Transcription (Best Reconstruction)
Brownsville, March 12th, 1852
Dear Sir,
I am in receipt of your esteemed favors of January 28 and February 10th, which have been received with pleasure, and it is evident your health is improving. I was really fearful of the effects of the cold weather you had passed through. I write in continuation to be prudent.
Your anticipations respecting my sympathy for the revolution are correct, and by many it is believed that I am engaged in it. It has not cost me a dollar, but I have served friends in it who are largely in my debt, but I almost think that I shall lose a dollar by them whether they succeed or not in the revolution.
It however prevents them from receiving their funds from the interior unless they send it direct to the port and pay the duties and expenses, which is rarely done.
The revolution has been a great benefit to our trade. At the commencement there was at least a million dollars worth of goods pent up here, and the bonds on the goods must be refunded.
The commander-in-chief was obliged to raise funds to do it. He reduced the tariff by secret instructions from Arista and allowed prohibited goods to be introduced. The emperor, when they learned it, approved it and allowed the goods to be introduced to Veracruz and Tampico where the prohibited goods were deposited.
The duties were expected from the interior but Carvajal’s late success at Camargo has changed the affairs.
(page 2)
The treaty of peace allows the introduction to any part of Mexico and no doubt there will be more favorable instructions to the customs houses than at this moment.
I do not intend to avail myself of it but shall continue my trade to a few friends and my customers confined strictly.
I see nothing to prevent me from carrying trade on as usual, except perhaps some hesitation from those who owe me money.
(page 3 – legal land issue)
Respecting the Brownsville sheet of property, it has been an annoying affair, wished to be settled.
The lines are pulled at different quarters. There were four titles to the property all confused — two granted by the City of Matamoros, old Spanish title, Texas location, and the legislative grant to the City of Brownsville.
Much money has been spent to repeal the act of corporation but it has not been done.
The charter expired last night — we think it void.
The labor lots were owned by some 120 of them — the most valuable.
Suit was commenced against us to defend possession and we had to defend the balance.
(final page – personal closing)
My wife joins me in kind regards.
Give my respects to Mrs. Stillman and the children.
We remain your obedient servant,
James Jewitt
Interpretation
This letter is remarkable because it reveals three major frontier realities at once.
1. The Carvajal Revolution and Trade
Jewitt openly admits something most merchants never wrote plainly:
The revolution helped business.
Because the fighting disrupted Mexican customs enforcement, goods piled up on the Texas side of the river, creating opportunities for traders.
He even explains how Mexican officials temporarily:
• lowered tariffs
• allowed prohibited imports
• quietly tolerated smuggling
to raise money for their armies.
That is an extraordinary admission.
2. Frontier Trade Credit
Jewitt also reveals a classic problem of Rio Grande commerce:
people owed him money.
He says plainly:
“friends in the revolution are largely in my debt.”
That means traders often financed entire shipments on credit, waiting months or years to be paid after goods were sold deep inside Mexico.
The political instability threatened repayment.
3. Brownsville Land Title Chaos
This is perhaps the most historically important passage.
Jewitt describes the Brownsville land dispute, where ownership claims overlapped:
• Spanish grants
• Matamoros municipal grants
• Texas headright claims
• Brownsville city grants
He writes that:
“four titles to the property all confused.”
This is exactly the land title confusion that haunted Brownsville for decades.
Why This Letter Matters
This document gives us a rare window into frontier economics.
In a single letter we see:
• Mexican civil war
• smuggling networks
• tariff manipulation
• merchant credit systems
• and Texas land litigation
All intersecting in Brownsville in 1852.
That is precisely the world Charles Stillman operated in.
One More Extraordinary Line
This sentence is pure frontier honesty:
“The revolution has been a great benefit to our trade.”
That line alone tells readers something many histories avoid saying plainly:
Chaos on the frontier often meant profit.
James Jewitt
A Forgotten Partner in the Stillman Network
In the early years of the Rio Grande frontier, commerce depended not only on bold merchants and steamboats but also on a quiet web of trusted associates scattered along the river. Among these lesser-known figures was James Jewitt, a man whose surviving letters reveal him to have been one of Charles Stillman’s closest commercial correspondents during the early 1850s.
Although Jewitt never achieved the fame of men such as Charles Stillman or the great ranching figures who followed, the documentary record shows that he occupied an important position within the informal trade network that connected Brownsville, Roma, and the interior of Mexico.
A Merchant on the Frontier
By 1852 Jewitt was living and working in Brownsville, Texas, a rapidly growing border town that had become the principal American gateway for trade with northeastern Mexico. The region’s economy revolved around river traffic, wagon caravans, and credit-based commerce extending hundreds of miles inland.
Like many frontier merchants, Jewitt operated within a system built on trust and long-distance credit. Goods imported through the Rio Grande were often advanced to Mexican traders months before payment could be collected. Letters between merchants therefore functioned as business reports, intelligence briefings, and financial ledgers all at once.
Jewitt’s correspondence with Stillman reflects exactly this role. In his letters he discusses:
debts owed by merchants in the interior of Mexico
customs duties and tariff policies
shipments of goods moving through the Rio Grande trade corridor
the political instability affecting commerce along the border
Such reports were essential for Stillman, whose firm depended on reliable information from partners positioned throughout the region.
Trade in a Time of Revolution
One of Jewitt’s surviving letters, written from Brownsville in March 1852, gives a striking description of how frontier merchants navigated political upheaval. During the uprising led by José MarÃa Jesús Carvajal, customs regulations shifted rapidly and military leaders altered tariffs to raise funds for their campaigns.
Jewitt observed candidly that the turmoil actually stimulated trade, noting that large quantities of goods accumulated along the Rio Grande while Mexican officials quietly permitted certain imports that had previously been restricted. His remarks illustrate the complicated reality of frontier commerce, where political instability could simultaneously threaten merchants and create new opportunities.
The Brownsville Land Controversies
Jewitt’s letters also shed light on another major issue facing early residents of Brownsville: conflicting land claims. In one passage he complains that the city’s property titles were “all confused,” referring to the overlapping authorities that governed the region during the transition from Spanish and Mexican rule to the Republic and later the State of Texas.
Ownership could be claimed under several competing systems:
old Spanish colonial grants
municipal titles issued by Matamoros
Texas headright locations
later grants tied to the incorporation of Brownsville
Jewitt’s frustration reflects the legal uncertainty that plagued many early settlers and investors.
A Personal Connection to the Stillman Family
The warmth of Jewitt’s letters suggests that his relationship with Stillman went beyond routine business correspondence. He closes one letter by sending regards to Mrs. Stillman and the children, indicating familiarity with the family itself.
Family historians have long speculated that Stillman’s son, James Stillman, may have been named in honor of Jewitt. While documentary proof remains elusive, such naming practices were common among nineteenth-century merchant families, especially when honoring trusted partners or close friends.
A Quiet Figure in a Larger Story
James Jewitt left few traces in the broader historical record. He was not a politician, a military commander, or a public figure. Yet the surviving correspondence shows that he played a practical role in sustaining the commercial machinery that made the Rio Grande frontier function.
Men like Jewitt handled the daily realities of trade—
tracking debts, reporting political developments, and helping merchants like Stillman navigate the volatile world of border commerce.
Through these letters we glimpse the quieter side of frontier enterprise: the network of trusted associates whose information and judgment kept the wheels of trade turning along the Rio Grande.
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