Joseph M.Hernandez | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Delegate to the United States House of Representatives fromFlorida Territory'sat-large district | |
| In office September 30, 1822 – March 3, 1823 | |
| Preceded by | Office established |
| Succeeded by | Richard K. Call |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1788-05-26)May 26, 1788 St. Augustine,Spanish Florida,Viceroyalty of New Spain |
| Died | June 8, 1857(1857-06-08) (aged 69) |
| Resting place | Necropolis San Carlos Borromeo |
| Party | Democratic-Republican Party Whig Party |
| Known for | First Delegate from the Florida Territory and the first Hispanic American to serve in the United States Congress |
Joseph Marion Hernández (May 26, 1788 – June 8, 1857) was a slave-owningSpanish-American planter, politician and military officer. He was the firstdelegate from theFlorida Territory and thefirst Hispanic American to serve in theUnited States Congress.[1] A member of theDemocratic-Republican Party, he served from September 1822 to March 1823.[2]
Joseph Marion Hernández was born inSt. Augustine, Florida duringFlorida'ssecond Spanish period. His parents wereMinorcans who had originally come to the region asindentured servants inAndrew Turnbull'sNew Smyrna colony. Prior to the American acquisition of Florida, Hernández owned three plantations south of St. Augustine (in what was thenEast Florida): San Jose,Mala Compra, andBella Vista.[3]
He married the widowed Ana María Hill Williams on February 25, 1814, in St. Augustine. Ana María Hill was born on June 6, 1787, in St. Augustine, and was the daughter of the South Carolinian merchant Theophilus Hill and his wife Theresa Thomas; they had immigrated from South Carolina by the 1780s. Hernández and Ana María had at least one child, Dora Hernández.[2] The properties owned by Ana, including a 3,200-acre plantation called "Orange Grove", enabled Hernández to establish himself as a planter of some standing. He had also acquired several profitable land grants during the so-called"Patriot War" in 1812.[4]
After theFirst Seminole War broke out in the province ofWest Florida in 1817, Andrew Jackson led a force of 4,800 men into the Floridas in January of the following year, destroying Seminole towns and taking the Spanish fort atSt. Marks. The campaign ended in May 1818 with the cession of West Florida to the United States with the signing of theAdams–Onís Treaty on February 22, 1819, following which Hernández pledged his allegiance to the US. The treaty was finally approved by the US Senate on February 22, 1821. Although it is not clear what role Hernández had in the war, he profited from it by receiving more land grants from the Spanish government. The land that he bought or inherited by marriage along with the large holdings he received as service grants from the Spanish crown amounted to 25,670 acres by the time of the annexation to the US.[4]
After the organization of theFlorida Territory, he was elected Florida's firstDelegate to theUnited States House of Representatives, and was approved byPresidentJames Monroe on September 30, 1822. He thus became the firstHispanic ever to serve in the U.S. Congress. He served for six months, leaving office on March 3, 1823.[4]
During the 1820s, Hernández became a major planter in the territory, his properties producing some of its biggest cash crops, including sugar cane and cotton, with the forced labor of between 60 and 150 enslaved black persons on his three largest holdings, especially theMala Compra and the St. Joseph plantations. In spite of his success as a planter, Hernández was forced to sell off large tracts of his land during the mid-1820s to discharge debts and make mortgage payments. In 1835 he used his estates as collateral to borrow money and preserve hissolvency.
Hernández was appointed to the Florida territorial legislative council by President Monroe, and the appointment renewed by President John Quincy Adams in 1825.[4] He continued running his plantations, which were burned by theSeminoles in theSecond Seminole War. The ruins of his plantation Mala Compra is today a preserved archaeological site. He was appointedBrigadier General over a troop of volunteers from theMosquito Roarers militia during the war and was subsequently commissioned in theUnited States Army, serving from 1835 to 1838. Hernández was the commanding officer responsible for the imprisonment of the Seminole leaderOsceola upon the orders of GeneralThomas Jesup, as well as the capture of Seminole chiefsEe-mat-la (King Philip) and Seminole allyUchee Billy. He retired with the rank ofBrigadier General.[4]
Hernández was an unsuccessfulWhig candidate for theUnited States Senate in 1845.[4] He later moved toCuba and engaged as a planter in the District of Coliseo, nearMatanzas, and died at the family's sugar estate, "Audaz", in the District of Coliseo, inMatanzas Province. He is interred in the Del Junco family vault inNecropolis San Carlos Borromeo, Matanzas.
In 1837, while with the U.S. Army, Hernández was ordered to build a road betweenSt. Augustine, Florida andFort Capron, located near present-dayFort Pierce, Florida, on theSt. Lucie River. He directed the blazing and clearing of the route that, 12 years earlier,Col. James Gadsden had cleared along theAtlantic Coastal Ridge to the St. Lucie River. It passed from Fort Capron throughFort Vinton,Fort Drum,Fort Kissimmee,Fort Meade toFort Brooke (Tampa).
[...]José Mariano Hernández was born on 26 May 1788. Almost a month later, on 23 June 1788, he was baptized by Father Michael O'Reilly (St. Augustine Parish Records, Book 1, White Baptisms, Entry 206)
| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
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| Preceded by none | Delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives fromFlorida Territory's at-large congressional district September 30, 1822 – March 3, 1823 | Succeeded by |
This article incorporatespublic domain material fromBiographical Directory of the United States Congress.Federal government of the United States.
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