William Pope Duval
William Pope Duval
William Pope Duval, lawyer and congressman, the son of William and Anne (Pope) Duval, was born at Mount Comfort, Virginia in 1784. In 1804 he married Nancy Hynes and was admitted in to the bar that same year. On May 1821, President Monroe appointed Duval as a federal judge in the Eastern district of the Florida Territory. That is where his legacy in the Florida history begins. From 1822 -1834, Duval served as the first territorial Governor of the territory of Florida. In those twelve years as governor, Duval had many accomplishments such as persuading the Seminole Indians to move peacefully to the south, setting up a capital in the location of Tallahassee, and attempting a board of education.
The territory was fortunate to have such a governor during these early days. Even the Indians trusted him. Duval took the oath of office at such a critical time in Florida’s history. It was only a few months after the United States acquired Florida as a territory and at the end of the first Seminole war. He was appointed Governor after the resignation of Andrew Jackson. The most important task he had was the removal of the Seminole Indians. The Seminoles were a blend of Apalachees, Timucuans, Calusas and other tribes decimated by disease and war that were forced to migrate south during the rapid European colonization of the eighteenth century (Allen). Jackson had Anderson 2 started a plan to remove all Indian from Florida and place them across the Mississippi River into Indian territory (Allen). What made this such an urgent issue was the United States was in legal but not physical possession of millions of acres of land in Florida. Duval was quoted as saying,” It will be a serious misfortune if the Indians are permitted to occupy the only good lands in the territory.” (Boggs 14). The United States owed more than four
William Pope Duval, lawyer and congressman, the son of William and Anne (Pope) Duval, was born at Mount Comfort, Virginia in 1784. In 1804 he married Nancy Hynes and was admitted in to the bar that same year. On May 1821, President Monroe appointed Duval as a federal judge in the Eastern district of the Florida Territory. That is where his legacy in the Florida history begins. From 1822 -1834, Duval served as the first territorial Governor of the territory of Florida. In those twelve years as governor, Duval had many accomplishments such as persuading the Seminole Indians to move peacefully to the south, setting up a capital in the location of Tallahassee, and attempting a board of education.
The territory was fortunate to have such a governor during these early days. Even the Indians trusted him. Duval took the oath of office at such a critical time in Florida’s history. It was only a few months after the United States acquired Florida as a territory and at the end of the first Seminole war. He was appointed Governor after the resignation of Andrew Jackson. The most important task he had was the removal of the Seminole Indians. The Seminoles were a blend of Apalachees, Timucuans, Calusas and other tribes decimated by disease and war that were forced to migrate south during the rapid European colonization of the eighteenth century (Allen). Jackson had Anderson 2 started a plan to remove all Indian from Florida and place them across the Mississippi River into Indian territory (Allen). What made this such an urgent issue was the United States was in legal but not physical possession of millions of acres of land in Florida. Duval was quoted as saying,” It will be a serious misfortune if the Indians are permitted to occupy the only good lands in the territory.” (Boggs 14). The United States owed more than four