Ignacio L. Vallarta Papers, 1852-1943

Biographical Sketch

Mexican attorney, politician, and jurist Ignacio Luis Vallarta was born on August 25, 1830 in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico. He was one of the oldest of many children of Isabel Ogazón and Ignacio Vallarta, a worker in the mines outside of Guadalajara. Ignacio L. Vallarta attended the Seminario Conciliar in Guadalajara and the Instituto de Ciencias del Estado before focusing on the study of political economics and law at the Universidad de Guadalajara. It was there where Vallarta received his law degree in 1854. In April of 1862 Vallarta married Francisca Lyon, a Mexican woman of French parents who had immigrated to Guadalajara. They had seven children: Isabel, Luis, Ignacio, Alejandro, Elena, Julia, and María.

Ignacio L. Vallarta’s political career began in September 1855 when, as a young attorney, he became the private secretary for Jalisco Governor Santos Degollado. During this time he also worked as a professor in Guadalajara, lecturing on the subjects of law, history, and political economics. In addition, Vallarta collaborated on the liberal Jalisco newspaper La Revolución. In 1856 he was elected deputy to the Congreso Constituyente and took an active role in writing the Mexican Constitution of 1857. He participated in the debates about trial by jury and the death penalty, both of which he argued against. Vallarta served as magistrate of the Tribunal Superior de Justicia de Jalisco before becoming secretary in 1858 for Jalisco Governor Pedro Ogazón, Vallarta’s cousin. During this time Vallarta collaborated on the Boletín de Ejército Federal. In 1861 Ogazón named Vallarta colonel of the Batallón Hidalgo.

Vallarta joined a group of other young Mexicans to resist the French Intervention at its onset, and because of his liberal stand he faced many obstacles in the next few years. Appointed as Mexico’s Secretary of State in 1861, he was briefly part of Benito Juárez’s cabinet but resigned due to conflict with Sebastián Lerdo de Tejada, the President of the Chamber of Deputies. In 1862 he was elected as a federal deputy but was refused the office because it was determined that he had not received the majority vote. Soon after, Vallarta was also denied the elected post of Governor of Jalisco because General José María Arteaga refused to give up the office. Because of this political persecution during the Intervention Vallarta decided in 1864 to flee for over a year. He went first to Mazatlán, then Baja California, and later moved to San Francisco, California. Vallarta returned to his family and home in Guadalajara in 1865 then left for Zacatecas to join Benito Juárez and the juaristas in the 1867 triumph over the French troops and Maximilian.

Vallarta continued to practice law and work as a deputy in the Congreso General until he was again elected governor of Jalisco in June of 1871. During what was considered a strong state administration he founded the School of Agriculture and made primary education mandatory. He also established the state prison system and started the official newspaper of Jalisco, which is still published today. In April of 1875, near the end of his term as Governor, the state legislature awarded Vallarta the title of Distinguished Citizen in honor of his work.

Following his governorship Vallarta was named Secretary of State of the Republic and relocated his family to Mexico City. Soon after, General Porfirio Díaz appointed Vallarta Secretary of Foreign Relations during Díaz’s first presidential administration. Vallarta served in this position until 1878 and left a legacy of strengthening Mexico’s international relations, especially with the United States. As a result of Vallarta’s work in international law, the U.S. formally recognized Diaz’s Mexican government in April 1878.

In1878 Vallarta was elected president of Mexico’s Supreme Court of Justice, the office for which he is perhaps most well-known. Vallarta held more power than ever as president of the court because the Constitution gave him executive power in the absence of the nation’s president, which equated the position to the vice-president of the Republic. He presided over the Supreme Court for five years as a strong constitutionalist and became famous for his votos as he worked to interpret strictly the Constitution of 1857. His book Votos de Vallarta recounts the decision-making process during his jurisdiction as he emphasized the points of constitutional rights in the cases brought before him.

Vallarta retired from public life in 1882 upon leaving the Supreme Court of Justice. He continued to practice law privately and worked as a legal consultant in Mexico City for the rest of his years. Ignacio L. Vallarta died in Mexico City on December 31, 1893.

Works Referenced:

"Vallarta, Ignacio L." Encyclopedia of Mexico: History, Society and Culture. Chicago: Fitzroy Dearborn, 1997.

"Vallarta, Ignacio Luis." Diccionario Porrúa. 6th ed. Mexico City: Editorial Porrúa, 1995.

"Vallarta, Ignacio Luis." Enciclopedia de México. Mexico City: Secretaría de Educación Pública, 1987.

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Scope and Contents Note

The personal and professional papers of attorney, politician, and jurist Ignacio Luis Vallarta. Materials date from 1852 to 1943 and measure 9 linear feet plus 1 oversized box. The collection is arranged into four series: Correspondence, Other Materials, Alejandro Vallarta Papers, and Oversize Materials.

The bulk of the collection (8.5 linear feet) is contained in the first series,   Correspondence, which includes professional, political, and private letters written between Vallarta and other political and business figures and associates who were relevant to Vallarta's role in the Mexican government or to his career. These letters and reports range from 1852-1893, with most of the correspondence dated from the 1870s and 1880s during the time when Vallarta was Governor of Jalisco, Secretary of Foreign Relations of the Republic, President of Mexico's Supreme Court of Justice, and later, a privately practicing attorney and legal consultant. The correspondence is arranged alphabetically by the name of the correspondent (other than Vallarta).

About one-third of the letters relate to the internal politics of Jalisco state. There is a significant amount of correspondence (9 inches) with Fermín G. Riestra, who was Vallarta's secretary when he was Governor of Jalisco and who later went on to be Governor himself from 1879-1882. 3 inches of correspondence exists between Vallarta and Felipe Rubalcaba, with the focus of these letters being on the political state of affairs in Jalisco. Likewise, there are several folders (2 inches) of correspondence with Leonides Torres relating to the happenings in the government of Jalisco state, throughout which Torres mentions political articles in periodicals such as La Unión, La Chispa, and El Pais. Roughly another third of the letters pertain to national and international affairs. Over 100 letters exist to or from Pedro Santacilia, Benito Juárez's son-in-law and secretary. Correspondence from Ignacio Mariscal, José María Mata, and José Cuéllar focus on the quest to obtain U.S. recognition of the Porfiro Díaz goverment as well as Texas-Mexico border problems and issues with debt payments. The remaining third of the correspondence relates to Vallarta's private law practice and legal consultation. Other important correspondents within this series (with approximately 1 folder of letters each) include: Porfirio Díaz, Juan E. Hernández y Dávalos, Benito Juárez, Sebastián Lerdo de Tejada, Pedro Ogazón, and Vicente Riva Palacio.

Also contained in this series is the subseries Letterbooks. In these bound books, which are ordered chronologically, are copies of letters Vallarta wrote from 1869-1893.

Series two,   Other Materials, consists of various types of materials that belonged to Ignacio L. Vallarta including notes, clippings, account books, financial documents, reports, announcements, declarations, drafts of constitutional acts and articles, and a painting. These documents measure 3 inches and are arranged alphabetically by title or format of material.

The   Alejandro Vallarta Papers, the third series, measures 3 inches and contains personal and biographical papers of Ignacio L. Vallarta's son Alejandro, who was also a licensed attorney as well as an accomplished violinist. In the first part of the series exists school-related materials from throughout his education, arranged chronologically. The second part of the Alejandro Vallarta Papers is his biography, "De mi vida," written about his family history to his three children in the later years of his life. In addition to the biographical notes and advice written by Alejandro Vallarta, "De mi vida" contains personal correspondence, photographs, and artifacts from the Vallarta family. These materials date back to 1862 and as late as 1943. "De mi vida" has been disbound, kept in its original order, and is divided into three folders.

Series four is made up of   Oversize Materials housed in 1 large box. The first folder in this series contains a protest announcement from the Supreme Court, and in the second folder are printed materials taken from the Bernardo Reyes correspondence in Box 9, Folder 7.

Another collection of Vallarta’s papers, the Archivo Ignacio L. Vallarta, exists at the Banco de México in Mexico City. It was acquired in 1956 from the Vallarta family and consists of 85 boxes with documents dated from 1776-1940. This collection at the Banco de México was organized and described by Vallarta’s son Alejandro. The Supreme Court of Mexico published Alejandro Vallarta’s elaborate “Catálogo del Archivo” in 1990 in La Suprema Corte De Justicia a Principios del Porfirismo (1877-1882).

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Restrictions

Access Restrictions

Unrestricted.

Use Restrictions

Standard copyright restrictions apply.

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Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

Cite as: Ignacio L. Vallarta Papers, Benson Latin American Collection, the University of Texas at Austin Libraries.

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Box and Folder Inventory

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