Capt. Joseph Magoffin - El Paso, Texas

Joseph Magoffin, El Paso mayor and civic leader, was born in Chihuahua, Mexico, on January 14, 1837, the son of María Gertrudis (Valdez) and James Wiley Magoffin. In 1856 he joined his father at the site of present El Paso, Texas, where the elder Magoffin had settled after the Mexican War. The Magoffins were militant supporters of secession. During the Civil War Magoffin served on the staff of Henry H. Sibley in the New Mexico campaign, served in Virginia and fought in the battle of Seven Pines, and was made commissary general of the Confederate forces west of the Mississippi River. In October 1864 he married Octavia MacGrael in Houston; they eventually had one son and one daughter. After the war, they spent about a year in St. Louis with Magoffin's brother-in-law, Charles C. Richardson, then moved to El Paso. Magoffin worked as a bookkeeper until 1873, when he succeeded in regaining the property confiscated from his father during the Civil War. In 1875 he built an adobe house in the Territorial style, which is now the Magoffin Home State Historical Park. Established as one of El Paso's leading landowners, Magoffin took a prominent role in civic affairs. In 1873 he was one of the incorporators of El Paso. He was elected mayor of the city four times, in 1881, 1883, 1897, and 1899. He also served at various times as alderman, justice of the peace, county judge, and customs collector. He helped organize the International Street Railway to connect El Paso and Ciudad Júarez. He was a cofounder of the first bank in El Paso, the State National Bank, of which he was vice president for forty years, and belonged to the Elks, Masons, and the Toltec Club. He belonged to El Paso Lodge #130. Image Description: Black and white image shows a portrait of a young Joseph Magoffin. Magoffin sits in a wooden chair with his body shifted to the left. He wears military pants with a stripe on the side, a dark coat with large buttons coming down in a row and smaller buttons at the cuffs. The sleeves of his coat are decorated, and he rests his military hat in his left hand holding it with two fingers. Magoffin has a dark and full mustache and beard, eyebrows, and dark wavy hair slicked backwards that reaches just below his ears. He stares into the camera wearing no expression on his face.

Area: Central / Magoffin

Source: El Paso County Historical Society

Uploaded by: El Paso Museum of History