During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, an expressman was someone whose responsibility it was to ensure the safe delivery of gold or currency, being shipped by railroad, and which was secured in the "express car".
For decades stagecoach drivers and baggage-wagoners performed many of the tasks that would be later formalized under the title expressman.
[1] The first express companies, which developed in the early 19th century, contracted with stagecoach lines to carry their goods.
On the railroads, the men who later were called expressmen were initially referred to as conductors, as they were responsible for managing all or part of the express rail car.
The expressmen would sometimes be accompanied by armed men for additional security, and some enlisted the Pinkerton Agency, which became established in this era.
[citation needed] The success of express shipping in the United States was quickly adopted by Great Britain and Europe.