History Can Be Interesting

I like to invest in common stocks from time to time. For some reason I started to think about well known companies that have been around for a long time, but have transformed themselves into something different from what they started out as. In particular I was curious about Wells Fargo and Western Union. So I checked them out on Wikipedia and learned some things I did not know.

The Fargo in Wells Fargo was William G. Fargo, not Fargo, North Dakota. Henry Wells and William G. Fargo founded Wells Fargo in 1852. William G. Fargo was mayor of Buffalo, NY from 1862 to 1863 and again from 1864 to 1865. Wells and Fargo previously had founded American Express.

In 1850, American Express was started as an express mail business in Buffalo, New York. American Express is another one of those companies that has been around for a long time, but has transformed itself into something other than what it started as.

Western Union was founded in 1851 in Rochester, NY by Ezra Cornell. Cornell was a co-founder of Cornell University.

Three companies, three years: 1850, 1851 and 1852, plus three people provided us with changing industries that remain to this day.