Thomas Wentworth Peirce, Jr. Papers
Scope and Contents
Correspondence, minutes, reports, financial documents, legal documents, and miscellanea pertaining primarily to the Corralitos Company, the Candelaria Mining Company, and the León Mining Company. The main body of correspondence relates to the general business of the three companies. Principal correspondents are officers of the companies Edwin D. Morgan, Arthur S. Dwight, Charles I. Reeves, Edward Shearson, and Peirce. Letters from E. C. Houghton, manager of the Corralitos ranch, describe ranch business and activites, while those from George A. Laird, manager of Candelaria and León Mining Companies, detail mining operations; both men described events related to the Mexican Revolution and the effects upon their operations. Some items reflect the companies' dealings with the Ferrocarril Noroeste de México. Subseries of correspondence relate to the Corralitos Company Voting Trust and to the activities of Ben P. Converse as agent in Texas for the Thomas Wentworth Peirce Estate. A series concerning the Corralitos Company's contract with E.D. Morgan as general agent contains correspondence and legal documents.
Also present in the papers are minutes of the boards of directors of the Corralitos Company and the León Mining Company; financial documents, including treasurer's and operating reports; reports by Morgan to the directors of the Corralitos Company; and a few legal documents, notes, clippings, and maps.
Dates
- Creation: 1900-1923
Language of Materials
English
Access Restrictions
Unrestricted.
Use Restrictions
Standard copyright restrictions apply.
Biographical Note
Thomas Wentworth Peirce, Jr., son of developer of Texas railroads, Thomas Wentworth Peirce, was a member of the board of directors of the Corralitos Company from 1903 until his death in 1923. He also served as a director of the Candelaria Mining Company and the León Mining Company, which were associated with the Corralitos Company. The companies operated mining and ranching interests in the northern part of the state of Chihuahua, Mexico, during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
- 1880
- “Corralitos Company's property... in Mexico was acquired by the present owners about the year 1880, from the Mexican owners.” (Houghton, 30 Apr 1919, to the Nat. Assoc. for the Protection of American Rights in Mexico)
- 1883
- Francis Holbrook ingeniero en jefe de las minas de Cía. Corralitos
- 1895
- E.C. Houghton first employed [on ranch]
- 1900
- Edwin D. Morgan first became responsible for ranch
- 1902 February 18
- Compañía Ramos Sociedad Anónima organized in Mexico City; to consolidate title to properties belonging to Corralitos in the Prohibited Zone; entire capital stock of Ramos owned by Corralitos.
- 1902 February 18
- Compañía de San Pedro Sociedad Anónima organized in Mexico City; to consolidate title to properties belonging to Candelaria Mining Company in the Prohibited Zone; entire capital stock of San Pedro owned by Candelaria.
- 1903 December 4
- E.D. Morgan is president of Candelaria; C.I. Reeves is Sec/Treas; Britton Davis is General Manager, El Paso
- circa 1904
- “About the year 1904 the Corralitos Company undertook extensive improvements...” (Houghton, 30 Apr 1919)
- 1904 April 12
- T. W. Peirce notified of election on 10 Apr as director on boards of both Corralitos (Colorado) and Candelaria; (on 26 he acknowledged this as re-election)
- 1905 April 11
- TWP elected director of Candelaria and Corralitos
- 1905 April 11
- Candelaria officers: Morgan, pres; Reeves, sec; E. [Edmund] DeGoncer, Resident Director, El Paso; N. C. Thompson, Manager, El Paso.
- 1905 April 11
- Corralitos officers: Morgan, pres; Reeves, sec/treas; E. DeGoncer, Resident Director; E.C. Houghton, Manager.
- 1907 April 9
- TWP elected director Corralitos and Candelaria
- 1908 March 30
- León Mining Company organized [in New York]; mentioned on Candelaria letterhead
- 1908 July
- Thompson resigned
- 1908 July 30
- TWP director of León Co.
- 1909 January 11
- TWP sent check for $12,000 to León Mining Co. as loan
- 1909 Febrary 18
- Candelaria NJ to purchase Candelaria, Colorado
- 1909 May 13
- TWP purchased stock in León Co.; Reeves said it would be Candelaria stock, but the León Co. could endorse the check.
- 1911 January 17
- resolution to dissolve León Co. to be voted on January 23
- 1911 February 11
- Reeves to Peirce: “We will shortly call in the León Mining shares and issue Candelaria Mining Co. in its place.”
- 1911 May
- Walter P. Bliss became president of Corralitos
- 1911 April 9
- TWP elected director Corralitos
- 1913 April
- Reeves lost place on board to E. H. Wright? (letter of Apr 11)
- 1914 June 4
- TWP elected director Corralitos
- 1915 October 10
- p.3 refers to Candelaria: drugs left at mines; must have been closed already
- 1916 June 4
- Raynal Bolling president Corralitos
- 1916 October 27
- “Going to lose Bolling; Oct 27 Shearson mentioned.
- 1917
- “In 1917 the Punitive Expedition... was withdrawn, and with [it] all of the American and foreign settlers from the northwestern part of Chihuahua abandoned their properties. This was the case with the Corralitos Company.” (Houghton, 30 Apr 1919)
- 1917 January 20
- Shearson to become president of Company (doesn't say which); Morgan to retire form active management but remain on board of directors
- 1917 April 10
- TWP elected director Corralitos
- 1917 June 18
- Candelaria adjudged insolvent by Court of Chancery of the State of New Jersey; Charles I. Reeves appointed Receiver.
- 1920 May 9
- León Co. still alive: “holds the Candelaria stock in its treasury”
- 1921
- Edward Shearson is president of Corralitos
- 1923 April 10
- TWP elected director of Corralitos Company (April 12).
- 1923 October 30
- E. Townsend Irvin is president, The Corralitos Company
- 1927
- La Candelaria Mining Co. se vió obligada suspender sus actividades en la época revolucionaria y hasta ahora no las ha reanudado (Boletín Minero)
- 1927 May
- The National Agrarian Commission obtained a writ expropriating Corralitos lands [Corralitos Cattle Company] for ejidos. Ignored writ of injunction and were to take over property on July 31, 1927.
Full Extent
11 inches
Abstract
Correspondence and documents regarding three mining companies, of which Peirce was a director, in the state of Chihuahua, Mexico.
Arrangement
Organized into seven series:
- I. Correspondence.
- II. Contract between Corralitos Company and E. D. Morgan.
- III. Minutes.
- IV. Reports.
- V. Financial documents.
- VI. Legal documents.
- VII. Miscellanea.
Further divided into subseries and arranged chronologically within folders.
Acquisition Information
The Thomas Wentworth Peirce, Jr. papers were donated to the Benson Latin American Collection in 1988 by John W. Peirce.
Processing Information
The papers were described by the Benson's Mexican Archives Project in May 1994.
Finding aid initially repared by the Mexican Archives Project, January 30, 1995.
- Title
- Thomas Wentworth Peirce, Jr.:
- Status
- Edited Full Draft
- Subtitle
- An Inventory of His Papers 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
- February 17, 2003: Edited with XMetal3 by Bob Stewart following TARO EAD V.1 Editing for BLAC Finding Aids.
- Tue Jul 22 14:58:31 CDT 2003: urn:taro:utexas.blac.00050 converted from EAD 1.0 to 2002 by v1to02.xsl (20030505).
- 2020 May: Date normalization by Julia Davila Coppedge.
- 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.
- 2025 July: Revised by Ryan Sullivant to fix validation errors prior to ingestion into ArchivesSpace.
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