Compañía Metalúrgica Mexicana and Related Enterprises: Financial Records
Scope and Contents
Financial records reflecting the activities of the Compañía Metalúrgica Mexicana and its subsidiary or associated enterprises in mining and related industries in Mexico from 1890 to 1968 (bulk dates 1890-1940). The records are comprised primarily of bound ledgers, journals, balance sheets, stock and bond registers, and cash books, but include unbound materials such as receipts, lists of stockholders, and a few pieces of correspondence. Enterprises other than CMM which are substantially represented in the records are Towne Mines Incorporated (1923-1958), Potosí and Rio Verde Railway Company (1898-1968), Mexican Mineral Railway Company (1899-1940), Mexican Lead Company (1899-1959), Montezuma Lead Company (1899-1958),Alvarez Land and Timber Company (1898-1953), and Gold Operators, Incorporated, (1933-1936). Within the records of those organizations, entries appear for other enterprises not named here (please refer to list of corporate names, which follows). One of the bound volumes bears no information identifying the organization to which it pertains; the same is true of some of the unbound leaves present in the records.
The materials are in English
Dates
- Creation: 1890-1968
- Creation: Majority of material found within 1890-1940
Language of Materials
English
Access Restrictions
Unrestricted.
Use Restrictions
Standard copyright restrictions apply.
Historical Note
The Compañía Metalúrgica Mexicana (CMM) was chartered in New Jersey in 1890 by Robert Safford Towne. Towne was born in 1858 in Ohio and died in 1916; in 1880 he received a degree in mining engineering.
Towne was president of the Mexican Northern Railroad, which he helped bring to completion in 1890; he also built a smelter at San Luis Potosí in 1892. To supply it, and to service mines he had leased in the San Pedro district of San Luis Potosí, Towne controlled the Potosí and Rio Verde Railway and the Mexican Mineral Railway. His Alvarez Land and Timber Company supplied needed lumber. Towne also held the Montezuma Lead Company and Sombrerete Mining Company in Zacatecas.
Towne's death in 1916, compounded by the Mexican Revolution and an erratic metal market, left CMM and its subsidiaries in financial straits. In 1923 most of the CMM properties were sold and Towne Mines, Inc. was organized to succeed CMM. Towne Mines, Inc. was a holding company whose activities were directed by the American Smelting and Refining Company, although Towne's heirs retained title to the properties of Towne Mines, Inc. The name CMM continued to be used in Mexico as agent and trustee for Towne Mines, Inc. In 1936 Towne Mines, Inc. was merged with CMM. CMM continued to operate at least until the 1960s, although its subsidiaries were dissolved beginning as early as 1940.
Biographical Notes on Robert S. Towne and the Compañía Metalúrgica Mexicana
Source: Bernstein, Marvin D. The Mexican Mining Industry, 1890-1950 Albany: State University of New York, 1964 [i.e. 1965]
| p. 22 | “Robert S. Towne... started working for the Kansas City Smelting and Refining Company. He organized the Mexican Ore Company which bought Sierra Mojada ore, shipping it out by mule train to the Kansas City company's smelter at Argentine, Kansas. He also obtained control of two of the largest mines for the Kansas City company. In June, 1887, Towne supervised for his employer the construction of a smelter at El Paso, Texas, to work Sierra Mojada ores.... Because of El Paso's location at the crossroads (where American ore moved east and Mexican ore north) and the prevalence of cheap labor, which offset fuel and transportation costs, the financial success of the plant was assured.” |
| p. 22 | “Believing themselves threatened by Sierra Mojada ore, American lead-mine operators, over the opposition of smelter owners, prevailed upon Congress to insert a duty of lead imports in the McKinley Tariff of 1890. Towne completed the Mexican Northern Railway the same year.” |
| p. 39 | “Robert S. Towne chartered the Compañía Metalúrgica Mexicana in New Jersey in 1890. He obtained a concession to open five smelters in Mexico but actually built only one plant at San Luis Potosí in 1892. It became an immediate success working ores from Sierra Mojada, Aguascalientes, and San Luis Potosí. The plant processed Towne-owned ores and did custom work for independents.” |
| p. 61 | “Robert Safford Towne was an empire-builder almost unknown outside mining circles. Born in Ohio in 1858, he received a degree in mining engineering in 1880. Gaining experience in Colorado mining camps, Towne joined the Kansas city Smelting and Refining Company. He established its ore-buying agencies in Sierra Mojada and organized the Mexican Ore Company to buy mines there and in Parral. Towne then helped build the El Paso smelter and the Mexican Northern Railroad, serving as president of the railroad. The El Paso smelter and the Mexican Ore Company (but not the railroad) were merged with several other units to form the Consolidated Kansas City Smelting and Refining Company. When it joined ASARCO [American Smelting and Refining Company] in 1899, Towne disposed of his holdings to devote himself exclusively to Mexican affairs.” |
| p. 61 | “The heart of Towne's enterprise was the Compañía Metalúrgica Mexicana, a corporation chartered in New Jersey in 1890. He built a smelter in 1891-92 at San Luis Potosí to take advantage of the railroad tapping the mines of Sierra Mojada, the northwest Pacific coast area, and the many mining camps in San Luis Potosí, Aguascalientes, Hidalgo, Guanajuato, and Oaxaca. Although the bulk of the ore came from the Towne-controlled San Pedro mines, the excellent rail connections overcame the distance from other sources of ore, and the smelter prospered.” |
| p. 62 | “Towne's interests were very extensive. To supply the smelter and service his neighboring mines, he controlled the Potosí & Rio Verde Railway and Mexican Mineral Railway, as well as the Mexico Northern. His Alvarez land and Timber Company supplied the needed lumber. To assure a basic ore supply for the smelter he leased mines in the San Pedro district of San Luis Potosí. Towne also held the Veta Rica at Sierra Mojada, which sent about 2,500 tons a month to San Luis; the Montezuma Lead Company, controlling lead mines in Santa Barbara, Chihuahua; and the rich Sombrerete mines in Zacatecas. With the Mexican Lead Company, the Sombrerete Mining Company had additional holdings in La Noria and Chalchuites, both in Zacatecas. Later Towne acquired the tremendous Proaño Hill in Fresnillo, Zacatecas. He organized the Fresnillo Company and opened a 700-ton cyanide plant to treat the silver ores and the old dumps. To help supply the copper furnaces at San Luis, Towne held the Cerro Prieto and the adjoining mines at Concepción del Oro, Zacatecas, and the San Pedro and San Pablo mines in Nuevo León. He acquired minor interests in properties Guachinango, Jalisco, the Urique district of Chihuahua, and a lease on properties in Flojonales, Hidalgo. Towne also headed the Tezuitlan Copper Company in Puebla,... When Towne died in August, 1916, he left an estate appraised at $2,500,000. The value of the property under his control, but not owned personally, was greater.” |
| p. 145 | “ASARCO's greatest coup was the absorption of a large part of the Robert Towne properties. Towne's death in 1916, the ravages of the Revolution, and the erratic metal market left his Compañía Metalúrgica Mexicana and its subsidiaries in bad financial straits.... Finally in June, 1923, ASARCO announced that Metalúrgica had been taken over by a holding company, Towne Mines, Inc., whose activities would be directed by ASARCO, although Towne's heirs still held title to the properties. Under a complicated arrangement, ASARCO agreed to provide working capital;... In turn, ASARCO was given a 60 per cent interest in a number of Towne mines, to integrate with ASARCO's own operations... ASARCO appointed all officials of the new company with the exception of Towne's old crony and general manager, Donald C. Brown, who was retained as Vice-President to represent the Towne interests.” |
Source: Best, Gerald M. Mexican narrow gauge Berkeley, Calif.: Howell-North Books, 1968.
| p. 73 | Monterrery Mineral & Terminal Railway. “Built in 1894 and 1895 between Monterrey and San Pedro, in the State of Nuevo Leon, this connected the mines at San Pedro with the smelters in Monterrery. It was owned by the Mexican Lead Co. and in 1899 was bought by the Mexican Metallurgical Co., at which time the name was changed to Mexican Mineral Railway.” |
| p. 74 | F. C. Potosí Rio Verdi. “... primarily a mining railroad, but was a common carrier and furnished passenger service of sorts during its existence. It was built in 1899 and 1900 by the Cía. Metalúrgica Mexicana, a U.S. corporation controlled by the American Smelting & Refining Co.” |
Chronology
- 1858
- Robert Safford Towne born in Ohio
- 1880
- Towne received degree in mining engineering
- 1890
- Compañía Metalúrgica Mexicana chartered in New Jersey by Towne
- 1890
- Mexican Northern Railroad completed
- 1892
- Towne built smelter at San Luis Potosí
- 1894-1895
- Monterrey Mineral & Terminal Railway built; owned by the Mexican Lead Co.
- 1899
- Mexican Metallurgical Co. bought the Monterrey Mineral & Terminal Railway and changed its name to Mexican Mineral Railway
- 1899-1900
- F. C. Potosí y Rio Verde built by CMM, a U.S. corporation controlled by the American Smelting & Refining Co.
- August, 1916
- Towne died
- 1923
- most of the CMM properties sold
- August 16, 1923
- Towne Mines, Inc. was incorporated in Delaware (organized to succeed CMM)
- November 1924
- Towne Mines acquired the Potosí and Rio Verde Construction Company
- January 15, 1926
- Mexican Alien Land Law; caused the transfer of some properties and mining concessions to Compañía Minera La Lotería, a Mexican corporation and wholly-owned subsidiary of CMM
- December 31, 1936
- Towne Mines, Inc. was merged with CMM
- January 23, 1940
- Mexican Mineral Railway Company dissolved by court order
- June 30, 1940
- original charter of CMM expired
- May 20, 1947
- Towne Mines Security Corp. certification of incorporation filed
- June 1953
- Alvarez Land and Timber Company dissolved
- March 1960
- Mexican Smelting and Refining Co. dissolved
- December 1960
- Mexican Lead Company dissolved
- 1968
- Potosí and Rio Verde dissolved (see last entry in Journal No. 1)
Full Extent
70 bound volumes; 2 boxes (8 linear feet)
Abstract
Financial records reflecting the activities of the Compañía Metalúrgica Mexicana and its subsidiary or associated enterprises in mining and related industries in Mexico from 1890 to 1968.
Arrangement
The records are organized into series representing organizational units of the Compañía Metalúrgica Mexicana.
Within series, arrangement is based upon the format of the financial records (ledgers for a particular organization have been brought together, followed by that organization's journals, etc.). Loose documents which were found within the covers of bound volumes were removed to folders and housed separately for reasons of preservation. Cross-references to original and current locations are made in both the following Series List (which lists all component parts of each series, regardless of location) and Container List (which lists all items now housed in document cases, including those removed from the bound volumes).
Acquisitions Information
The Financial Records of the Compañía Metalúrgica Mexicana and Related Enterprises were purchased by the Benson Latin American Collection in 1990 from Charles Apfelbaum Rare Books and Collections.
Sources for Further Research
- Bernstein, Marvin D. The Mexican mining industry, 1890-1950. State University of New York, 1964. G338.20972 B458m
- Best, Gerald M. Mexican Narrow Gauge. Berkeley, Calif.: Howell-North Books, 1968. G385.5B464m
- Curtiss, J. S., comp. Handbook of Mexican properties and securities, 1920-21. El Paso, Tex.: J. S. Curtiss, 1920. G338.2 C946h
- Durán Esperanza. Guerra y revolución: las grandes potencias y México, 1914-1918. México: El Colegio de México, 1985. F1234 D95 1985
- Fuentes Diaz, Vicente. El problema ferrocarrilero de México. México: 1951. G385.972F952p
- Guía mensual passe-partout de Ferrcocarriles, tranvías y vapores. Dic. 1904. G385.972G9431904Dec.
- Mexico. Secretaría de Industria, Comercio y Trabajo. Departmento de Minas. Anuario de estadística minera. 1922-1933. G622.01 M57a
- The Official mining directory of Mexico. 1908. Gz q553.0972 So89d
- Pletcher, David M. Rails, mines and progress: Seven American promoters in Mexico, 1867-1911. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1958. G385.972 p716r
- Powell, Fred Wilbur. The Railroads of Mexico. Boston: Stratfor-1921. G385.972 P871r
- Southworth, J. R. Las minas de México. México: 1905. Gz 557.2 S089m
- Téllez Pizarro, Mariano. Apuntes históricos sobre los Ferrocarriles de la República Mexicana. México: 1906. G385.972 yt 238b 19--
- Velázquez, Primo Feliciano. Historia de San Luis Potosí, vol. 4. San Luis Potosí, San Luis Potosí, 1982. F1336 v4 1982 t. 4 LAC
Processing Information
The records were described by the Benson's Mexican Archives Project in March 1995.
Prepared by the Mexican Archives Project March 21, 1995.
- Title
- Compañia Metalúrgica Mexicana and Related Enterprises:
- Status
- Edited Full Draft
- Subtitle
- An Inventory of Financial Records at the Benson Latin American Collection
- Author
- Nettie Lee Benson Latin American Collection
- Date
- 2001
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Language of description note
- Finding aid written in English.
Revision Statements
- August 2, 2002: Edited with XMetaL3 by Bob Stewart according to instructions in Editing TARO EAD XML Finding Aids with XMetaL.
- Tue Jul 22 14:57:50 CDT 2003: urn:taro:utexas.blac.00012 converted from EAD 1.0 to 2002 by v1to02.xsl (20030505).
- 2020 March: Date normalization by Janette Nunez.
- 2021 April: Edited by Carla O. Alvarez to fix compliance check errors to prepare for the migration to new TARO website.
- 2021 November: Edited by Devon Murphy to update control access terms and formatting based on the TARO Control Access List.
Repository Details
Part of the Benson Latin American Collection, The University of Texas at Austin Repository
2300 Red River Street
Austin Texas 78712 United States
(512) 495-4578
bensonspecialcollections@austin.utexas.edu