This week I ran across a letter addressed to Wells Fargo & Company. It was interesting to see the name of a company that still exists today. I was inspired to do a little bit of research to find out more about the history of the company. The first thing I learned was that the company was named after its two founders, Henry Wells and William Fargo. I had never thought about how Wells Fargo & Company got its name, but I guess it makes sense that it would have been named after people.
I also did a little research about the founders of Wells Fargo & Company after finding this letter. Henry Wells first became successful after he started an express postal company that would carry mail at a lower rate than the United States Post Office. William Fargo started carrying mail at the age of 13! Eventually, the two came together to form Wells Fargo & Company AND the American Express Company in the mid-1800s. Again, I was surprised to hear about the initiation of a company like American Express.
The letter to Wells Fargo & Company is actually not that exciting. George Chaffey is writing to Wells Fargo & Company about sending cash to someone named E. B. Love through Wells Fargo & Company. I could not figure out who E. B. Love was or what his significance might be–that will have to be a task for a historian who is better equipped.