Results matching “telegrapher”

March is Women's History Month , which Wells Fargo celebrates. We are proud of contributions women have made throughout our history.

Henry Wells established Wells College for women in upstate New York in 1869. "Give her the opportunity!" he said, and the company he founded did. Wells Fargo's first female agent, in 1873, was Mary Taggart in Palmyra, Nebraska. Between 1873 and 1918, Wells Fargo hired over three hundred fifty women as agents, a respected position in the community.

Many of Wells Fargo's female agents in the field wore other hats as well — railroad agent , telegraph operator , business owner. Cassie Hill held three jobs in Roseville, California, from 1884 to 1907: Wells Fargo Agent, railroad agent, and telegrapher at the busy rail junction. All the while, Hill raised five children on her own. Frances Evelyn Marum ran the Wells Fargo office in Hillside, Arizona, and also owned a general store. Customers sometimes tendered goats to pay their bills. Business was good enough that Agent Marum's herd numbered more than 5,000.

Hundreds more women worked at Wells Fargo's headquarters as auditors, clerks, advertising copywriters, stenographers and telephone operators. In 1889, Wells Fargo replaced a number of young male clerks with young women, who proved themselves more diligent.

"The change was made," a San Francisco newspaper reported, "because the young men...indulged in too much fun, disturbing the expert accountants employed with them. One of the officials has intimated that the change has proved so satisfactory that a similar trial will be made in some of the other departments."

Today, about two-thirds of Wells Fargo Bank's employees are female.

When Henry Wells established Wells College for women in 1869, his purpose was clear: "Give her the opportunity!" he thundered.

Wells Fargo has a long history of hiring women, echoing founder Henry Wells' words. The Company's first female agent was Mary Taggart, who ran the Wells Fargo office in Palmyra, Nebraska, in 1873.

Many of Wells Fargo's 350 female agents across the nation held other jobs as well. In Roseville, California, Cassie Hill had three: Wells Fargo agent, railroad agent and telegrapher at the busy rail junction. All the while, she raised five children on her own. Julia Jones, agent at Mariposa, California, was elected county superintendent of schools — although she herself was not allowed vote!

Hundreds more women worked at Wells Fargo's headquarters as auditors, clerks, advertising copywriters, stenographers and telephone operators. Anchoring its modern-day commitment to women and minority-owned businesses, Wells Fargo historically partnered with woman-owned businesses and counted many women among its valued customers as well.

Today, two-thirds of bank employees are women.

"Here's to the Wells Fargo woman on the job. May she sustain all the fine traditions of our honorable company!"

• Wells Fargo agent in Roseville, California, from 1884 to 1908, Cassie Hill became agent after her husband’s sudden death. She invested in the Roseville businesses and real estate, and enjoyed driving one of Roseville’s first automobiles.

• Marie F. Putnam was the only woman among 300 employees of the Abbot-Downing Co., makers of the famous Concord Stagecoaches. From 1865 to 1895, Putnam stitched leather for every stagecoach that rolled out of the Concord, New Hampshire factory—including those bought by Wells Fargo & Company.

• At the age of 14, Delia Haskett Rawson was the first girl stage driver—and maybe the youngest—ever to carry the U.S. mail in California. She was the only woman to ever belong to the Pioneer Stage Drivers of California and served as its vice president.

• Tilla Patterson was Wells Fargo Agent at Winchester, California from 1892 to 1910. From the depot, Patterson also served as Santa Fe Railroad agent and the Western Union telegraph operator. Agent Patterson used her business connections to help build the collection of the county library where she volunteered.

• Florence Scott earned her medical degree from the University of California, and in 1922 was asked to provide medical exams and emergency care for the Wells Fargo Nevada National Bank in downtown San Francisco. This began the Bank's program of company-paid health care.

• Julia Lois Jones succeeded her sister, Lucy Jones Miller, as agent at Mariposa, California. The two sisters ran that Wells Fargo office for over 25 years. Lucy was also postmaster while Julia served three terms as Superintendent of Schools.

• When Uncle Sam called Wells Fargo's Winona, Minnesota Agent to serve in World War I, Mrs. Evangeline Sawyer patriotically filled in until he returned. Sawyer's efforts earned high praise from the regional superintendent.

• A preacher’s daughter whose family settled in southern Minnesota, Lillie Predmore served as Wells Fargo’s express agent in the town that bore her family’s name. Her younger sister, Mrs. Freda Kester, succeeded her in 1914.

• In the mid-1970s, Audrey Strand became Wells Fargo's first woman "special agent" — a designation bestowed on the likes of James B. Hume, who brought Black Bart to justice. Her responsibility was to report "embezzlement, irregularities and mysterious disappearances" to the FBI, Controller of Currency and the U.S. Attorney.

• In 1960, Wells Fargo expanded throughout Northern California. New computer technologies were introduced to handle the booming business: Janet Wright managed the engineers and technicians. For her effective work, Wright became the first woman Assistant Vice President at Wells Fargo in 1964.

• A rancher in Livermore, California, Virginia Fellingham drove stagecoaches for Wells Fargo Bank for over thirty years in the 20th Century. She and her family have appeared in hundreds of parades and civic events.

Colleague Keri is correct on Wells Fargo’s paper-saving efforts. The bank has been recycling for more than a century. In 1886, for instance, Wells Fargo sold its accumulated waybills, prior to January 1, 1885, for old paper. The rag content in the waste paper  meant it could be reused.

Similarly, one agent might reuse the records of a previous agent. For instance, Benjamin F. Richtmyer was Wells Fargo’s Express agent in Drytown (Amador County), Calif. , from 1860 to 1875. His general store was busy constantly, for Richtmyer was also postmaster and telegrapher as well as express agent.

In 1875, Richtmyer became county clerk, moved to the county seat of Jackson, and continued to serve as a Wells Fargo agent until 1899. Of course, he left the Drytown office records for incoming Agent William Jennings (1875-1894). In 1884, general store keeper Jennings used Richtmyer’s 1860s money receipt books as scrapbooks to preserve bills for merchandise received.

In more recent times, I would find Hawaiian beaches strewn at the high water line with chopped debris  from sugar cane milling. Bagasse, as this refuse is called, is about a quarter-inch wide, four inches long, and in great abundance. In 1972, Wells Fargo proposed to keep this problem in check by making checks out of it.

We do our part.