Diego Moreno was an extremely wealthy man from Guadalajara, who owned numerous haciendas around Guadalajara. He was heavily criticized by his workers and partners, as he was accused of paying the worst wages of the time and of keeping several employees of the remotest haciendas imprisoned. However, due to his commercial importance he was chosen as part of the Constituent Congress of 1843 on behalf of Guadalajara, where he co-authored the Bases Orgánicas de la República Mexicana.
He was elected President of the Casino Jalisciense in January 1899.
He was appointed President of the Compañía Petrolera de Guadalajara, and later President of the Banco de Jalisco.
Finally, he returned to his La Guaracha hacienda and died there on 2 December 1914.
Moreno signed ABNC notes dated 1902.
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Justo Fernández del Valle, with his brother Manuel, came from Graces, Asturias, Spain. They arrived in Guadalajara around 1865 and united with the Martínez Negrete family, each marrying a sister. From here they began to build their own businesses, accumulating a fortune and entering the tapatía (Guadalajaran) elite.
Through the administration and disposal of the assets inherited by their respective wives, the Fernández del Valle bought the textile factories called La Escoba and Río Blanco, located north of Guadalajara. On 9 April 1877, the brothers bought the factory in La Escoba. To direct and manage it, on 7 May 1878 they formed the company "Fernández del Valle Hermanos". On 28 February 1885 they bought the Río Blanco factory. The Fernández del Valle's business strategy was to diversify their economic interests and obtain cash capital to invest in other activities; so on 10 December 1889 they formed the Compañía Industrial de Jalisco , with the participation of the following commercial houses also in Guadalajara: “Moreno Hermanos”, “Viuda e Hijos de Corcuera”, “Somellera Hermanos”, “Ancira y Hermano”, “Fortoul y Chapuy” and “Gas y Cogordan” (thus comprising of Mexican, Spanish and French interests) and sold half of the factories to their partners. However, the management of the factories remained in their hands.
The Fernández del Valle were not only textile entrepreneurs; on 23 July 1880 they invested in the Ferrocarril de Guadalajara a San Pedro, an urban railway . They also invested in mining together with other partners, in August 1897 they founded the Compañía Minera La Asturiana, located in Etzatlán; in 1890 they bought half of the shares of the Compañía Minera de San Pedro Analco, in Hostotipaquillo; and in January 1891 they formed the Compañía Minera de la Luz y San Juan Nepomuceno, located in San Sebastián all mines within the state of Jalisco,
In the first attempt at a Banco de Jalisco, on 24 January 1884, the Fernández del Valle were going to invest $8,000 for 800 shares, but on that occasion the bank could not open its doors because it was prohibited by federal legislation. This sum, however, served them to participate as a shareholder in the Banco Nacional de México branch in Guadalajara that same year, in which Justo Fernández del Valle was the vice president of the Junta de Vigilancia. Later, in 1898, the Fernández del Valle participated in the definitive foundation of the Banco de Jalisco. As members of the board of directors of both banks they could have easy access to the bank loans with which they financed their other activities.
In addition to industrial, mining and banking activities, the Fernández del Valle operated haciendas and ranches in Tepic, Jalisco and Michoacán, some from the assets inherited by their wives Rosalía and Josefa Martínez Negrete and others purchased by them during the marriage.
In May 1887, President Porfirio Díaz granted Justo Fernández del Valle the exequator so that he could exercise the functions of consul of Guatemala in Mexico, in addition to those he already held as consul of Spain in the city of Guadalajara, while his brother Manuel was vice-consul, They also participated as members and founding partners of the Cámara de Comercio of Guadalajara in 1888 with Justo as its president. At the same time they were also members of the Cámara Agrícola Jalisciense.
Justo signed notes dated 1902 and 1903.
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Eugène (Eugenio) Cuzin was possibly a cousin of the Gas brothers. In 1890 he was sent from Jausiers, France, to work in the La Ciudad de México department store and became one of the most important businessmen and retailers in Guadalajara.
From 1890 to 1930, through L. Gas y Companía, Eugène Cuzin participated in the Compañía Industrial de Jalisco, the Compañía Industrial de Guadalajara, the Banco de Jalisco, the Compañía de Fomento y Bienes Raíces de Guadalajara and the Compañía Petrolera La Fortune, along with other French, Spanish and Mexican partners.. He was also a director of the La Experiencia, Atemajac and El Salto factories in Jalisco, and he had under his orders the Hercules factories, in Querétaro, and Santa Rosa, in Orizaba.
From 1905 he lived in a house that he had built on avenida Vallarta, which became the Consulate of France following his appointment as consul on 2 June 1911.
By 1907 Eugène Cuzin was already the head of La Ciudad de México, while Antoine Gas returned to France. Anyway the brothers Louis and Antoine Gas, Eugène Cuzin and his nephew Henri Teissier continued as partners. In 1907 Cuzin was the vice president of the Circulo Francés{footnotes}El Regional, 24 December 1906.
In 1912 the Cuzin family moved to Los Angeles, California, for fear of the tremors that occurred in Guadalajara during that year. They lived there for three or four months, and then returned to Guadalajara.. In 1913 Eugène bought a hotel on calle 16 de Septiembre to build a new store. Cuzin decided to retire to France that year, and prepared everything for his nephew Henri Teissier to succeed him in managing La Ciudad de México, together with his brother Jean Teissier.
In May 1914 the Cuzin family again left for France. With the declaration of war, on 1 August 1914, Eugène Cuzin was enrolled in the ranks of the French army, but as he was very short-sighted he did not go to the front lines, but was sent to Mexico as consul of France, with the aim of recruiting the French of Guadalajara. Eugène traveled to Guadalajara but his family stayed in Grenoble, France, with some relatives. It was not until 1916 that Eugène returned. to meet his family.
Cuzin spent two years in Mexico safeguarding the interests of his business, a time when he wrote the notebooks that make up his Diary. Eugène Cuzin returned to France and remained there from 1916 to 1917. The following year, Cuzin was still a partner of La Ciudad de México in Guadalajara.
Cuzin died on 20 June 1930 in Paris worn down by the Mexican revolution, the European war and work.
He appears as Presidente of the Banco de Aguascalientes in 1912.
He signed notes dated from 1908 to 1914.
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Aurelio González Hermosillo Aguilar was born in 1862 in Guadalajara, the son of Miguel González Hermosillo. He was a lawyer, hacendado and financier and served as Presidente of the Banco de Jalisco and Vicepresidente of the Banco de Aguascalientes (in 1912).
He was elected a diputado suplente to the XIX state legislature in November 1902 and a deputy in 1909.
In 1906 he built a large Italian style villa on the edge of Lake Chapala, designed and constructed by Angel Corsi, whom he brought from Europe. He owned the Estrella de Oro gold and silver mine in Chapala and the Hacienda de Santa Cruz del Valle, in Tlajomulco, just south of Guadalajara, that by 1818, had 6,000 hectares and produced basics such as corn, wheat and beans.
He died in Guadalajara in 1929.
He signed notes dated from 1908 to 1914.
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Augusto Brun was born on 31 July 1875 in Barcelonnette, and died in this same town on 14 November 1925, at the age of 50. Auguste Brun was a 21-year-old when he teamed up with Jean Laurens and in December 1899 Laurens Brun y Compañía joined three other firms of barcelonnettes to form the Compañía Industrial de Guadalajara. Laurens Brun y Compañía was restructured on 24 January 1905, with Antoine Brun, Auguste's younger brother, admitted as a new partner.
As one of the French contingent of businessmen in Guadalajara Brun was elected Tesorero of the Círculo Francés in 1900 and 1901.
He signed notes dated from 1909 to 1914.
He appears on the board of the Banco de Aguascalientes in 1912.
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Abraham Gallardo Maciel was born in San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato, in 1854. In Guanajuato he owned the principal hardware business and was the Presidente of the local Cámara de Comercio in 1897 and 1899. In Jalisco he owned a hardware store and did property developments.
He was regularly elected to the local council in Guadalajara (from 1904 to 1910), and held office in the Cámara de Comercio.
He signed notes dated from 1910 to 1911.
He appears on the board of the Banco de Aguascalientes in 1912.
He died in Guadalajara on 2 November 1931, aged 77 years old.
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