A pair of stock stubs; one signed by William G. Fargo and the other by Henry Wells. William George Fargo (May 20, 1818 " August 3, 1881) was a prominent American entrepreneur and politician, recognized for establishing the Wells Fargo banking corporation and the American Express company. On April 1, 1845, he, along with Henry Wells and Daniel Dunning, initiated the Western Express, which operated from Buffalo to Cincinnati, St. Louis, Chicago, and other locations, under the name Wells & Co. At that time, there were no railway services available west of Buffalo, and Fargo, overseeing the operations, utilized steamboats and wagons for transportation. In 1845, Daniel Dunning exited the partnership, and in 1846, Henry Wells divested his stake in the business to William A. Livingston, who subsequently became Fargo's partner in Livingston, Fargo & Company. By 1850, three rival express companies"Wells & Company (led by Henry Wells), Livingston, Fargo & Company (comprising Fargo and William A. Livingston), and Wells, Butterfield & Company, which was the successor to Butterfield, Wasson & Company (founded by John Warren Butterfield)"were merged to form the American Express Company, with Wells serving as President and Fargo as Secretary. In 1866, following Henry Wells' resignation and the merger of American Express with the Merchants Union Express Company, Fargo was appointed President of the American Express Company. He held this position until his death in 1881, after which his brother, J. C. Fargo, took over the presidency, remaining in that role until 1914. Henry Wells (1806-1878) An American businessman. He started a school for speech disorders in his twenties, due to his own speaking problems. In 1836 he became a freight agent on the Erie Canal. He early entered the express business, becoming an agent for Henry F. Harnden, and in 1841 suggested to George Pomeroy the desirability of establishing an express from Albany to Buffalo. Subsequently Crawford Livingston acted on the proposition, and weekly trips were made between the two points. Beginning in 1843, railroad communication having been established between the two cities, trips were made daily. The firm-name was at first Pomeroy and Co., but was altered to Livingston, Wells and Pomeroy, and, on the retirement of the latter, became Livingston and Wells. In 1845 the business was extended westward from Buffalo to Chicago, with William G. Fargo in charge of that division, under the name of Wells and Co. Meanwhile they established a letter express to carry communications from New York to Buffalo for six cents, while the government charge for the same distance was twenty-five cents. Every means was taken by the National authorities to destroy the practice, but without success. In 1846 a European express was established, with offices in London and Paris. Competition by various companies resulted in the consolidation of the different organizations in 1850, and the formation of the American express company, of Item ordered may not be exact piece shown. All original and authentic.