Thomas Casad Writes: Letters From Mesilla ... - Doña Ana County

Click for Table of ContentsClick for Front CoverThomas Casad Writes: Letters From Mesilla1875-1878Rick HendricksOhio native Thomas Casad arrived in southernNew Mexico around Christmastime in the year1874. He and his wife, Sarah Van Winkle Casad,and their numerous children settled in Mesilla. In a veryshort time Thomas’s fellow mesilleros recognized him asone of the leading citizens of the Mesilla Valley. 1 In May1875 he made a purchase that made him one of the largestlandowners in Doña Ana County. At a cost of $6,000,Casad purchased a half interest in the Brazito Grant, alsoknown as the Hugh Stephenson Grant. The Brazito, orlittle arm, was one of the most prominent landmarks inthe Mesilla Valley. 2 The name refers to a tract of land in ahorseshoe bend of the Rio Grande some six miles southof Las Cruces. Thomas acquired what he thought was atract of more ten thousand acres.The Special Collections Department of LeonardH. Axe Library at Pittsburg State University houses theOrla Samuel Casad Collection. In this collection arefive letters that Thomas Casad wrote from Mesilla tohis nephew in Illinois. Transcriptions of these lettersfollow. Thomas’s idiosyncratic spelling is retained. Missingletters in abbreviated words are supplied in italics. Casadtypically eschewed punctuation, a peculiarity that hasbeen retained. Also included herein is a fragment of aletter Thomas wrote from Mesilla to his friend CharlesC. Sweetzer in California. The fragment appeared in the2 November 1875 edition of the Anaheim Evening Gazette.Thomas Casad’s letters offer a glimpse into themindset of a prosperous Anglo newcomer to the MesillaValley almost halfway through New Mexico’s longterritorial period. In late June 1875, Thomas wrote tohis nephew, Orla S. Casad, one of his late brother JohnMilton’s twin sons, who was living in Illinois.Mesilla a New Mexico June 20th 1875 3Orla, I have been waiting for sometime to find leisure to write you a letterI suppose you have no doubt heard thatwe left California and are now living inthe southern portion of New MexicoWe have been here now about six month1and so far as I have seen the country Iam well pleased with it the Valey of theRio Grande is a fine body of land theclimate is a very pleasant one neitherhot in summer or cold in winter. I willsend you some papers the Mesilla Newsin each copy of which you will find anarticle over my signature description ofthe country to which I call your attentionthese I wrote in answer to divers equiriesabout the country from California as wellas from the States had copies mailed toall who had written me for informationI also send a copy of the Industrial Age 4in which you will also find an articleon the Mesilla Valey written by JudgeKnapp 5 my nearest neighbor Knapp wasTerritorial Judge of N. M. an appointeeof president Lincoln has been here since1862 accompanied the surveying partyof the 32 d paralel RR as Botonist andGeologist I have bought a third interestIn the Brazito grant of which he speaksin his article settled by Garcia in 1805and on which fort Filmore was locatedthere are 21,000 acres in the grant it is myintention to buy it all up in the course ofa few months when I shall have meansmature to do so it runs down the rivernine miles and is a fine body of landthere are on it at present about 80 tenantsof the Native inhabitants When we leftLos Angeles we all came but Anna 6 Whohad a good situation as teacher in a LosAngeles public school. I see by a LosAngeles paper that came to hand to daythat she was married to a man by thename of Smith John Smith I supposeon the 5 th of this month and that theywent to Ohio on a visit immediately after

Rick Hendricksthe weding I never saw or heard of theman until recently I hope he is of someaccount Parris came with us and we arefarming a little by way of experimentI got about 10,000 grafts from theBloomington Nursery in Illinois grapecuttings from California plant seeds rootsand tubers from Plants Seed Store at St.Louis Missouri to the amount in all of200$ all of which came by mail and aredoing well Now Orla I want you to writeme a long letter and port me up aboutyour country what your prospects arewhat you intend to do is Finch marriedis your mother getting old and feeble isLaura married is she stout or feeble Ihave a great gang of Casads about meof all sizes and ages from Nonie 7 downto little Jesse 8 who just begens to todleabout to hunt mischief (a thing by theway that the Casads are great adepts at),there are seven of them in all and I willbet the last mule I have got that they canraise the biggest row on short notice ofany other seven same age size and sexbetween the atlantic and pacific oceansnone of them have ever been sick and itstands to reason they should be free ofthe devil Enclosed I send you a photo ofyour old uncle who has seen three scoreyears and who begins to realize that hisdays will soon be numberedYours TruleyT. CasadThomas wrote Orla again in July and informed hisnephew that he had learned Orla had recently graduatedfrom McKendre College. Thomas’s father, AnthonyWayne Casad, had been instrumental in the foundingof McKendre in Saint Clair County, Illinois. He andThomas had also provided labor for the construction ofthe first building on the campus. In his letter, Thomasinvited his nephew to come to Mesilla and become thelocal school teacher. 9 Thomas would pay his nephew’swages and provide room and board in exchange forclassroom instruction.Educational opportunities for citizens of Doña AnaCounty who did not want the Roman Catholic Church2to educate their children were limited the EpiscopalianSt. James Mission. Casad had atheistic tendencies after aMethodist Episcopal upbringing and wanted to wantedto provide a public school alternative. 10 Just in case Orladid not want to pursue teaching permanently, Thomaspromised that once he got to New Mexico he wouldbe on the lookout for something better than teachingschool.Mesilla New Mexico 11July 12, 1875I read your welcome letter and wasglad to hear from you I saw in the St.Louis Globe Democrat that you hadgraduated at McKendree I supposethat you are now prepared to fightthe battle of life and education is thefirst an[d] an indispensable adjunctto success I have not much to say inbehalf of New Mexico in addition towhat you found in the papers I sent youthere are but few Americans here thenative populations are not a desirableclass to live among they are not lawlessexcept their propensity to appropriateto their own use any thing they findliving around loose they are tolerablyindustrious there are no Churches hereexcept Catholic we have an Englishschool in Mesilla not a very good onea good school would be well sustainedhere dry goods clerks get about 50$ amonth New Mexico is rich in mineralsand mines of copper silver and goldare being worked in many places SilverCity a prosperous mining town is about100 miles west of here copper minesare still nearer that are being workedand there are rich silver mines not atpresent worked almost in sight of theplace I should like the country aboveall others that I have ever lived in ifwe had the right kind of a populationas it is I like it and think I am locatedfor life people are beginning to comein and J. Burkes husband Benedict isnow here and coming on with a lotof American cows we will move if he

Thomas Casad Writes: Letters From Mesilla 1875-1878likes and if he does your Aunt Carolinewill come along I am getting lettersconstantly from California and fromthe States enquiring about the countrya number of families of California willcome in this fall besides sheep man ofmy acquaintance who are now on theway I do not know Orla whether youwould like the country if you had nevertalked about any I should think perhapsnot but as you have a think you wouldprobably like it I would like to have youcome out will of course do all for youthat I can we want a teacher for ourchildren I will pay 40$ a month to teachthem and a few others that would wantto come and board you in addition tothe wages and will look out all the timefor something better for you which willI think turn up in the course of a year atmost I wrote you the letter at the time amail and the papers to you you did notsay if you had it if you had read if youyou conclude to come out you shouldcome by rail Grenada and then by stageor with a train to Mesilla by rail and stageyou would reach here in about ten daysif you came with a freight train fromGrenada you be 40 days in reaching hereit would cost 50 or 75$ less by that routelet me hear from you after you make upyour mind and in the meantime I willfind out the exact cost from Grenadahereby each route.Yours TrulyT. CasadOrla Casad wrote to his uncle’s request to discussinghis future. Since his own father had passed away, theyoung man sought advice from a distant father figure.Thomas answered his nephew with a long letter thatrevealed much about his manner of thinking and someaspects of his character.July August 8 1875 Messilla NewMexico 12Dear Orla I read your of letteryesterday and sit down to reply and willvolunteer to make some suggestions3by way of advise there are perhaps fewmen who select and follow occupationsor professions in life from which bynature they are best adapted and stillfewer who choose occupations thepursuit of which will make them mostuseful members of society as to theprofession of law there seems to me tobe involved in every case of litigation asa sequence a right and a wrong in halfthe cases in which an attorney would beemployed he would receive a fee whichat the commencement or during theprogress of the trial was a considerationby which he engaged to do all in hispower to defeat the ends of justice andnine times in ten in behalf of a corruptand dishonest man in detriment to theinterest of justice and perhaps a goodman but I had rather be a ploddingfarmer than to have the reputationof B. F. Butler 13 with all his cunningreputations and hundred thousanddollar fees the amount of which hecould have by no possibility fairlyearned Far different is the field beforehim who publishes a paper untied anduntrammeled he is at liberty to pursue acourse that his conscience judgment andsense of justice and righ[t] would pointout as conducive to the common goodthen if he have the wisdom and forecastto determine and persistently advocatemeasures for the public good he mouldsand directs the public to adopt and carryout measures of vital interest and utilitythus becoming a public benefactor thereis no field in which the opportunity todo good in your day and generation isas sure is that of publishing a paperproviding you adopt this has a maximumthat there is our right and wrong to everyquestion that you study the problemuntil you solve it and determine theright and then that you advocate itpersistently at all times in all places andwith all the power and earnestness of

Rick Hendrickswhich you are capable. This will lead tofame to immortality the first requisiteis a well endowed mind the second butto solve the problem and present in soclear a light and with such a convincingarray of facts as will make it was plainas a sun beam to the common mind ifyour mind is of that analytic turn thiswould make you successful as a lawyeryou may become famous as a writer oran editor and between the two I shouldnot hesitate a moment to choose thelatter as an occupation and after adoptingit and give it your whole time and mostsearching thought. I have been stronglytempted to buy out or at least get acontrolling interest in the Messilla Newsand run it in what I conceive to be thetrue interest of New Mexico there is inthe Territory a miserable set of chronicoffice seekers who are doing all in theirpower to place the Territory in the listof states when 9/10 inhabitants did notknow enough to take care of themselvesunder such a state of things one or twocorrupt legislature[s] would almost blightforever the prospects of all consideredthe best Territory of the union If youwould come out and take charge of thepaper I will either buy it out entire warat least get a controlling interest in it ifyou filled the bill well ten years hencethere would be no office in the statewhich it will become by that time butwhat you would be entitled to and couldsecure without any doubt I would thinkJudge Knapp lost his office about amonth ago I bought his property a goodhouse with school house attached bothunoccupied bring your girl along if youshould conclude to come a man withouta wife is no man at all in fact a man thatwill not provide for one woman is hardlyentitled to desent respect I will see thatyou do not suffer and that you haveprofitable employment either at teachingor in charge of a paper if you think it4best to stay where you are drop the lawtake hold of the paper give it all yourtime and thought (not local news andneighborhood gossip) but grapple likea Titan with the profound problems ofthe day Trade Finance Industrial intereststhe Course of humanity and mortalitytake your stand on the foundation ofimmutable justice and write fight thebattle manfully in time you will earn thegratitude of your fellow man.Yours TrulyT. CasadIncluded with the property Thomas purchased fromJudge Knapp was a small building suitable for a school.With a contribution of $30, Thomas initiated a PublicSchool Fund. The newspaper noted that his donation wasa good beginning for which Thomas would receive thethanks of all the people of Doña Ana County, especiallymothers, fathers, and their children. It then issued achallenge calling for the next contribution. 14 Havinggotten the ball rolling on funding for local education,Thomas turned his attention to tying up loose ends inCalifornia. Prior to his arrival in California, a portion ofhis letter appeared in the Anaheim newspaper. Thomaswas a tireless promoter of the virtues of New Mexico. Inthis letter he discusses the opportunities for raising sheep.A Paradise for Sheep 15Mr. C. C. Sweetzer received a letterto-day from Thomas Casad, dated atMessilla, New Mexico, Oct. 9th. We gleanfrom the letter the following extractswhich may prove interesting to woolgrowers:We have had an abundance of rainduring the past season. Grass is goodand there is enough here to furnishsubsistence for millions of sheep, onground that has never been marked bythe foot-prints of a domestic animal,unless rode or driven by some rovingApache or native Mexican. It costs atpresent 2 ½ cents per pound to shipwool to Grenada, the present terminusof the railroad, from which all suppliesreach this country. Shearing costs 2 ½cents; herders cost $15 per month and

Thomas Casad Writes: Letters From Mesilla 1875-1878grub. Sheep are not usually kept in corralsat night. There is no scab or any otherailment, that I have seen. I saw last wintera little band of about thirty Vermont ewes,pure blood, that were finer and healthiersheep than ever I saw in California. Theparty who owned them has one hundredLeciester bucks, which he is breeding tothe native stock. Some of the lambs, at ayear old, sheared eight pounds of long,clean wool. There are no burrs of anykind here, except in the river bottoms,where there is an abundance of the cockleburr. The thorny mesquite grows here inplaces. Where sheep are allowed to rangein it they lose wool by the thorns, in theirefforts to get the beans that grow on thebush, but there are millions of acres herethat are entirely free from thorns of allkinds. There is no mistake about thiscountry being a good sheep farming andfruit country. There is not a large amountof good farming land, but what there iswill be all the more valuable. To the rangethere is scarcely a limit, and the countryis proverbially healthy.Sweetzer eventually moved to the Mesilla Valleyand settled near the Casad holding on the BrazitoGrant. He was also involved for a time in Casad’s mill atChamberino. 16In the spring of 1878, Thomas renewed his effortsto persuade Orla to join him in Mesilla.Messilla N. M. April 18 th 1878 17Dear OrlaYour letter has just come to hand Iread the letters of which you speak inyour last and have neglected to replyYou say your school will be out early inJune about the first of June I shall senda carriage and team to the end of R. R.to take up Nona and our Governess andalso a former female teacher of oursNona is going to the states to go toschool the teachers are returning homewill probably be at El Moro 18 about themiddle of June if you can be there at thattime you can get a quick trip to Messilla5without cost I do not know what to sayto you about president Locke’s 19 sonthere is no doubt but that an energeticand enterprizing young man can findemployment here and make a raise inthe end for that is the legitimate resultof industry and application If he comesI will do all I can to get him located Ifyou were sure that you would be satisfiedwith the country it would be best to bringyour Wife along as the season of the yearwould be most auspicious for travelingand if she was able to travel at all thechances are that the 15 or 18 days fromthe R. R. down to Messilla would be thecommencement of a perfect restorationto health in that conveyance you couldonly bring along such articles as wouldbe absolutely necesary for the trip allelse would have to be freighted downat a cost of 3 or 3 ½ dollars per ton. IfLocke has the capacity to take charge ofa paper probably he could get a chanceon the Independent as I am not entirelysatisfied with its management and mayhave to put it in other hands I own morethan half the stock in it and want it keptunder good management my goods willleave St. Louis I suppose about the 25 thof this month I shall be so busy getingup buildings an[d] machinery that it willbe impossible for me to come up to theend of the road in June and beside I haveconsiderable of a harvest to look after Iexpect to send up a good trusty man Ithink both the time and oportunity wouldbe favorable for both you and your Wifeto make the trip the days will be longand weather warm and pleasant least it isusually so at that season of the year youmay have occasional showers but thatwill be all I got a letter from C M Casad 20Elizabeth Town Harden County Illinoisabout a month ago but have not had timeto answer he wants some description ofthe country I have sent him a few copiesof the Independent and will write after

Rick Hendricksa while I also got a few days ago a letterfrom Mark Moore California write andlet me know what you will doYours Truly T. CasadThomas’s persuasion of Orla finally bore fruit, and hemade plans to travel from Illinois to New Mexico. Thomashad been in touch with old friends in Summerfield, suchas Henry Ruth, about his son accompanying Orla onthe trip out to New Mexico. Thomas mentioned thispossibility to Orla in a letter in early May.Messilla N. M. May 7 th 1878. 21Dear Orla I drop you a line to againtell you that my team will be at El Moroabout the 15 th of June Nona goes up atthat time to go to school three or fourcan come back in the conveyance Willreach Messilla in 12 or 15 days from ElMoro if you can be there at that time itwill save both time and expense I do notknow but I will come up myself thoughI shall be very busy and can ill sparethe time but do not know as I can geta trusty person to go up if I can I shallnot go otherwise I will be compelledto take the trip I would like to knowcertainly wheather you come an[d] howmany wheather Finch intends to comeand also whether Henry Ruths son willcome along you will just have time to letme know before starting provide youwrite immediately I can arrange to bringback four or five provided I know in timebefore starting as I could bring a largerconveyance in case is was needed dropme a line immediately and let me knowwhat the probabilities areall wellYours TrulyT. CasadSoon after Orla arrived in Mesilla, Thomas put himto work. A new masthead appeared on the Mesilla ValleyIndependent on 17 August 1878, listing Orla S. Casad andJohn S. Crouch listed as editors. 22 As it turned out, Orlawas a heavy drinker. 23 He soon had a complete fallingout with Uncle Thomas. In mid-March 1880 he packedhis bags and departed New Mexico. 24Rick Hendricks is the New Mexico State Historian. His book, The Casads: A History of a Pioneer Family of theMesilla Valley, will be published by Rio Grande Books in 2012.ENDNOTES1 The Mesilla News, 25 March 1876.2 The correct Spanish spelling in modern orthography is“Bracito,” but “Brazito” is the local spelling for this place.3 Thomas Casad to Orla Casad, Mesilla, 20 June 1875, O.S. Casad,Collection, Pittsburg State University (PSU), f.2.4 Judge Knapp wrote a letter and two articles praising NewMexico that were published in a Chicago publication, IndustrialAge. Brevoort reproduced large excerpts from Knapp’s articles.Elias Brevoort, New Mexico: Her Natural Resources and Attractions,Being a Collection of Facts Mainly Concerning Her Geography, Climate,Population, Schools, Mines and Minerals, Agricultural and PastoralCapacities, Prospective Railroads, Public Lands, and Spanish andMexican Land Grants. Santa Fe: Printed and Published by EliasBrevoort, 1874), 148-70; and Industrial Age, 1 May 1875, Vol.2, No. 35; 5 June 1875, Vol. 2, No. 37; and 19 June 1875, Vol.2, No. 39.65 Joseph Gillette Knapp has been characterized as the mostcontroversial judge to serve on territorial New Mexico’sSupreme Court. He and Thomas seem to have had a lot incommon became close friends and next-door-neighborsin Mesilla. Knapp, a native New Yorker, was an ordainedMethodist Episcopal minister. Like Casad, Knapp had aninterest in newspapers, at one time owning and editing theWisconsin Inquirer, in Madison, Wisconsin. Knapp studied law,was admitted to Wisconsin Bar, and became a prominent lawyer.In 1861 President Abraham Lincoln appointed Knapp to ajudgeship on the New Mexico Territorial Supreme Court. Hewas also assigned to the Third Judicial District, which had itsseat in Mesilla. Knapp frequently clashed with General JamesH. Carleton, military commander of New Mexico, over issuanceof passports and corruption in procurement of supplies. Heleft New Mexico in June 1865 because his wife was ill. LikeThomas, Knapp married twice. He returned to New Mexico in

Thomas Casad Writes: Letters From Mesilla 1875-18781872 as a member of Texas Pacific Railroad the survey party andsettled in Mesilla where he practiced law. In mid-1875 Knappremoved to Limona, Florida where he became a pioneer in thecitrus business.Darlis A. Miller and Norman L. Wilson, Jr., “The Resignationof Judge Joseph G. Knapp,” New Mexico Historical Review,55:4 (October 1980): 335; Donna Murray Allen, “LimonaCemetery, Brandon, Hillsborough County, Florida,”http://files.usgwarchives.org/fl/hillsborough/cemetery/limona.txt (accessed 5 February 2010); and “Death of J. GillettKnapp,” Wisconsin State Journal, 18 July 1888; and Miller andWilson, “Resignation of Judge Joseph G. Knapp, 341.6 Hannah Ann, was born to Thomas and Jemima PhelpsCasad, his first wife, on 21 December 1848. Donald CasadBennett Family Papers, MS 0456, Archives and SpecialCollections, New Mexico State University Library (NMSULib.), “Ellen Casad Diary,” Box 8 :87 Leonora Wood Casad was born in Illinois on 4 June 1862.. Maud Casad Mandell, Memo Book, NMSU Lib., Ms0456,Donald Casad Bennett Family History, 8: 1.8 Jessie Edna Casad was born in California on 20 January 1874.Ibid.9 As it happened, Annie husband was named Lyman Smith.Orla Casad to Allie Babcock Casad, Mesilla, 28 August 1878,O. S. Casad Collection, PSU, folder 5.10 Simon F. Kropp, “Albert J. Fountain and the Fight for PublicEducation in New Mexico,” Arizona and the West, 11:4 (Winter1969): 345.11 Thomas Casad to Orla Casad, Mesilla, 12 July 1875, O.S. Casad,Collection, PSU, f.3.12 Thomas Casad to Orla Casad, Mesilla, 8 July 1875, O.S. Casad,Collection, PSU, f.3.13 Massachusetts native Benjamin Franklin Butler was a soldier,lawyer, and politician. His service in the Union Army duringthe Civil War resulted in serious allegations of corruption bynortherners and southerners. His legal fees were said to amountto $100,000 a year. The Record of Benjamin F. Butler: Compiled fromthe Original Sources (Boston:, n. p., 1883).14 The Mesilla News, 25 September 1875.15 Anaheim Evening Gazette, 2 November 1875.16 Thomas Casad and the Community of Chamberino, Contract,Chamberino, 25 November 1883, New Mexico State RecordsCenter and Archives, Doña Ana County Records, Justice of thePeace, Civil Records Book, 1879-1886, Box 4, Folder 97, Pages100-101.17 Thomas Casad to Orla Casad, Mesilla, 18 April 1878, O.S. Casad,Collection, PSU, f.4.18 El Moro was on a branch rail line from Denver, about twentyfivemiles north of Raton, New Mexico. A. L. Stimson, Historyof the Express Business, including the Origin of the Railway System inAmerica, and the Relation of Both to the Increase of New Settlementsand the Prosperity of Cities in the United States (New York: Baker& Godwin, printers, 1881), 248.19 The Reverend John W. Locke became president of McKendreeCollege in 1874. A former resident of Fairfield, Illinois, beforerelocating to Lebanon, Illinois, Locke might have been anold friend of Thomas Casad. His two sons were George W.and Edwin G. George became a lawyer, and Edwin became aMethodist Episcopal Church minister. There is no evidenceto suggest that either of Reverend Locke’s sons came to NewMexico. Matthew Simpson, Cyclopedia of Methodism. EmbracingSketches of Its Rise, Progress, and Present Condition (Philadelphia:Everts & Stewarts, 1878), 544; Minutes of the Fortieth Session ofthe Southern Illinois Conference of the Methodist Episcopal ChurchHeld at Mt. Vernon, Ill., September 23-28, 1891 (Bloomington,Ill.: Pantagraph Printing and Stationery, 1891), 31; and UnitedStates Federal Census, Belleville, St. Clair County, Illinois, 1880.20 Charles May Casad was Thomas’s first cousin once removed,the son of his first cousin, Thomas Lafayette Anthony Casad,who was the son of Anthony Wayne Casad’s brother, Abner.In 1860 Charles and his family lived in Elizabethtown, HardinCounty, Illinois. United States Federal Census, Township 12Range 8, Hardin County, Illinois; and “Mills/Puckett FamilyTree,” http://trees.ancestry.com/tree/4952047 (accessed 18June 2010).21 Thomas Casad to Orla Casad, Mesilla, 7 May 1878, O.S. Casad,Collection, PSU, f.4.22 Mesilla Valley Independent, Mesilla, 17 August 1878.23 Cherié Finley Weible, “Orla Samuel Casad: Contributions ofa Common Man” (Master’s thesis, Pittsburg State University,1994), 37.24 Ibid., 52.Click for Table of Contents7Click for Next Article