Another Adams

TL;DR -- Butterfield got our interest. Now, we are following some of the threads. One of those came back to the Adams family. 

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We just wrote of John Butterfield and the Mirror Building in Los Angeles (LA), CA. We had written eartlier about his overland mail business running across the country (St. Louis, MO to San Francisco, CA) which was quite successful until the Civil War closed off access to Texas. Part of that business was part of another business that continues to this day, American Express. We saw that Wells and Fargo were partners, and competitors, of Butterfield. 

In terms of the long reach of New England, Butterfield was a descendant of the same immigrant as was Pres. John Adams. We have looked at a few more: Adams cousins which looked at Pres. John Quincy Adams and Grizzly Adams (the real one). Ann has in-law associations with this Adams family. 

Back to the past, for several reasons, there have been funded research projects looking at these historic companies and their assets. The Mirror Building's listing as a heritage site came from such a study. As well, the western express companies were scrutinized. Among others, Wells & Fargo had a trunk line in LA that tied into Butterfield's line. Monies ($3.5M) for that came from supporters of their own Express company and from Adams Express which is now Adams Funds. 

We had to look into that further. Alvin Adams, with partners, founded the firm. During the Civil War, an offshoot of the company ran mail in the Confederacy. 

When Butterfield terminated his business, Wells & Fargo took over the assets. The modern representative of this entity is one of the largest US banks.  

Remarks: Modified: 10/18/2023

10/18/2023 -- More on the theme: Los Angeles, again; Bunker Hill, west.