Henry Wells
| Henry Wells | |
|---|---|
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| Born | December 12, 1805 Thetford, Vermont, U.S. |
| Died | December 10, 1878 (aged 72) Glasgow, Scotland |
| Resting place | Oak Glen Cemetery, Aurora, New York |
| Occupation | Banker |
| Known for | Co-founder of American Express Company, Wells Fargo, and Wells College |
| Spouse(s) | Sarah Daggett Mary Prentice |
| Children | 4 |
Henry Wells (December 12, 1805 – December 10, 1878) was an American businessman important in the history of both the American Express Company and Wells Fargo & Company.
Henry Wells was born in 1805 in Thetford, Vermont, the son of Dorothea "Dorothy" (Randall) and Shipley Wells, a Presbyterian minister at what is now the First Presbyterian Church of Seneca Falls, New York who moved his family to central New York State in the westward migration of Yankees out of New England. He was a member of the seventh generation of his family in America. His original ancestor was an English immigrant Thomas Welles (1590–1659), who arrived in Massachusetts in 1635 and was the only man in Connecticut's history to hold all four top offices: governor, deputy governor, treasurer, and secretary. In this capacity, he transcribed the Fundamental Orders into the official colony records on 14 January 1638, OS, (24 January 1639, NS). As a child, Henry worked on a farm and attended school in Fayette. In 1822, he was apprenticed to Jessup & Palmer, tanners and shoemakers at Palmyra, New York.
In 1836, Wells became a freight agent on the Erie Canal and soon started his own business. Later he worked for Harnden's Express in Albany. When Wells suggested that service could be expanded west of Buffalo, New York, William F. Harnden urged Wells to go into business on his own account. In 1841, the firm of Pomeroy & Company was formed by George E. Pomeroy, Henry Wells and Crawford Livingston. In the express business they competed with the United States Post Office by carrying mail at less than the government rate. Popular support, roused by the example of the penny post in England, was on the side of the expressmen, and the government was compelled to reduce its rates in 1845 and again in 1851.
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