Background
James Wiley Magoffin was born in 1799 at Harrodsburg, Mercer County, Kentucky. He was the son of Beriah and Jane (McAfee) Magoffin. The family consisted of seven sons, of whom James was the eldest, and three daughters.
James Wiley Magoffin was born in 1799 at Harrodsburg, Mercer County, Kentucky. He was the son of Beriah and Jane (McAfee) Magoffin. The family consisted of seven sons, of whom James was the eldest, and three daughters.
Sometime prior to 1825, James Wiley Magoffin engaged in trading expeditions into old Mexico, and the records of the Department of State contain the bare announcement of his appointment as American consul at Saltillo on March 3, 1825, the first appointee at that post. This overland trade, beset by many dangers and hazards proved very lucrative.
In 1844, he left Chihuahua with his family and settled near Independence, Missouri. About this time war was declared with Mexico. Senator Thomas H. Benton of Missouri presented Magoffin to President Polk, and on June 18, 1846, Secretary of War Marcy wrote to Gen. Stephen Watts Kearny saying that the President was so favorably impressed with "Colonel Magoffin" that he had engaged him to assist in the expedition.
Thereupon, Magoffin went in advance of Kearny to Santa Fé and very cleverly induced Gen. Manuel Armijo to retire, thus enabling Kearny with his small army to enter Santa Fé on August 18, 1846, and take possession of all of the Department of New Mexico without firing a shot.
After this success, Magoffin under directions of Kearny, went forward to Chihuahua to render the same service for Gen. J. E. Wool, but the authorities there arrested him as a spy and cast him into prison. He was saved from execution only through his popularity with Mexican officers, whom he entertained lavishly. He was, however, confined at Chihuahua and afterward at Durango until the end of the war (1847). By a provision of an act of March 3, 1849, Congress authorized the payment of $50, 000 for secret service rendered during the Mexican War.
Although Magoffin was not named, the sum was designed to compensate him for his expenses and losses. After a change of administration, he was finally offered $30, 000, which he accepted, preferring patriotically to be underpaid rather than to wrangle over finances.
He then settled in Texas, opposite the Mexican town of El Paso, and built up and owned the township of Magoffinsville, which is now a part of the city of El Paso, Tex. During the Civil War, he furnished supplies to the Confederates.
Missouri died at San Antonio, Texas, in 1868.
Magoffin, who evidently had the brave frontier spirit combined with inherited Irish buoyancy and joviality, became well known and liked in Mexico, and was called by the Mexicans "Don Santiago. "
Magoffin married Mary Gertrude Valdez, of Chihuahua, in 1830, and several children were born to them there. His wife died there in January 1845.
His sons, Joseph and Samuel, served in the Confederate army, the latter giving his life to that cause. His brother Beriah was governor of Kentucky.
14 February 1773 - 9 March 1843
Born in 1779.
18 April 1815 - 28 February 1885
31 March 1801 - 23 April 1888
1818 - 3 November 1893
14 August 1824 - 25 February 1883
1817 - 1865
1808 - 24 December 1892
October 10, 1838 - March 8, 1926
1836 - 1923
