Partly-printed DS, one page, 11.75 x 8.75, January 1, 1917. Stock certificate for 150 shares in The Kansas City Mexico Orient Railway Company issued to the American Express Company, signed on the reverse by James F. Fargo as treasurer of American Express, authorizing the transfer of the shares. In fine condition.
James Francis Fargo (1849–1929), a financier and key figure in the development of the modern American Express traveler's check system, was the son of James C. Fargo, co-founder of the American and Wells Fargo Express Companies. A lifelong associate of American Express, he rose through the ranks from assistant treasurer in 1885 to vice president and treasurer in 1905, retiring in 1926. A Williams College graduate and Delta Psi member, Fargo also served as a director of the Hanover National Bank, trustee of the American Savings Bank, and headed the Liberty Loan department at American Express during World War I.
American Express began in 1850 as an express mail company headquartered in Albany, New York. It was founded as a joint stock corporation by the merger of the express companies owned by Wells, Fargo, and Butterfield, who decided to combine forces because they considered the fierce competition between them destructive and wasteful. In 1852, Wells and Fargo proposed extending service to California, but the other directors opposed the plan, fearing that their chief competitor, Adams and Company, would gain a monopoly in the West. The pair formed Wells Fargo while continuing to fulfill their obligations as officers and directors at American Express. Today, American Express is one of the most well-known financial services providers and valuable companies in the world, and Wells Fargo is the nation's fourth-largest bank.
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