Who Was Jim Casey?
James E. Casey was a visionary who revolutionized package delivery through the founding of United Parcel Service (UPS) and improved the prospects of millions of America’s children by founding several of the nation’s leading child welfare-oriented foundations. His father’s failing health forced Jim to leave school at age 11 to help support the family as a $2.50-a-week bicycle messenger for a department store in Seattle. Jim’s father died four years later, in 1902, leaving behind a widow and four children. For two years, Jim and two friends ran their own messenger service in Seattle before heading to Nevada in 1905 to look for gold. They didn’t find gold, but started another messenger business, fulfilling a growing need for businesses that had sprung up during the Klondike gold rush. After one of his partners was murdered, Jim returned to Seattle. In 1907, he and a brother, George, and some friends started a new delivery service, American Messenger Company, which became Merchants Parcel
