Juan Nepomuceno de Quesada

Juan Nepomuceno de Quesada y Barnuevo Arrocha[1] (1738–1798)[2] was a military officer who served as Governor and intendant of Honduras between 1783 and 1789, and Governor of East Florida from July 1790 to March 1796.

Juan Nepomuceno de Quesada y Barnuevo
61st Governor of Spanish Honduras
In office
11 August 1783 – 1789
Preceded byFrancisco Aybar
Succeeded byAlejo García Conde
2nd Governor of Spanish East Florida
In office
July 1790 – March 1796
Preceded byVicente Manuel de Céspedes y Velasco
Succeeded byBartolomé Morales
Personal details
Born1738
Jaen, Andalusia (Spain)
Died1798
ProfessionMilitary officer and administrator (governor of Honduras and East Florida)

Early life

De Quesada was born in 1738 at Jaén, Spain.[3] He joined the Spanish Royal Army in his youth, attaining the ranks of Brigadier of the Infantry of the Royal Armies and Commander General of the presidio of St. Augustine.[4][2]

Political career

De Quesada was appointed Governor and intendant of Honduras in 1783, and remained in this office until 1789, when he was replaced in the Honduran government by Alejo García Conde.[5]

Photo of the Cathedral of St. Augustine, 1914.

In 1790 De Quesada was appointed Governor of East Florida by Charles IV of Spain,[6][7] to replace Vicente Manuel de Céspedes. He assumed the governorship in July 1790, during the Nootka Sound Crisis.[1] Upon his appointment, De Quesada wrote to George Washington informing the president of his new position in Florida and offering his diplomatic friendship to the United States.[8]

After his arrival at Saint Augustine, as a consequence of the Nootka Crisis, De Quesada revamped the defenses of the city, which were not extensive enough, according to him and his engineer, Mariano de la Roque. The garrison was small and dispirited, as the Spanish royal subsidy (situado)[9] had not arrived in Florida since 1787.[1]

In the course of his service as governor of the province, De Quesada also obtained the titles of Vice Royal Patron, and Subdelegate of St. Augustine and the province.[4] Construction of the Cathedral was begun in 1793 under his administration and finished in 1797, a year after he left his post.[10]

Slavery

De Quesada banned the recognition of runaway slaves who had fled from the American South to Florida seeking freedom. He had corresponded with Thomas Jefferson in 1791 on the matter of fugitive slaves coming from the southern United States. Through commissioner James Seagrove of Georgia, De Quesada wrote a letter initiating the agreement that stated any American slaveowner immigrating to Florida simply had to swear that they were the legitimate owners of the enslaved person for their ownership to be recognized.[11]

Death

He became ill in February 1796, and continued to serve as governor of East Florida only until March of that year, when he was succeeded by Bartolomé Morales. He died in 1798.

References
  1. Paul E. Hoffman (2002). Florida's Frontiers. Indiana University Press. p. 243. ISBN 978-0-253-34019-1.
  2. Guillermo Lohmann Villena (1993). Los americanos en las órdenes nobiliarias. 1 (2nd ed.). Editorial CSIC – CSIC Press. p. 408. ISBN 978-84-00-07351-0.
  3. Francisco Xavier de Santa Cruz y Mallén (1950). Historia de familias cubanas. Editorial Hércules. p. 261.
  4. "Mitchell v. Furman, 180 U.S. 402 (1901)". Supreme.justia.com. Justia. 2016. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved 12 June 2016.
  5. Rómulo E. Durón (April 14, 1906). "Dos libros de Historia: notas bibliográficas". Revista del Archivo y de la Biblioteca Nacional de Honduras (in Spanish). Tipografía Nacional. 2: 365.
  6. Rafael B. Abislaimán (2008). Peregrinando a San Agustín: al encuentro del siervo de Dios, Padre Félix Varela. Ediciones Universal. p. 155. ISBN 978-1-59388-120-7.
  7. Carnegie Institution of Washington Publication. Carnegie Institution of Washington. 1910. p. 54.
  8. "Founders Online: To George Washington from Juan Nepomuceno de Quesada, 17 July …". founders.archives.gov. Retrieved 2019-03-25.
  9. Sherry Johnson (2011). Climate and Catastrophe in Cuba and the Atlantic World in the Age of Revolution. Univ of North Carolina Press. pp. 157–158. ISBN 978-0-8078-3493-0.
  10. "Cathedral of St. Augustine: St. Augustine, Florida". NPS.gov. National Park Service, U.S.Department of the Interior. 2016. Archived from the original on April 6, 2015. Retrieved 12 June 2016.
  11. "Founders Online: To Thomas Jefferson from Juan Nepomuceno de Quesada, 6 August …". founders.archives.gov. Retrieved 2019-03-25.
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