1864 American Express HUGE Deal signed William & Charles Fargo & J. Butterfield

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1864 American Express HUGE Deal signed William & Charles Fargo & J. Butterfield :
$4975.00

Early historyAmerican Express Co. early shippingreceipts(1853, 1869)Share of the American Express Company, issued 13. October 1865; signed by William G. Fargo as Secretary and Henry Wells as President

In 1850, American Express was started as anexpress mailbusiness inBuffalo, New York.]It was founded as a joint stock corporation by the merger of the express companies owned byHenry Wells(Wells & Company),William G. Fargo(Livingston, Fargo & Company), andJohn Warren Butterfield(Wells, Butterfield & Company, the successor earlier in 1850 of Butterfield, Wasson & Company).Wells and Fargo also startedWells Fargo & Co.in 1852 when Butterfield and other directors objected to the proposal that American Express extend its operations to California.

American Express initially established its headquarters in a building at the intersection of Jay Street andHudson Streetin what was later called theTribecasection of Manhattan. For years it enjoyed a virtual monopoly on the movement of express shipments (goods, securities, currency, etc.) throughout New York State. In 1874, American Express moved its headquarters to 65 Broadway in what was becoming theFinancial Districtof Manhattan, a location it was to retain through two buildings.

American Express buildings

In 1854, the American Express Co. purchased a lot on Vesey Street in New York City as the site for its stables. The company's first New York headquarters was an 1858 marble Italianate palazzo at 55–61Hudson Street, which had a busy freight depot on the ground story with a spur line from theHudson River Railroad. A stable was constructed in 1867, five blocks north at 4–8 Hubert Street.

The company prospered sufficiently that headquarters were moved in 1874 from the wholesale shipping district to the budding Financial District, and into rented offices in two five-story brownstone commercial buildings at 63 and 65 Broadway that were owned by the Harmony family.

In 1880, American Express built a new warehouse behind the Broadway Building at 46 Trinity Place. The designer is unknown, but it has a façade of brick arches that are reminiscent of pre-skyscraper New York. American Express has long been out of this building, but it still bears aterracottaseal with the American Express Eagle.In 1890–91 the company constructed a new ten-story building byEdward H. Kendallon the site of its former headquarters onHudson Street.

By 1903, the company had assets of some $28million, second only to theNational City Bank of New Yorkamongfinancial institutionsin the city. To reflect this, the company purchased the Broadway buildings and site.

TheAmerican Express Company Buildingat 65 Broadway – the former headquarters of the American Express Company

1888 and 1890,J. C. Fargotook 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 traditionalletters of credit, he found it difficult to obtain cash anywhere except in major cities. Fargo went toMarcellus Flemming Berryand asked him to create a better solution than the letter of credit. Berry introduced the American ExpressTraveler's Chequewhich was launched in 1891 in denominations of $10, $20, $50, and $100.

Traveler's cheques established American Express as a truly international company. In 1914, at the onset of World War I, American Express in Europe was among the few companies to honor the letters of credit (issued by various banks) held by Americans in Europe, because other financial institutions refused to assist these stranded travelers.