James Jewett Stillman (June 09, 1850 – March 15, 1918) was a noted American businessman who invested in land, banking, and railroads in New York, Texas, and Mexico. The son of Elizabeth Pamela Stillman (neé Goodrich) and
Charles StillmanCharles Stillman was born in Wethersfield, Hartford County, Connecticut, United States, to Capt. Francis Stillman and Harriet Stillman. He arrived in Matamoros, Tamaulipas, Mexico, in 1828 and established himself as an entrepreneur...
, James Stillman was born in
Brownsville, TexasBrownsville is a city in and the county seat of Cameron County, Texas, United States. Brownsville is the 15th largest city in the state of Texas and the 129th largest in the United States. The population was 139,722 at the 2000 census...
. Charles Stillman had significant business interests which James acquired in 1872. He expanded those to control of sixteen Texas banks and a significant land holdings in the
Rio Grande ValleyThe Rio Grande Valley aka, The Valley, is an area located in the southernmost tip of South Texas. It lies along the northern bank of the Rio Grande, which separates Mexico from the United States....
, particularly
Corpus ChristiCorpus Christi is a coastal city in the South Texas region of the U.S. state of Texas. The county seat of Nueces County, it also extends into Aransas, Kleberg, and San Patricio counties.MSA population in 2008 is 416, 376. The population was 277,454 at the 2000 census; in 2006 the US Census...
and
Kerrville, TexasKerrville is a city in Kerr County, Texas, United States. The population was 20,425 at the 2000 census. Kerrville is named after James Kerr, a major in the Texas Revolution, and friend of settler-founder Joshua Brown, who settled in the area to start a shingle-making camp.Being nestled in the hills...
.
James Jewett Stillman (June 09, 1850 – March 15, 1918) was a noted American businessman who invested in land, banking, and railroads in New York, Texas, and Mexico. The son of Elizabeth Pamela Stillman (neé Goodrich) and
Charles StillmanCharles Stillman was born in Wethersfield, Hartford County, Connecticut, United States, to Capt. Francis Stillman and Harriet Stillman. He arrived in Matamoros, Tamaulipas, Mexico, in 1828 and established himself as an entrepreneur...
, James Stillman was born in
Brownsville, TexasBrownsville is a city in and the county seat of Cameron County, Texas, United States. Brownsville is the 15th largest city in the state of Texas and the 129th largest in the United States. The population was 139,722 at the 2000 census...
. Charles Stillman had significant business interests which James acquired in 1872. He expanded those to control of sixteen Texas banks and a significant land holdings in the
Rio Grande ValleyThe Rio Grande Valley aka, The Valley, is an area located in the southernmost tip of South Texas. It lies along the northern bank of the Rio Grande, which separates Mexico from the United States....
, particularly
Corpus ChristiCorpus Christi is a coastal city in the South Texas region of the U.S. state of Texas. The county seat of Nueces County, it also extends into Aransas, Kleberg, and San Patricio counties.MSA population in 2008 is 416, 376. The population was 277,454 at the 2000 census; in 2006 the US Census...
and
Kerrville, TexasKerrville is a city in Kerr County, Texas, United States. The population was 20,425 at the 2000 census. Kerrville is named after James Kerr, a major in the Texas Revolution, and friend of settler-founder Joshua Brown, who settled in the area to start a shingle-making camp.Being nestled in the hills...
. Along with
W. H. Harriman, Jacob Henry Schiff and
William RockefellerWilliam Avery Rockefeller, Jr. , American financier, was a co-founder with his older brother John D. Rockefeller of the prominent United States Rockefeller family. He was the son of William Avery Rockefeller, Sr. and Eliza Rockefeller.-Youth, education:Rockefeller was born in Richford, New York,...
he controlled the most important Texas railroads (including the Texas and Pacific Railroad, the
Southern Pacific RailroadThe Southern Pacific Transportation Company , earlier Southern Pacific Railroad and Southern Pacific Company , and usually simply called the Southern Pacific, was an American railroad. The railroad was founded as a land holding company in 1865, later acquiring the Central Pacific Railroad by lease...
, the
International-Great Northern RailroadThe International – Great Northern Railroad was a railroad that operated in the U.S. state of Texas. It was created September 30, 1873, when International Railroad and Houston and Great Northern Railroad merged....
, the Union Pacific Southern Railway, the St. Louis, Brownsville and Mexico Railway, and the Mexican National Railroad) and the
National City Bank of New YorkCitibank is a major international bank, founded in 1812 as the City Bank of New York, later First National City Bank of New York. Citibank is now the consumer banking arm of financial services giant Citigroup, one of the largest companies in the world...
.
In 1876 Stillman supported
Porfirio DíazJosé de la Cruz Porfirio Díaz Mori was the President of Mexico from 1876 to 1880 and from 1884 to 1911, and one of the most controversial figures of the country...
's overthrow of the government of Mexico by the Revolution of Tuxtepec.
He is considered to have been one of the 100 wealthiest Americans, having left an enormous fortune.
His oldest son James Alexander Stillman also served as president of
National City Bank of New YorkCitibank is a major international bank, founded in 1812 as the City Bank of New York, later First National City Bank of New York. Citibank is now the consumer banking arm of financial services giant Citigroup, one of the largest companies in the world...
. Stillman was related to even greater wealth by marriage; his two daughters (Sarah Elizabeth Stillman and Isabel Goodrich Stillman) married the sons (
William Goodsell RockefellerWilliam Goodsell Rockefeller was the third child of Standard Oil co-founder William Rockefeller and his wife, Almira Geraldine Goodsell. Rockefeller married Sarah Elizabeth Stillman, daughter of National City Bank president James Stillman, on November 21, 1895...
and
Percy Avery RockefellerPercy Avery Rockefeller was the son of William Rockefeller and his wife, Almira Geraldine Goodsell. He attended Yale University from 1897 to 1900, where he was also a member of the 1900 class of Skull & Bones....
respectively) of business associate and friend, and senior executive of
Standard OilStandard Oil was a predominant American integrated oil producing, transporting, refining, and marketing company. Established in 1870 as an Ohio corporation, it was the largest oil refiner in the world and operated as a major company trust and was one of the world's first and largest multinational...
William Rockefeller. His grandson
James Stillman RockefellerJames Stillman Rockefeller was a member of the prominent U.S. Rockefeller family.-Personal life:A paternal grandson of William Rockefeller, his maternal grandfather James Stillman and uncle James Alexander Stillman served as president of the National City Bank of New York, now Citibank...
served as president of National City from 1952 to 1959 and chairman from 1959 to 1967.