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Introduction

R. Boyd Murphree

n July 17, 1821, Spain transferred British acquired in 1763, they divided Ocontrol of its colony of West Florida the colony along the Apalachicola River into to the . In a similar ceremony two colonies, East and West Florida, with a week earlier, Spain had turned over East separate governors for each area. When the Florida, ending over 300 years of Spanish Spanish returned in 1783, they kept the same influence in the territory that now belonged administrative division. While the United to the young American republic. The ap- States and American settlers had made sig- proaching bicentennial of this event in July nificant inroads into Spanish East and West 2021 presents an opportunity to explore Florida before 1818, when Gen. Andrew Jack- how Florida has been governed over the last son conquered the Spanish colonies, the end 200 years through the lives of the men who of Spanish rule in 1821 divides Florida’s co- held the governorship from 1821 to 2019 (as lonial past from its American future. This of 2019, only men have served in the office). division, the length and complexity of the There have been numerous histories of the colonial period, and the existence of a large state and biographies of individual gover- number of expert histories of the era dis- nors. In addition, such publications as The couraged a combined history of Florida’s co- Florida Handbook and a few other reference lonial and American governors. works contain biographical sketches of most The next consideration was whether to of the governors, including a recently pub- begin the study in 1845, with Florida state- lished photographic study. There has never hood and the state’s first governor, William been, however, a published work devoted to D. Moseley, leaving behind Florida’s six ter- an in-depth examination of all of Florida’s ritorial executives: (military chief executives. This volume attempts to fill commissioner and governor), William Pope that gap.1 DuVal, , Richard Keith Call, The question of scope was the first con- Robert Raymond Reid, and . sideration in the conception of the work. We included them. The careers and person- Beginning with Pedro Menéndez de Avilés alities of these men mark them as some of in 1565 and ending with José María Callava the most colorful and influential individuals in 1821, there were approximately eighty-one in Florida’s line of governors. Their decisions full, acting, and interim Spanish and Brit- impacted the formation of Florida’s territo- ish colonial governors of Florida. When the rial government and influenced the creation

1 2 | R. Boyd Murphree of Florida’s first state government embodied absence from the capital could require an in the constitution of 1838. acting governor), the president of the Sen- What about acting governors? Should ate or the speaker of the House of Repre- they be included? Before making that deci- sentatives, in that order, became acting gov- sion, we had to identify those who served ernor. It fell to Abraham K. Allison to serve as acting governors and what they did. The twice as acting governor during this period. number of Florida’s acting governors is dif- As speaker of the House in 1853, he became ficult to determine, but at least thirteen men acting governor from September 16 to Oc- have served in that position: fifteen if you tober 3, when both Gov. Thomas Brown include two Reconstruction “acting gover- and Senate president Robert J. Floyd were nors” whose right to the office was contested. out of state. In 1857, Senate president Philip During the territorial period, the secretary of Dell was acting governor while Gov. James E. the territory served as acting governor in the Broome traveled to Washington, DC. Unlike governor’s absence. Robert Butler was the Allison, who was sworn in as acting governor first acting American governor in Florida. He in 1853, Dell assumed the post without cer- oversaw the transfer of Spanish East Florida emony after a court ruling determined that to the United States in a ceremony on July the post did not require a separate swear- 10, 1821, in St. Augustine in the absence of ing in; the Senate president was in position Andrew Jackson, who carried out the trans- to act as governor if called on to do so in the fer of West Florida in Pensacola on July 17. governor’s absence. Allison assumed the post John R. Bell and William G. D. Worthing- again, this time as Senate president, on April ton succeeded Butler as acting governors in 1, 1865, when Gov. John Milton died. The col- East Florida. George Walton Jr., the secre- lapse of Confederate Florida on May 19, 1865, tary for West Florida, served as acting gov- ended Allison’s time in office. Under Union ernor in Pensacola after Jackson returned military administration, Florida did not have to Tennessee in October 1821. He remained a chief executive until President Andrew in that post until the arrival of Gov. Wil- Johnson’s appointment of as liam P. DuVal in June 1822, which marked provisional governor on July 13, 1865.2 the formal end of the dual administration Florida did not create the office of lieuten- of the territory. Under DuVal’s long tenure, ant governor until 1865, when William W. three territorial secretaries acted as governor J. Kelly became the first person to hold that in his absence: George Walton Jr., William office under the 1865 constitution. The 1868 M. McCarty, and James D. Westcott Jr. Two constitution continued the position. Three other DuVals, John P. DuVal, the governor’s men became or claimed to be acting gover- brother, and Thomas H. DuVal, the gover- nors under its provisions: Lt. Gov. William nor’s son, served as territorial secretaries and H. Gleason claimed the office in 1868 during acting governors for brief periods. In Decem- impeachment proceedings against Gov. Har- ber 1835, Acting Governor George K. Walker rison Reed, Lt. Gov. Samuel T. Day pro- mustered the territorial militia in reaction to claimed himself acting governor in 1872 dur- the Seminole attack on the command of Maj. ing another Reed impeachment crisis, and Francis Dade, an attack that launched what Lt. Gov. Marcellus L. Stearns became the became known as the Second Seminole War. legal acting governor from March 18, 1874, to During early statehood (1845–1865), when January 2, 1877, after the death of Gov. Os- a governor had been removed from office, sian B. Hart. died, resigned, or was absent from the state The 1885 constitution did away with the (during the territorial period the governor’s office of lieutenant governor. It was not res- Introduction | 3 urrected until the 1968 constitutional revi- Florida governor who has been written about sion. There have been twenty lieutenant the most. There are also biographies on Wil- governors, three of them women. Only one liam P. DuVal, Richard Keith Call, Ossian B. person, Charley E. Johns, served as acting Hart, Napoleon Bonaparte Broward, Sidney governor in the period 1885–1968. As presi- J. Catts, LeRoy Collins, Claude Kirk, Reu- dent of the Senate, Johns became acting gov- bin Askew, , , and ernor on September 28, 1953, when Gov. Dan . Buddy MacKay and McCarty died. Johns served as governor until have written autobiographies. These gover- January 4, 1955, when LeRoy Collins entered nors are the exceptions. The majority of the the office after being elected to fill out Mc- governors do not have any published biogra- Carty’s term. After 1968, the constitution phies beyond short encyclopedia-type pieces. required that the lieutenant governor become While these brief biographies contain useful the governor and abolished the term “acting reference information, they in no way give a governor.” Therefore, even though he only reader insight into what the governors were served for three days after the resignation like as individuals or why they made the de- of Gov. Bob Graham on January 2, 1987, Lt. cisions they did. This volume seeks to ad- Gov. was an official governor, dress those aspects of each governor. not an acting chief executive. Each chapter devotes most of its cover- Given this background, the book devotes age to the respective governor’s time in of- chapters to three acting governors: Allison, fice because that is when their actions, with Stearns, and Johns. Both Stearns and Johns some exceptions, had the greatest impact on had terms of substantial length. Allison is the state and the nation. However, the book included because of the dramatic circum- does not exclude their earlier or later careers. stances of his entry into office—the violent Some governors had notable business and death of Governor Milton and the fall of legal careers. Many served in the military and Confederate Florida. There are also chapters fought in wars. Several governors served as on Governors Mixson and Buddy MacKay, county and municipal officials. Most served even though their time in office was fleet- in the territorial or state legislatures be- ing: MacKay was in office from Decem- fore their governorship. One governor, John ber 12, 1998, to January 5, 1999, and Mixson Branch, Florida’s last territorial governor, was served from January 3 to January 6, 1987. the governor of before com- Arguably, some of the acting governors per- ing to Florida. Some governors were state formed more important acts in office than judges and served on the Florida Supreme Mixson and MacKay, but the two executives Court. Others held office in state or national are included as they were official governors cabinets. Many governors served in Con- and each had interesting political careers. gress (both the House and Senate), and one, MacKay, in particular, had an important Andrew Jackson, became president. Besides working relationship as lieutenant governor Jackson, three governors have sought the with Gov. Lawton Chiles. presidency: Askew, Graham, and Bush. With With the scope resolved, the next ques- the exception of Albert W. Gilchrist, all of tion was content. What information about the governors were married at some point in each governor should be included in each their lives; almost all sitting governors had a chapter? Many of the governors have or first lady. Some governors were married more deserve substantial biographies. Of course, than once. Gov. James E. Broome holds the as one of the nation’s most influential presi- record with five marriages. And almost all dents, Andrew Jackson stands out as the governors had children, some of whom be- 4 | R. Boyd Murphree came Florida politicians. In order to present ject has been the most controversial topic the fullest possible picture of each governor’s in the expanse of Florida history: race. As a life within a limited format, each chapter territory and state tied to the racial ethos of gives some coverage (in many cases substan- the Deep South for much of its past, Florida tial) to the family and professional lives of experienced and in some cases surpassed the the subject outside his time as governor. racial discrimination and violence that has Florida has been blessed with an inex- been intrinsic to that region’s history. In the haustible reservoir of fascinating histori- form of slavery, Indian removal, the racial cal topics and episodes. During the territo- turmoil of Reconstruction, the convict lease rial years (1821–1845), Florida experienced system, lynching, and segregation, racism has a banking crisis, the rise of political par- had a long and horrific presence in Florida ties, and the Second Seminole War. Dur- history. Like their gubernatorial colleagues in ing early statehood (1845–1865), slavery, the the rest of the South, most of Florida’s gov- cotton economy, the Third Seminole War, ernors, beginning with the territorial period secession, and the Civil War were the pre- and through the civil rights movement of the dominant issues. During Reconstruction 1960s, played a role in perpetuating racial (1865–1877), Florida’s themes were political discrimination through executive decisions, and racial violence, the struggle for African legislation, or inaction. Racial injustice is a American rights, economic upheaval, and subject that haunts many of the governors immigrants from the North. The years of and many of these chapters. Bourbon democracy (1877–1899) included Another important element to consider land development, railroad expansion, po- in studying Florida’s governors is the his- litical reform movements, fever epidemics, tory of executive power in state government. Jim Crow, and the Spanish-American War. Presidents appointed the territorial gover- During the Progressive era (1900–1920), the nors, territorial secretaries, territorial judges, were drained; groups pushed for and the territorial legislature until 1826, when social reform, including women’s rights; and the legislature became elective. Governors, the state sent soldiers and other personnel who served at the president’s pleasure for to serve in World War I. During the inter- three-year terms (although they could be war years (1920–1939), the state experienced reappointed), appointed all territorial offi- a land boom and bust, intensified racial vio- cers that were not presidential appointments. lence, Prohibition, and economic depression. The governor was also the commander of the World War II (1940–1945) launched a new territorial militia. As a requirement for state- wave of economic growth and development. hood, the territory had to create a constitu- In the postwar period (1945–1965), Florida tion, which Florida did in 1838. Among the underwent population growth and develop- powers the constitution provided for the gov- ment, its tourism sector grew, the civil rights ernor, who was limited to one four-year term, movement expanded, and the Cold War was the position of commander-in-chief of shaped state politics. Issues in the last fifty the state’s armed forces, the power to ap- years have included domestic and foreign point all state civil and military officers, and immigration, a tourism boom, drugs, con- the power to convene extraordinary sessions servation, and constitutional and legislative of the legislature. The legislature elected the reform. All of these topics and more are ex- secretary of state, the attorney general, the plored in the context of the governors whose treasurer, the comptroller, and, beginning in terms were impacted by them. 1845, the register of public lands. As with US history in general, one sub- Beginning in 1848, three years after state-