William George Fargo was born in Pompey in Onondaga County, New York, on May 20, 1818.

[1] He was the eldest of twelve children of William C. Fargo (1791–1878) and Stacy Chappel Strong (1799–1869).

His younger brother was James Congdell Strong Fargo (1829–1915), president of the American Express Company for 30 years.

His father Jacent Fargeau, had emigrated with his wife and children to Wales, from where Moses and his elder brother Aaron went to Norfolk, Connecticut, in 1670.

At the age of 13, Fargo left school and started carrying mail for his native village of Pompey, New York.

[4] On April 1, 1845, along with Henry Wells and Daniel Dunning, Fargo organized the Western Express which ran from Buffalo to Cincinnati, St. Louis, Chicago and intermediate points, under the name of Wells & Co. At that time, there were no railroad facilities west of Buffalo, and Fargo, who was in charge of the business, made use of steamboats and wagons.

The original Wells Fargo & Co. was created to facilitate an express business between New York and San Francisco by way of the Isthmus of Panama and the Pacific coast.

He supported the Union during the Civil War by paying a part of the salary of his employees that were drafted.

[2] Michael Rizzo, a Buffalo historian, wrote:[11] the 'most elaborate and costly private mansion in the state,' outside of New York City.

It was deemed too expensive to maintain and, with no buyer, the mansion was demolished and the block was divided into residential lots in 1901.