Casad-Lane family papers
Collection
Identifier: Ms-0440
Scope and Content
The Casad-Lane Family Papers span the years 1840 to 1990. It includes items related to Sarah Casad, Nathan D. Lane, Jenny Casad Lane, Humboldt Casad, and Ada Lane Lorentzen. There is a group of materials about various property transactions which includes information on the Brazito Land Grant and other property in the Mesilla Valley. Additionally, there is information regarding irrigation including the Elephant Butte Irrigation District, the Mesilla Community Ditch, the NMSU water system, and the Mesilla Valley Irrigation Company. The collection is arranged by series which include personal papers, correspondence, property transactions, newspaper clippings, maps and blueprints, and a variety of other items. The papers are most often arranged chronologically or alphabetically by subject. The photographs were processed in 2002. They are arranged by family group rather than chronologically. Researchers will want to make use of the Casad genealogy which is included.
Dates
- 1840-1990
Language of Materials
English.
Access and Use Restrictions
This material may be examined by researchers under supervised conditions in the Search Room.
Copy Restrictions
Limited duplication is allowed for research purposes. User is responsible for compliance with copyright and other applicable statutes.
Copyrights associated with this collection have not been transferred and assigned to New Mexico State University.
Copyrights associated with this collection have not been transferred and assigned to New Mexico State University.
Biographical Note
Thomas Casad was born in Ohio in 1816. A farmer and miner, Casad moved westward to Illinois, Missouri, and California, finally arriving in the Mesilla Valley in 1874. He was a farmer, a grist mill operator, a printer, and a businessman. He also invested in real estate purchasing more than 10,000 acres of property in the Brazito Land Grant. Casad was married twice. His first wife, Sarah Hilton and most of their seven children died of consumption. Later he married Sarah Van Winkle and moved to California where he bought 2,000 acres of land in what is now Disneyland in Anaheim. In 1874, he sold the land and headed for Texas but when he reached the Mesilla Valley his horses were stolen. Some of his Masonic friends convinced him to stay. He purchased land and began farming in southern New Mexico. There were eleven Casad children who survived into adulthood. They include (in order of their birth), Anna and Paris from his first wife, Leonora, Jenny, Maud, Humboldt, Thomas Jr., Alice, Jessie, Gertrude, and Charles Darwin. Additionally, Casad provided a home for two other children, Fabian Garcia and Rafael Ramirez. Several of the children married and lived locally including Jenny Casad Lane of El Paso; Maud Casad Mandell, who lived in La Union; Alice Casad Burt, who farmed in La Union with her husband Edwin Burt; Humboldt Casad, who became one of the founders of the Dona Ana County Farm Bureau and farmed in La Union; Gertrude Casad Bennett and Darwin Casad also from La Union. Fabian Garcia became a professor at New Mexico College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts and developed a special variety of chile. Rafael Ramirez also became a professor and taught in Juarez, Mexico. Daughter Jessie is well known as the only NMCA & MA graduate in the class of 1895. Thomas Casad died at age sixty-nine and was buried at the Masonic Cemetery in La Mesilla. The settlement of his estate was postponed until the youngest child was old enough to participate. A territorial commission was appointed to work on the case and divide his land fairly. Jenny Casad married Nathan D. Lane in 1884. They settled in El Paso where Mr. Lane became the first U.S. Weather Bureau Chief there. They had two children, Ada and Wallace. Ada married Julius Lorentzen.
Extent
7.5 Linear Feet
Abstract
Thomas and Sarah Casad settled in the Mesilla Valley in 1874. The Casads invested in real estate and purchased more than 10,000 acres of the Brazito Land Grant. Jenny Casad, one of their daughters, married Nathan Lane in 1884. The papers consist of estate information, correspondence, and the personal papers of Sarah Casad, Nathan Lane, and Jenny Casad Lane, as well as several other family members.
Acquisition
- Gift of Jolie Soukup
- Gift of Hilda Candler
- Gift of Dr. Wayne Lorentzen
General
Contact Information
- Archives and Special Collections
- New Mexico StateUniversity Library
- P.O. Box 30006
- Las Cruces, New Mexico88003-8006
- Phone: (575) 646-3839
- Fax: (575) 646-7477
- Email: archives@nmsu.edu
- URL: https://lib.nmsu.edu/archives/
General
- Title
- Register of the Casad-Lane Family papers, 1840-1990
- Status
- Edited Full Draft
- Author
- Processed by Leslie Bergloff and Sunny Finley
- Date
- © 2002
- Language of description
- Undetermined
- Script of description
- Code for undetermined script
- Language of description note
- Finding aid is in English
Revision Statements
- June 28, 2004: PUBLIC "-//New Mexico State University::Archives and Special Collections//TEXT (US::NmLcU::Ms 440::Casad-Lane Family Papers)//EN" "nmlcu1ms440.sgml" converted from EAD 1.0 to 2002 by v1to02.xsl (sy2003-10-15).
- Monday, 20210524: Attribute normal is missing or blank.
Repository Details
Part of the New Mexico State University Library Archives and Special Collections Repository