Matías Romero:

An Inventory of Microfilm of His Papers at the Benson Latin American Collection

Biographical Note

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.

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.

The papers consist primarily of items in Spanish and English.

Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

Matías Romero Papers, 1837-1899, Benson Latin American Collection, General Libraries, The University of Texas at Austin.

Acquisition Information

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.

Processing Information

Prepared by the Mexican Archives Project, September 1994.

Other Finding Aid

Biographical Source

Subgroups and Series