Joseph Marion Hernández

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For other people with the name, see Joe Hernandez (disambiguation).
Joseph Marion Hernández
Delegate to the
United States House of Representatives
from Florida Territory's at-large district
In office
September 30, 1822 – March 3, 1823
Preceded byOffice established
Succeeded byRichard K. Call
Personal details
Born(1788-05-26)May 26, 1788
Viceroyalty of New Spain
DiedJune 8, 1857(1857-06-08) (aged 69)
Matanzas, Captaincy General of Cuba
Resting placeNecropolis San Carlos Borromeo
Political partyDemocratic-Republican Party
Whig Party
Known forFirst 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-owning American planter, politician and military officer. He was the first delegate from the Florida Territory and the first Hispanic American to serve in the United States Congress.[1] A member of the Democratic-Republican Party, he served from September 1822 to March 1823.[2]

Biography

José Mariano Hernández was born in

New Smyrna colony. Prior to the American acquisition of Florida, Hernández owned three plantations south of St. Augustine (in what was then East Florida): San Jose, Mala Compra, and Bella 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 the

First Seminole War broke out in the province of West 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 at St. Marks. The campaign ended in May 1818 with the cession of West Florida to the United States with the signing of the Adams–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 the

Hispanic 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 the Mala 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 his solvency.

Hernández was appointed to the Florida territorial legislative council by President Monroe, and the appointment renewed by President John Quincy Adams in 1825.

Brigadier General.[4]

Hernández was an unsuccessful

Necropolis San Carlos Borromeo
, Matanzas.

Hernández–Capron Trail

Main article: Hernández–Capron Trail

In 1837, while with the U.S. Army, Hernández was ordered to build a road between

Tampa
).

See also

  • List of Hispanic Americans in the United States Congress

References

  1. ISBN 978-0-7618-0474-1
    . Retrieved 14 July 2013.
  2. ^ a b Ted M. Payne; Patricia C. Griffin; Flagler County Planning Dept; MAAR Associates (1999). Preliminary Archaeological Investigations at the Joseph Martin Hernandez Mala Compra Plantation Settlement at Bings Landing County Park, Flagler County, Florida (artifact Inventory). Flagler County Planning Department. pp. 36–37. [...]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)
  3. ISBN 978-0-939479-23-8
    . Retrieved 24 February 2013.
  4. ^
    ISBN 978-0-16-092028-8
    .

External links
U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded by
none
 Delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives
from Florida Territory's at-large congressional district
September 30, 1822 – March 3, 1823 		Succeeded by
Richard Keith Call

Public Domain This article incorporates public domain material from the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress

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