A well known and respected family, the Magoffin's can trace their early history to the rugged and barely tamed countryside of Kentucky. Of the numerous offspring of Beriah and Jane (McAfee) Magoffin, James Wiley and Samuel became well known and prominent throughout the southwest. 

Active as traders and merchants all the Chihuahua Trade, the brothers did much to influence the development of region.

James Wiley Magoffin, came to the El Paso area where he established the Magoffinville settlement, east of the current El Paso city center. Well established, with many political and  economic ties to the region, eldest son Joseph went on to a successful political career in El Paso, serving four terms as mayor, and as one of the founders of the State National Bank, and worked tirelessly to improve the local infrastructure.