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Overview
The scion of a well-to-do Richmond, Virginia, family, William Pope DuVal (1784–1854) migrated to the Kentucky frontier as a youth in 1800. Settling in Bardstown, DuVal read law, served in Congress, and fought in the War of 1812.
In 1822, largely because of the influence of his lifelong friend John C. Calhoun, President James Monroe appointed DuVal the first civil governor of the newly acquired Territory of Florida. Enjoying successive appointments from the Adams and Jackson administrations, DuVal founded Tallahassee and presided over the territory’s first twelve territorial legislative sessions, years that witnessed Middle Florida’s development into one of the Old Southwest’s most prosperous slave-based economies. Beginning with his personal confrontation with Miccosukee chief Neamathla in 1824 (an episode commemorated by Washington Irving), DuVal worked closely with Washington officials and oversaw the initial negotiations with the Seminoles.
A perennial political appointee, DuVal was closely linked to national and territorial politics in antebellum America. Like other “Calhounites” who supported Andrew Jackson’s rise to the White House, DuVal became a casualty of the Peggy Eaton Affair and the Nullification Crisis. In fact he was replaced as Florida governor by Mrs. Eaton’s husband, John Eaton. After leaving the governor’s chair, DuVal migrated to Kentucky, lent his efforts to the cause of Texas Independence, and eventually returned to practice law and local politics in Florida. Throughout his career DuVal cultivated the arts of oratory and story-telling—skills essential to success in the courtrooms and free-for-all politics of the American South. Part frontiersman and part sophisticate, DuVal was at home in the wilds of Kentucky, Florida, Texas, and Washington City. He delighted in telling tall tales, jests, and anecdotes that epitomized America’s expansive, democratic vistas. Among those captivated by DuVal’s life and yarns were Washington Irving, who used DuVal’s tall tales as inspiration for his “The Early Experiences of Ralph Ringwood,” and James Kirke Paulding, whose “Nimrod Wildfire” shared Du Val’s brashness and bonhomie.
“In large brushstrokes, but with great attention to detail, Denham embeds DuVal’s life in a wider portrait of the young Republic, and particularly in issues affecting the western states and the former Spanish borderlands Readers will find in this book a well-researched and well-written history that informs on many levels.” —The Historian
“Relying on a variety of sources extending well beyond DuVal’s papers, Denham’s work provides an intriguing account of a southerner immersed in the dynamics of politics at both the local and national levels. The study will be a definitive must for any student of antebellum regional and national history.” —The Journal of Southern History
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781611174670 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | University of South Carolina Press |
| Publication date: | 04/13/2022 |
| Sold by: | Barnes & Noble |
| Format: | eBook |
| Pages: | 467 |
| File size: | 8 MB |
| Age Range: | 18 Years |
About the Author
James M. Denham is a professor of history and director of the Lawton M. Chiles Jr. Center for Florida History at Florida Southern College in Lakeland, Florida. He is the author of A Rogue's Paradise: Crime and Punishment in Antebellum Florida, 1821–1861, and coauthor of Florida Sheriffs: A History, 1821–1945, as well as two University of South Carolina Press books—Cracker Times and Pioneer Lives: The Florida Reminiscences of George Gillette Keen and Sarah Pamela Williams and Echoes from a Distant Frontier: The Brown Sisters' Correspondence in Antebellum Florida.
Table of Contents
Illustrations vii
Preface ix
1 Scion of the Old Dominion 1
2 Soldier and War Hawk Politician 19
3 Judge and Governor 39
4 Founder of the Florida Territory 55
5 Neamathla and a New Territorial Capital 74
6 A "Corrupt Bargain" and a New Home in Florida 90
7 Trials, Tribulations, and "Left-Handed Justice" 106
8 "I have health, activity, good spirits, and a small share of Perseruerity" 126
9 "Harassed by the persecution of their neighbors" 141
10 Storm Clouds on the Horizon 155
11 "I intend to examine … Your relation to the President" 173
12 Nullifying an Election 185
13 "I shall return very poor to Kentucky" 202
14 "Do all you can for Texas" 214
15 Canals, Banks, and a Constitutional Convention 240
16 Faith Bonds, Division, Depression, and a Plague 263
17 "Tyler Too," Washington Intrigue, and St. Augustine 284
18 State of Texas-State of Florida 304
19 "I will not be the cause of disunion in our ranks" 321
20 Gone to Texas-Gone to Washington 340
Epilogue 353
Abbreviations in Notes 357
Notes 357
Bibliography 417
Index 441
What People are Saying About This
They don't make men like William DuVal any more, which is just as well, since the rambunctious Floridian would have found our staid era confining. James Denham brings DuVal to life in this fascinating study, and in the process goes far toward explaining how Florida became the unique state it is today.
When William Pope Duval died in 1854, an obituary termed him 'a type of the genuine American character.' Indeed he was. A long-serving governor of Florida Territory and a frontier figure whose adventures were immortalized by Washington Irving, Duval struggled in later life to survive in the increasingly strident arena of proslavery politics. As shown by James M. Denham, Duval both witnessed and personified the changes that swept the South and the country in the first half of the 19th century.