Benjamin Pierce Cheney
Encyclopedia
Benjamin Pierce Cheney was an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 businessman, and a founder of the firm that became American Express
American Express
American Express Company or AmEx, is an American multinational financial services corporation headquartered in Three World Financial Center, Manhattan, New York City, New York, United States. Founded in 1850, it is one of the 30 components of the Dow Jones Industrial Average. The company is best...

.

Early life

Cheney was born in Hillsborough, New Hampshire
Hillsborough, New Hampshire
Hillsborough, frequently spelled Hillsboro, is a town in Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 6,011 at the 2010 census...

 on August 12, 1815, to Jesse and Alice (Steele) Cheney. The family were descended from John Cheney, who was recorded in Roxbury, Massachusetts
Roxbury, Massachusetts
Roxbury is a dissolved municipality and current neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It was one of the first towns founded in the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1630, and became a city in 1846 until annexed to Boston on January 5, 1868...

, in 1635, moving the following year to Newbury, Massachusetts
Newbury, Massachusetts
Newbury is a town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 6,666 at the 2010 census. Newbury includes the villages of Old Town , Plum Island and Byfield, home of The Governor's Academy , a private preparatory school.- History :Newbury Plantation was settled and incorporated...

. John Cheney's brother, William, recorded in Roxbury by 1640, was an ancestor of former Vice President Dick Cheney
Dick Cheney
Richard Bruce "Dick" Cheney served as the 46th Vice President of the United States , under George W. Bush....

. He was also evidently kin to the Benjamin Cheney or Cheany of Hartford, Connecticut
Hartford, Connecticut
Hartford is the capital of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960, it is the second most populous city on New England's largest river, the Connecticut River. As of the 2010 Census, Hartford's population was 124,775, making...

, from whom John Fitch
John Fitch (inventor)
John Fitch was an American inventor, clockmaker, and silversmith who, in 1787, built the first recorded steam-powered boat in the United States...

, the inventor of the steamboat
Steamboat
A steamboat or steamship, sometimes called a steamer, is a ship in which the primary method of propulsion is steam power, typically driving propellers or paddlewheels...

, learned the trade of clocksmith in 1760.

Cheney's father was a blacksmith
Blacksmith
A blacksmith is a person who creates objects from wrought iron or steel by forging the metal; that is, by using tools to hammer, bend, and cut...

, and he began working in his father's shop at age 10. At age 12 he began working at a tavern and later a general store in Francestown, New Hampshire
Francestown, New Hampshire
Francestown is a town in Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 1,562 at the 2010 census.- History :Incorporated in 1772, Francestown takes its name from Frances Deering Wentworth, the wife of colonial governor John Wentworth. There were 928 residents when the first...

. In 1831 he started work as a stagecoach driver between Nashua
Nashua, New Hampshire
-Climate:-Demographics:As of the census of 2010, there were 86,494 people, 35,044 households, and 21,876 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,719.9 people per square mile . There were 37,168 housing units at an average density of 1,202.8 per square mile...

 and Exeter
Exeter, New Hampshire
Exeter is a town in Rockingham County, New Hampshire, United States. The town's population was 14,306 at the 2010 census. Exeter was the county seat until 1997, when county offices were moved to neighboring Brentwood...

, soon moving to the route between Nashua and Keene
Keene, New Hampshire
Keene is a city in Cheshire County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 23,409 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Cheshire County.Keene is home to Keene State College and Antioch University New England, and hosts the annual Pumpkin Fest...

. The stage did a brisk business due to the dearth of rail lines at the time. Cheney built relationships with some of his passengers at this time, including Daniel Webster
Daniel Webster
Daniel Webster was a leading American statesman and senator from Massachusetts during the period leading up to the Civil War. He first rose to regional prominence through his defense of New England shipping interests...

, whose friendship lasted the rest of his life. With a reputation for honesty and reliability, he was frequently entrusted with large sums of money destined for banks on his route. In 1836 he became a stage agent in Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...

.

Wells Fargo and American Express

Cheney joined Nathaniel White and William Walker in 1842 to organize an express line between Boston and Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...

. In 1852 Cheney effected his first consolidation when he bought out Fisk & Rice's Express between Boston and Burlington, Vermont
Burlington, Vermont
Burlington is the largest city in the U.S. state of Vermont and the shire town of Chittenden County. Burlington lies south of the U.S.-Canadian border and some south of Montreal....

. Subsequent consolidations resulted in the organization of the United States & Canada Express Company in 1854.

In 1854, while on his way home from Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

, he lost his right arm in a railway accident.

Cheney was elected a director of Wells Fargo & Company in September 1854 in place of Alpheus Reynolds, who had resigned. On April 15, 1863, the Wells Fargo management named Cheney, Danford N. Barney
Danford N. Barney
Danford Newton Barney was an American expressman who served as president of Wells Fargo & Company from 1853 to 1866....

 and William Fargo
William Fargo
William George Fargo , pioneer American expressman, was born in Pompey, New York. From the age of thirteen he had to support himself, obtaining little schooling, and for several years he was a clerk in grocery stores in Syracuse....

 a committee to go to California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

 "in the best interests of the company". Traveling by stage, they spent most of July, all of August, and most of September 1863 in California looking after the company's affairs.

He retired from the Wells Fargo board in 1877, but again served as a director from 1882 to the beginning of 1884.

Cheney sold United States & Canada Express in 1879 to American Express
American Express
American Express Company or AmEx, is an American multinational financial services corporation headquartered in Three World Financial Center, Manhattan, New York City, New York, United States. Founded in 1850, it is one of the 30 components of the Dow Jones Industrial Average. The company is best...

, at which time he became the company's largest shareholder as well as treasurer and a director. He remained a large shareholder of Wells Fargo, National Express, and others.

Railroad interests

Through his business contacts, Cheney became interested in the Vermont Central Railroad (later the Central Vermont), the Northern Pacific Railroad, the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad, and the San Diego Land and Town Company. He was also the founder and a director of the Market National Bank of Boston and the American Loan and Trust Company.

He helped finance the Northern Pacific and the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe, and had much to do with geeting Wells Fargo's express service on both roads. He was a director of the Santa Fe from 1873 to 1894.

When it became evident the railroad was in dire straits, other directors sold their shares. Cheney, by contrast, refused to take advantage of his inside information and held his shares, suffering a significant personal loss when the railroad went bankrupt in the Panic of 1893
Panic of 1893
The Panic of 1893 was a serious economic depression in the United States that began in 1893. Similar to the Panic of 1873, this panic was marked by the collapse of railroad overbuilding and shaky railroad financing which set off a series of bank failures...

 and was reorganized.

Civic activities and family life

On June 6, 1865, Cheney married Elizabeth Stickney Clapp, daughter of Asahel and Elizabeth Searle (Whiting) Clapp of Dorchester, Massachusetts. The Cheneys had a son, Benjamin Pierce Cheney, Jr.
Benjamin Pierce Cheney, Jr.
Benjamin Pierce Cheney, Jr. , was an American business executive. He had extensive investments in railroad securities and served as a director of Wells Fargo & Company and the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad....

, and three daughters, Alice Steele, Mary and Elizabeth.

Cheney was a member of the New England Historic Genealogical Society
New England Historic Genealogical Society
The New England Historic Genealogical Society is the oldest and largest genealogical society in the United States, founded in 1845. A charitable, nonprofit educational institution, NEHGS is located at 99-101 Newbury Street, in Boston, Massachusetts, in an eight-story archive and research center....

. He donated $50,000 to Dartmouth College
Dartmouth College
Dartmouth College is a private, Ivy League university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. The institution comprises a liberal arts college, Dartmouth Medical School, Thayer School of Engineering, and the Tuck School of Business, as well as 19 graduate programs in the arts and sciences...

, and in 1886 he presented a bronze statue by Thomas Ball
Thomas Ball
Thomas Ball may refer to:*Thomas Ball , English divine* Thomas Ball , American sculptor* Thomas Ball , represented the Mongonui electorate...

 of his friend Daniel Webster
Daniel Webster
Daniel Webster was a leading American statesman and senator from Massachusetts during the period leading up to the Civil War. He first rose to regional prominence through his defense of New England shipping interests...

 to the people of New Hampshire; today it is located in front of the New Hampshire State House
New Hampshire State House
The New Hampshire State House is the state capitol building of New Hampshire, located in Concord at 107 North Main Street. The capitol houses the New Hampshire General Court, Governor and Executive Council...

. He also helped develop the eastern part of Washington state with a railroad line. As a result, Cheney, Washington
Cheney, Washington
Cheney is a city in Spokane County, Washington, United States. The full time resident population was 10,590 as of 2010 census. Eastern Washington University is located in Cheney, and its population grows to approximately 17,600 people on a temporary basis when classes at Eastern Washington...

, is named in his honor, and with a $10,000 grant he helped establish a school there in 1882 that evolved into Eastern Washington University
Eastern Washington University
Eastern Washington University is an American public, coeducational university located in Cheney, Washington.Founded in 1882, the university is academically divided into four colleges: Arts and Letters; Business and Public Administration; Science, Health and Engineering; and Social & Behavioral...

.

Cheney was also one of the most generous supporters of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society
Massachusetts Horticultural Society
The Massachusetts Horticultural Society, sometimes abbreviated to MassHort, is an American horticultural society based in Massachusetts. It describes itself as the oldest, formally-organized horticultural institution in the United States...

, after becoming a member in 1864. His property in Wellesley, Massachusetts is now protected as Elm Bank Reservation.

Later life

Cheney amassed a fortune estimated at $10,000,000. He was again elected a director of Wells Fargo upon the death of Leland Stanford
Leland Stanford
Amasa Leland Stanford was an American tycoon, industrialist, robber baron, politician and founder of Stanford University.-Early years:...

 in June 1893, and served until his own death in July 1895. His son then served as a director of Wells Fargo until August 1899.

Cheney's estate in Wellesley, Massachusetts
Wellesley, Massachusetts
Wellesley is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. It is part of Greater Boston. The population was 27,982 at the time of the 2010 census.It is best known as the home of Wellesley College and Babson College...

 has since become the Elm Bank Horticulture Center
Elm Bank Horticulture Center
The Elm Bank Horticulture Center is the home of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society, located at 900 Washington Street , Wellesley, Massachusetts, U.S....

. He retired to this 198 acre (0.80127828 km²) property on the Charles River
Charles River
The Charles River is an long river that flows in an overall northeasterly direction in eastern Massachusetts, USA. From its source in Hopkinton, the river travels through 22 cities and towns until reaching the Atlantic Ocean at Boston...

in his last years and occupied himself with beautifying the land with conservatories and gardens. He died on July 23, 1895.
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