Ashbel H. Barney

Ashbel Holmes Barney (September 2, 1816 – December 27, 1886) was an American banker and expressman who served as president of Wells Fargo & Company in 1869–1870. Early life Barney was born on September 2, 1816, at Adams, New York, in Jefferson County. He was the younger son of John Barney and Sarah (née Grow) Barney. His father was a farmer in Jefferson County, New York, when Ashbel and his older brother Danford were born. He was a descendant of Jacob Barney of Bradenham, Buckinghamshire, England, who settled in Salem, Massachusetts, in 1630. He was educated at Belleville Academy in his native county before going to Cleveland, Ohio, in 1842 with his brother Danford, where they engaged in business as forwarding and commission merchants under the name Danford N. Barney & Company. Career Barney remained in Cleveland when his brother Danford moved to Buffalo, New York, in 1849 and was elected to succeed Edwin Barber Morgan as president of Wells Fargo & Company in 1853, serving until 1866. Morgan had resigned the presidency upon his election to the U.S. House of Representatives. In 1857, Ashbel moved to New York City, where Danford had resided the previous year.