Benson Latin American CollectionRare Books and
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Matías Romero Papers
Prepared by the Mexican Archives Project
September 1994
Introduction
Microfilm of the Matías Romero Papers was acquired by the Benson
Latin American Collection from the Banco de México and the Library
of Congress, which hold the original documents. The papers were
described by the Benson's Mexican Archives Project in September 1994.
The physical extent of the papers is 74 reels of microfilm. The papers
consist primarily of items in the Spanish and English languages.
Items 1-32,459 (reels 1-43) of the Banco de México holdings are
described in the following: Monroy Huitrón, Guadalupe, ed.,
Archivo histórico de Matías Romero : Catálogo
descriptivo (2 v.), Mexico: 1965, 1970.
The suggested citation for the papers is "Matías Romero Papers,
1837-1899, Benson Latin American Collection, General Libraries,
University of Texas at Austin."
Biographical Sketch
Diplomat, public servant, author, politician, railroad company executive,
and agricultural researcher. Born 1837 in Oaxaca; died 1898 in New York.
While a student in law school, Matías Romero began to correspond
with Benito Juárez and to serve the Juarist faction. During the
years 1859-1898, he held posts intermittently in the Mexican diplomatic
service in Washington, D.C. and in the Mexican Ministry of Treasury. He
also served as a colonel in the military (1863), substitute senator for
Chiapas (1875), deputy to Congress (1876), and administrator general of
the postal system (1880). During the 1870s Romero researched the
agricultural resources of several southern Mexican states and attempted
to engage in agriculture and business; he also was superintendent of the
Compañía Ferrocarril Meridional Mexicana (1881) and published
many articles and a few books.
Chronology
Feb. 24, 1837 | Born in Oaxaca de
Juárez |
1855 | Concludes preparatory courses for study of
law |
| Moves to Mexico City |
| Appointed emeritus in the Ministry of Exterior
Relations |
Oct. 12, 1857 | Receives law degree |
| Joins with liberals under command of General
Ignacio Zaragosa |
| Goes to Guanajuato to join the army but is
commissioned into the Ministry of Relations |
| Accompanies Juárez to
Guadalajara |
| Taken prisoner by Commander Landa |
| Is freed and follows Juárez to Veracruz
via Panamá |
| Serves as Melchor Ocampo's private secretary in
Veracruz and as official in varias secretariats |
1859 | Publishes "Tabla sinóptica de los
tratados y convenciones que han negociado los Estados Unidos de
México con las naciones extranjeras" |
Dec. 1859 | Named Secretary of the Mexican Legation
in Washington |
Aug. 14, 1860 | Appointed ad interim in charge of
affairs at the Legation by Ambassador José María
Mata |
Dec. 22, 1860 | Juárez instructs Romero to
approach Abraham Lincoln |
| Romero visits Lincoln before Lincoln's
inauguration as President of the U.S.A. |
May 1862 | Under Minister of Relations Manuel
Doblado, Romero is designated "en propiedad" |
April 29, 1863 | Romero returns to
México |
| Is appointed rank of coronel and "Jefe del
Estado Mayor del general Porfirio Díaz" |
Sept. 1863 | Goes to Washington, D.C., to serve as
Minister of México in the United States |
Oct. 1867 | Returns to México |
Jan. 15, 1868 | Named Secretary of Hacienda by
President Benito Juárez |
May 27, 1868 | Receives instructions to go the the
U.S.A. to complete treaties he previously initiated. Treaties signed
this year pertain to claims of Mexican citizens against the U.S. and
viceversa, citizenship, and consular matters. |
Aug. 1, 1868 | Returns to his work as Secretary of
Hacienda |
May 15, 1872 | Withdraws from the Ministry for
health reasons and travels to Soconusco, Tapachula, and other sites in
Mexico. |
| Attempts agricultural and mercantile endeavors
but has problems with President J. Rufino Barrios of Guatemala and with
Soconusco cacique, Sebastián Escobar. |
Sept. 1875 | Returns to México City as
substitute senator for Chiapas |
Sept. 16 - Nov.20, 1876 | Deputy to the Congress of
the Union for the fifth district of Oaxaca state |
May 1877 | Does research in Guadalajara, Colima,
and Michoacán |
| In charge of the office of the Minister of
Treasury (Hacienda) |
1879 | Leaves government service for health
reasons |
Apr. 28 - July 8,1879 | Travels around Oaxaca and
Veracruz studying conditions for coffee cultivation |
| Goes to the U.S.A. and forms a company for
construction of a railroad from México to Oaxaca. Gets General
Ulysses Grant involved. Romero is appointed company manager. |
May 15, 1882 | Becomes ambassador extraordinaire
and minister plenipotentiary to U.S.A. |
Aug. 12, 1882 | Signs preliminary agreement on
borders with Guatemala |
May - Oct. 1883 | In Europe |
1884 | Resigns position as minister of México
in Washington during General Manuel Gonzalez's rule but is reappointed by
General Porfirio Díaz |
1886 | His El Estado de Oaxaca is
published |
1892 | Occupies the office of the Minister of
Treasury (Hacienda) |
Feb. 23, 1893 | Returns to U.S. as
ambassador |
Dec. 30, 1898 | Dies in New York |
Sources: Ramírez, Alfonso Francisco. Matías
Romero. México, D.F.: Secretaría de Educación
Pública, 1966.
Scope and Contents Note
Microfilm of items held by the Banco de México (reels 1-72) and the
Library of Congress. Reels 1-71 (1837-1899) contain correspondence,
newspaper clippings and other printed material, financial documents,
drafts of articles, official and legal documents, and lists relating to
the public and private affairs and interests of Matías Romero.
Among more than 3,700 correspondents are included Benito Juárez,
Porfirio Díaz, Sebastián Lerdo de Tejada, and Manuel
González; subjects of correspondence range from the diplomatic,
economic, military, and political matters of Mexico and the United States
to the mundane concerns of Romero, his family, and constituents. The
second half of reel 71 and reel 72 (1866-1897) contain newspaper
clippings, U.S. government publications, articles and other printed
materials, official and legal documents, letters, manuscripts, drafts of
articles, reports, and lists relating to a railroad, U.S. annexation
interests, free trade zones and other United States-Mexico border
issues.
Reel 73 contains the monograph, Refutación de las inculpaciones
hechas al c.Matías Romero por el gobierno de Guatemala, published
in 1876 by Romero about resistance by Guatemalan and local Mexican
officials to his attempts to conduct farming and business near Mexico's
border with Guatemala. It contains an extensive appendix of associated
documents. Reel 74 (1861-1888) contains 30 of Romero's letters held by
the Library of Congress; they relate to events and conditions in Mexico
or relay diplomatic courtesies and invitations.
Subgroups and Series
The following subgroups and series exist in the microfilmed Matías
Romero Papers. The subgroups are:
I. Material held by the Banco de México, 1837-1884, 72 reels.
II. Material held by the Library of Congress, 1861-1888, 2 reels.
I. Banco de México
- Series, Items described in the catalog Archivo Histórico de
Matías Romero. Mexico: Banco de México, 1965-. 1837-1884,
43 reels. Includes correspondence and assorted items, interfiled
chronologically.
- Series, Items not described in the catalog Archivo Histórico de
Matías Romero. Mexico: Banco de México, 1965-. 1885-1899
and undated, 29reels. Includes correspondence and assorted items,
interfiled chronologically, dated 1885-1899 and undated, as well as
newspaper clippings, printed material, and assorted items organized by
subject, dated 1866-1897.
II. Library of Congress
- Series, the mongraph, Refutación de las inculpaciones hechas al
C.Matías Romero por el gobierno de Guatemala. Mexico, Imp.
poliglota de C. Ramiro y Ponce de Léon, 1876. 1 reel.
- Series, Correspondence, 1861-1888, 1 reel.
List of Names and Subject
Headings
Listed below are personal names, corporate names, and subject headings
from the Matías Romero Papers. Included are those appearing in the
MARC-AMC record as well as those excluded from the record because of
space constraints.
Personal Names
Álvarez, Juan, 1790-1867
Barrios, Justo Rufino, 1835-1885
Cutting, A.K.
Degollado, Mariano
Degollado, Santos
Díaz, Felix
Díaz, Porfirio, 1930-1915
Escobar, Sebastián (Soconusco cacique)
Gamboa, José Antonio, 1820?-1870?
Garza, Catarino
González, Manuel, 1830-1893
Grant, Ulysses S. (Ulysses Simpson), 1822-1885
Jordan de Degollado, Otilia
Juárez, Benito, 1806-1872
Lerdo de Tejada, Sebastian, 1823-1889
Lincoln, Abraham
Maximilian, Emperor of Mexico, 1832-1867
Mier y Terán, Luís, 1835-1891
Navarro, Juan N, 1823-1904
Obregón, Ramón
Ocampo, Melchor, 1814-1861
Riva Palacio, Vicente, 1832-1896
Romero, José, 1871-1956 (nephew of Matías)
Romero, José (brother of Matías)
Romero, Matías, 1837-1898
Zarco, Juan
Corporate Names
Compañía Ferrocarril Meridional Mexicana
Corlies y Compañía
Ochoa y Carbajal Compañía
Sociedad Agrícola Mexicana
Subject Headings
Agricultural resources - Mexico
Agriculture - Economic aspects -- Mexico
Coffee - Mexico
Debts, external - Mexico
Diplomats - Mexico -- Biography
Extradition - Mexico
Extradition - United States
Indians of North America
Mexican-American Border Region
Mexico - Boundaries -- Guatemala
Mexico - Commerce -- United States
Mexico - Economic conditions -- 19th century
Mexico - Foreign relations -- 1821-1861
Mexico - Foreign relations -- 1861-1867
Mexico - Foreign relations -- 1867-1910
Mexico - History - 19th century
Mexico - History -- European intervention, 1861-1867
Mexico - History -- 1867-1910
Mexico - Politics and government -- 19th century
Postal service - Mexico -- History -- 1867-1910
Railroads - Mexico
Tariff - Mexico
United States - Claims
United States - Commerce -- Mexico
United States - Foreign economic relations -- Mexico
United States - Foreign relations -- Civil War, 1861-1865 --
Diplomacy
United States - Foreign relations -- 1865-1898
United States - Foreign relations -- Mexico
United States - History -- Civil War, 1861-1865
United States - History -- 1865-1898
United States - Territorial expansion
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