Photographs and documents from the collection of James Howard, a mining foreman with the Amparo Mining Company who lived in Guadalajara, Mexico and worked in the Bolaños region starting in 1889.
James Howard Collection, circa 1882-1939 (MSS 698)
Extent: 1.4 Linear feet (1 archives box and 5 oversize folders)
Digital Content
This collection has been digitized.
James H. Howard was born in England on January 20, 1868. In 1883 he emigrated from England and came to New York; he then moved to Texas in 1885, where he worked for the International Mining Company as a timberman. In 1889 Howard moved to Guadalajara, Mexico, where he settled in the American Colony of Colonia Seattle. Howard took a job working at the Amparo Mining Company in Bolaños, a mining district north of Guadalajara.
In Guadalajara, Howard met and married Maria Ignacia Martínez. In order to marry Martínez, he had to prove to the Mexican government that we was indeed single, and that he had never married before in England or America. As proof, Howard obtained three letters from his former employers as documentation to contest to his unmarried status. Howard and Martínez had their first child, Katherine Eleanor Howard on March 6, 1911.
Photographs and documents from the collection of James Howard, a mining foreman with the Amparo Mining Company who lived in Guadalajara, Mexico and worked in the Bolaños region starting in 1889. The papers include a few blueprints and plans for mining equipment; photographs of the regional landscape, towns, mine operations, and people; and a personal journal from Howard. The collection also includes a small amount of biographical material about Howard, including personal correspondence and a genealogical chart for the Howard family. Three documents are written in Spanish.
The papers are arranged in four series: 1) CORRESPONDENCE, 2) GUADALAJARA HOUSING AND MINING DOCUMENTS, 3) PHOTOGRAPHS, and 4) BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIALS.