"It seems to have been about the middle of the last century when some enterprising individuals, whose names have not been handed down to posterity, realizing the disadvantages of personal suretyship, conceived the idea of forming a corporation for the purpose of going into the business of becoming surety on bonds and charging a fee for the service; for in the year 1865 the Legislature of the State of New York, by Chapter 328 of the Acts of that year, authorized the formation of corporations to guarantee the fidelity of persons holding places of public or private trust. No doubt some people were at that time desirous of forming a corporation for that purpose; and it may be that such a company was actually formed. But the first American company that ever actually transacted the business of suretyship in this country was the Fidelity and Casualty Company of New York, which was incorporated in 1876 and began business in 1879."