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Document 30076

AMERICAN EXPRESS: JOHN BUTTERFIELD and WILLIAM G. FARGO
Early Stock certificate signed by two co-founders.
Early Stock Certificate signed "John Butterfield" as Vice President, "Wm G. Fargo" as Secretary and "Alex Holland" as Treasurer of the American Express Company, 1p, 11¼x6¾. New York, 1859 October 14. Certificate No. 3566 registered to William J. Rudd for five shares in the American Express Company. This stock certificate of the American Express Company was registered nearly ten years after the company was formed on March 18, 1850 by Henry Wells, William G. Fargo and John Butterfield. Through a special provision, consent of the board was necessary for the purchase of stock. An unincorporated association, it was formed with a beginning capital of $150,000 for a limited life of ten years. In 1860, the company was dissolved and the assets auctioned off with the existing shareholders successfully bidding $600,000. This pioneer service transported valuables, currency, mail and commodities across the country and expanded to banking and tourism after 1869. WILLIAM G. FARGO got his start in the express business in 1831 at age 13 with a 30-mile mail route. Later, he became a messenger with Wells & Company (founded 1844), the first express company to venture west of Buffalo. Fargo eventually became a partner in Wells & Company. In 1850, JOHN BUTTERFIELD, a former stage driver, convinced Wells and Fargo to consolidate their express companies with his own Butterfield & Wasson Company to form the AMERICAN EXPRESS COMPANY. The new company covered New England to the Great Lakes into the Midwest. These cofounders however, created other companies during the 10-year life of American Express. Wells, Fargo & Company, formed in 1852, covered the west. In 1857, John Butterfield's Overland Stage Company, a Wells Fargo competitor, was awarded a government contract to deliver St. Louis mail to San Francisco. While it prospered, the Butterfield Overland Stage Company employed more than 800 people and had 139 relay stations, 1800 head of stock and 250 Concord stagecoaches in service. In March 1860, five months after this certificate was issued, the legal life of the American Express Company expired. Butterfield was forced out and the Butterfield Overland Stage Company was taken over by Wells Fargo due to large debts that Butterfield owed to Henry Wells and William G. Fargo. ALEX HOLLAND, Butterfield's son-in-law, stayed on as Treasurer. Butterfield later served as Mayor of Utica, New York; Fargo became Mayor of Buffalo. American Express certificates signed by John Butterfield are rarely encountered. Tanned and shaded. Lightly creased. Folds, vertical folds touch the "G" in Fargo's signature, the "d" in Holland and the "V" where Butterfield has written in "Vice" before President. Irregular left edge, 1x¼-inch paper loss at upper right blank corner. Overall, fine condition.

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