Tobacco Prices Rising
Two Letters from Price, Walsh & Co., 1853
Among the Price, Walsh correspondence preserved in the Stillman Papers are two additional documents from spring and early summer of 1853. Though brief, they offer a clear view of how rapidly the tobacco market was changing that year.
Together they confirm what the earlier letters suggested: the tobacco trade in 1853 was tightening and prices were rising sharply.
March 1853 — A Short Settlement Note
The smaller document appears to be a brief accounting note, likely written around March 30, 1853.
In it, Price, Walsh report that they have delivered an order of one thousand dollars related to the sale of hides, noting that the transaction had been made for Stillman’s account.
The note states that the sale amounted to about 5,300 pounds of hides, bringing approximately 11¾ to 14 cents per pound.
Although the message is short, it reveals something important:
Stillman’s relationship with Price, Walsh was not limited to tobacco shipments. The New Orleans firm also handled sales of frontier products such as hides, acting as a broker in the larger Gulf trade network.
This confirms that the partnership worked in both directions:
Rio Grande → New Orleans
(hides and frontier goods)
New Orleans → Rio Grande
(tobacco and manufactured goods)
June 30, 1853 — Tobacco Prices Climb
The longer letter, written from New Orleans on June 30, 1853, provides a detailed update on the tobacco market.
Price, Walsh report that they had recently sold $1,000 in drafts on Stillman’s account, crediting the proceeds to him after deducting charges and exchange fees.
The bulk of the letter, however, concerns the state of the tobacco market.
They explain that the crop situation remained difficult and that:
tobacco had already advanced fully one cent per pound in all grades.
Even more significant is their prediction that prices would rise further.
They warn Stillman that tobacco might soon reach:
$10–$12 per hundred pounds
by the coming autumn.
This represents a substantial increase compared with the prices discussed in earlier correspondence.
A Market Moving Against Buyers
The New Orleans merchants explain that the increase was caused by several factors:
• a light tobacco crop the previous year
• strong demand in export markets
• heavy purchases by European traders
The result was a classic nineteenth-century commodity squeeze: supplies were shrinking while demand continued to rise.
For merchants on the Rio Grande, this meant that tobacco would soon become both scarcer and more expensive.
Stillman’s Strategic Advantage
Despite the rising prices, Price, Walsh express confidence that Stillman remained well positioned in the market.
They note that he still held existing stock, which could be sold while prices climbed.
In frontier commerce this was a powerful advantage: merchants who already had goods on hand could often profit from sudden price increases.
The Rio Grande Market in 1853
These letters show how closely the border trade depended on conditions hundreds of miles away.
A poor tobacco crop in the American interior could quickly affect:
Brownsville
Matamoros
Monterrey
Saltillo
Within months.
The merchants along the Rio Grande were therefore constantly watching markets in New Orleans, Kentucky, and the Mississippi Valley, adjusting their purchases as prices rose or fell.
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