From "I Would Rather Sleep in Texas"
By Mary Margaret McAllen Amberson, James A. McAllen
and Margaret H. McAllen
Page 100
"Confederate laws against trade with the Union, and vice versa, served only as a small obstacle to to men such as Charles Stillman.
"The Yankees wanted cotton as badly as the Confederacy. The prices offered by Northern markets were seductive. In 1862, Jeremiah Galvan received permission, by placing $10,000 on bond, to trade directly with New York from Matamoros as a front man for Charles Stillman. In January, he traveled to New York by way of Halifax with a large shipment of hides, wool, and cotton.
"By using a broken-voyage system and shipping cotton through a circuitous route, trading with the enemy could be disguised.
Stillman used Galvan, Monterrey merchant Jose Morrell and Santiago Yturria as his agents in trading cotton illicitly to the Northern states, using elaborate techniques he did not alter even after the Union Army, under Gen. Nathaniel P. Banks, occupied Brownsville in November 1863.
"Strategies included placing ships under British registry, voyages through Havana or the British West Indies, and bribes to New York customs officials. In 1860, Stillman commissioned for his use the brig John Jewett, captained by Richard Mount, likely with financing by the consignment mercantile firm of Smith and Dunning in New York.
"The ship regularly carried large amounts of cash, cotton, wool, and hides from Brazos Santiago. In its first voyage, the ship sailed for New Orleans, Queenstown (Ireland), Liverpool, and Antwerp before returning to the Rio Grande. Through the war, Stillman's trade route expanded to broader circles.
In July 1862, the John Jewett transported goods to New York, Constantinople, Galatz, Genoa, and Malaga, then returned to Brazos Santiago,
"Jose Juan Roman also made regular shipments of cotton through Havana from 1863 through 1865. Using his own agent, G.M. Avenado, and Mexican schooners, he sent bundles of goods with bills of lading marked "contents unknown."
Shipments of gold specie in the $10,000s of dollars would arrive from Havana at the mouth of the Rio Grande. He received goods on the British ships of McGrath, Tweed, and Company, paying in bales of cotton marked "T" and in Mexican silver dollars.
"This clandestine form of trade was done with the full comprehension of the confederacy as the same merchants did business and sold goods to the Union simultaneously."
16 comments:
By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down
Ye-eah we wept, when we remembered Zion.
By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down
Ye-eah we wept, when we remembered Zion.
When the wicked
Carried us away in captivity
Required from us a song
Now how shall we sing the lord's song in a strange land
When the wicked
Carried us away in captivity
Requiering of us a song
Now how shall we sing the lord's song in a strange land
Let the words of our mouth and the meditations of our heart
Be acceptable in thy sight here tonight
Let the words of our mouth and the meditation of our hearts
Be acceptable in thy sight here tonight
By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down
Ye-eah we wept, when we remembered Zion.
By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down
Ye-eah we wept, when we remembered Zion.
By the rivers of Babylon (dark tears of Babylon)
There we sat down (You got to sing a song)
Ye-eah we wept, (Sing a song of love)
When we remember Zion. (Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah)
By the rivers of Babylon (Rough bits of Babylon)
There we sat down (You hear the people cry)
Ye-eah we wept, (They need that ???)
When we remember Zion. (Ooh, have the power)
- By the Rivers of Babylon
by Boney M
La rata mortiem, puro robo, in the past and nowadays-BISD, CC, City of brownsville, sc. Same ol, same ol. bah humbug
Of course on free (stolen) land who wouldn't
If this was done with the "full comprehension of the Confederacy", there would be no need for all the complex routes to cover his tracks. Charles STillman was a traitor to the Confederacy and had they secured their independence, he would have been hanged as a traitor, if they could get their hands on him.
Somebody should go and piss on his grave!
Must be talking about the previous land owners that lost their lands to thieves and murderers from the north...
Every book written about South Texas and Texans tries to diminish Charles Stillman's importance and to make their family seem bigger and more important. No matter what is written, the truth will always be that Stillman is the main founder of Brownsville and from the title of this piece it sounds as if the Mexican feels entitled to wealth he never earned or deserved or had the experience or entrepreneurship to build wealth. Brownsville is and always has been a smuggler's paradise. People who get rich from smuggling aren't prone to giving money away to the poor like a robbin' hood such as Cortina.
Nothing but vdare worshipers there are a few that post comments on this blog.
11:49 AM
The indigenous people lost the same land to thieves and murders from the South. The ancestors of the modern Mexicans.
Tenia que salir el tio taco coco puro mamon NO TE QUIEREN NOMAS TE USAN PENDEJO read vdare para que te eduques estupido.
Dios Mio..5:49, what Spanglish jibberish! You ain't no Spanish speaker pendejo.
Matamoros should build a statue to Stillman. As should Brownsville.
He made Matamoros rich and important, and invented Brownsville.
Matamoros was a grass hut filled congregacion of pirates before
Stillman came an invested millions.
Invested millions? I heard he walked from somewhere up north and got here bare footed and almost died of hunger. pinche pendejo
Stillman wasn't the last of the crooked community leaders. They still hold public office as we move into 2020. Be as hard on them as you are on Stillman. But, of course he was a Gringo and that makes his sin much worse according to local culture.
We have some corrupt politicians but they don't murder women and children to steal their lands, there is a difference
To the moron at December 26, 2019 at 3:53 PM
The indigenous people were murdered by the Spaniards. It took the Spanish almost 200 years to conquer the regions of Mexico or indigenous people as you call them. The gringos murdered the local land owners, local citizens out of greed. The local land owners were citizens of this country (US). The gringos were NOT colonizers they were simply thieves and murderers. It will never be the same no matter how many fairy tales you idiotas concoct.
A murder has no statue of limitations we know who they are...
Ugh... Same old song... Evil white man did bad things... Get the fuck outta here with that BS... Indians, Spaniards, Mexicans... They never did anything like this evil white man... Yeah right.
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