Butterfield & Company, the successor earlier in 1850 of Butterfield, Wasson & Company (John Warren Butterfield),^[6] were consolidated and became the American Express Company, with Wells as President and Fargo as Secretary.

In 1866, upon the resignation of Henry Wells and American Express' merger with the Merchants Union Express Company, Fargo was elected President of the American Express Company. He was president of the American Express Company until his death in 1881, at which point his brother, J. C. Fargo, assumed the presidency, which he held until 1914.^[7]

Wells Fargo & Company

In 1852, Henry Wells and Fargo created Wells Fargo & Co. when Butterfield (and other directors of American Express) objected to the extension of its operations to California. The original Wells Fargo & Co. was created to facilitate an express business between New York and San Francisco by way of the Isthmus of Panama and on the Pacific coast. The new company offered banking services, which included buying gold and selling paper bank drafts, and express services, which included rapid delivery of gold and anything else valuable.^[8] The company 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.^[9]

In 1861, Wells Fargo & Company bought and reorganized the Overland Mail Co., which had been formed in 1857 to carry the United States mail, and of which Fargo had been one of the original promoters.^[10]

Other

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. He was also a stockholder in several large manufacturing establishments in Buffalo.^[11]

Political career

From 1862 to 1866, he was mayor of Buffalo. During his term as mayor, the Buffalo riot of 1862 took place. Fargo was a lifelong Democrat and stood against secession. He supported the Union during the Civil War by paying a part of the salary of his employees that were drafted.^[12]

Personal life

Wiliam G. Fargo Mansion in Buffalo, New York

In 1840, Fargo married Anna H. Williams (1820-1890), also of Pompey, with whom he had eight children:

• Georgia Fargo (1841-1892)
• Alma Cornelia Fargo (1842-1842)
• Sarah Irene Fargo (1843-1854)
• William George Fargo (1845-1872)
• Hannah Sophia Fargo (1847-1851)
• Mary Louise Fargo (1851-1852)
• Helen Lacy Fargo Squires (1857-1886)
• Edwin Morgan Fargo (1861-1865)

William G. Fargo Mansion as it appeared in 1900 before it was demolished

In 1868, when he was 50, Fargo bought 5.5 acres on the Buffalo's west side and between 1868-1872, he built the Fargo Mansion at Jersey and Fargo Streets, which was Buffalo's largest mansion. The home was completed in 1872 at a cost of $600,000 (equivalent to $11,852,000 in 2016). Another $100,000 (equivalent to $1,975,000 in 2016) was expended to furnish and decorate the 22,170 square-foot mansion.^[2] Michael Rizzo, a Buffalo historian, wrote:^[13]

 "... the 'most elaborate and costly private mansion in the state,' outside of New York City. The house took two city blocks, from Pennsylvania Avenue, West Avenue, Jersey Street, and Fargo Avenue. There was a central tower five stories high. At his request it contained wood from all the states of the Union. It was the first home in the city to contain an elevator in it, and it was said to have gold doorknobs."

He died on August 3, 1881 after battling an illness for several months and was buried in Forest Lawn Cemetery.^[14] At his death, only two of his children were living, Georgia and Helen. William's brother, J.C. Fargo, succeeded him as President of American Express after his death.

Legacy

Fargo's wife Anna died in 1890 and their two surviving children lived elsewhere so the Fargo Mansion stood vacant for 10 years. It was deemed too expensive to maintain and with no buyer, the mansion was demolished and the block cut into residential lots in 1901. The mansion and estate grounds were only 30 years old.^[15]

Fargo Avenue in Buffalo; the Fargo Quadrangle at the University at Buffalo;^[16] and Fargo, North Dakota are named after him.

See also

• American Express
• Wells Fargo
• J.C. Fargo
• Henry Wells
• John Warren Butterfield

References

• "William G. Fargo". Through The Mayor's Eyes, The Only Complete History of the Mayors of Buffalo, New York, Compiled by Michael Rizzo. The Buffalonian is produced by The Peoples History Union. 2009-05-27. 
•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. 

External links

• William Fargo at Find a Grave
• Works by or about William Fargo in libraries (WorldCat catalog)