The Territory of Florida was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from March 30,1822,until March 3,1845,when it was admitted to the Union as the State of Florida. Originally the major portion of the Spanish territory of La Florida,and later the provinces of East Florida and West Florida,it was ceded to the United States as part of the 1819 Adams–Onís Treaty. It was governed by the Florida Territorial Council.
David Levy Yulee was an American politician and attorney who served as the senator from Florida immediately before the American Civil War. A secessionist and slaveowner,he also founded the Florida Railroad Company and served as president of several other rail companies,earning him the nickname of "Father of Florida Railroads."
The Castillo de San Marcos is the oldest masonry fort in the continental United States;it is located on the western shore of Matanzas Bay in St. Augustine,Florida.
Daniel Jenifer was an American lawyer and statesman from Charles County,Maryland. He was also the nephew of Daniel of St. Thomas Jenifer. He graduated from Charlotte Hall Military Academy. He represented Maryland's 1st Congressional district in the U.S. Congress in 1831–1833 and the 7th district from 1835 to 1841. From 1841 to 1845 he served as U.S. Minister to the Austrian Empire.
Joseph Marion Hernández 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. A member of the Democratic-Republican Party,he served from September 1822 to March 1823.
Michael Portier was an American Catholic bishop who served as the first Bishop of Mobile from 1829 until his death in 1859.
Joseph M. White was a Delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives from the Florida Territory.
George Corbin Washington was a United States Congressman from the third and fifth districts of Maryland,serving four terms from 1827 to 1833,and 1835 to 1837.
William Henry Brockenbrough was a U.S. Representative from Florida from 1846 to 1847,and a United States District attorney from 1841 to 1843. He served in the Legislative Council of the Territory of Florida representing Mosquito County in 1838,1841,and in 1842 as its president.
George Sydney Hawkins was a US Representative from Florida. Born in Kingston,Ulster County,New York;attended the common schools and was graduated from Columbia University,New York City;studied law;was admitted to the bar and practiced;moved to Florida and settled in Pensacola,Florida;served as captain in the Indian war of 1837;member of the Legislative Council of the Territory of Florida;appointed district attorney in 1841;appointed United States district attorney for the Apalachicola district in Florida in 1842;associate justice of the Florida Supreme Court 1846–1850;elected judge of the circuit court in January 1851;member of the Florida House of Representatives;served in the Florida State Senate;collector of customs for the port of Apalachicola;elected as a Democrat to the Thirty-fifth and Thirty-sixth Congresses and served from March 4,1857,to January 21,1861,when he withdrew;judge of the district court under the Confederate Government 1862–1865;commissioned by the legislation of 1877 to prepare a digest of the State laws of Florida.
Augustine Henry Shepperd was a lawyer and politician in North Carolina. He served as a Congressional Representative from North Carolina for numerous terms,most often as a member of the Whig Party.
Wilson Lumpkin was an American planter,attorney,and politician. He served two terms as the governor of Georgia,from 1831 to 1835,in the period of Indian Removal of the Creek and Cherokee peoples to Indian Territory to make way for development of their lands by European Americans. He also served in the state house,and as a United States representative and US Senator. He ran from Clarke County,Georgia,in the northeast part of the state.
Charles Biddle Shepard was a Congressional Representative from North Carolina;born in New Bern,North Carolina,December 5,1808;attended private schools of his native city and graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1827;studied law;was admitted to the bar in 1828 and commenced practice in New Bern,N.C.;elected to the State house of representatives to fill out the unexpired term of Jesse Speight and served in 1831 and 1832;elected as a Whig to the Twenty-fifth Congress and reelected as a Democrat to the Twenty-sixth Congress;resumed the practice of his profession;died in New Bern,N.C.,October 25,1843;interment in Cedar Grove Cemetery.
Charles Creighton Stratton was an American farmer and politician who served as the 15th Governor of New Jersey from 1845 to 1848. He was the first popularly elected governor following the adoption of the 1844 New Jersey Constitution.
John Biddle was an American military officer,politician,and businessman. He served as a delegate to the United States Congress from the Michigan Territory,as the speaker of the Michigan House of Representatives,and as mayor of Detroit.
James Rariden was an American lawyer and politician who served two terms as a U.S. Representative from Indiana,from 1837 to 1841.
Isaac Hopkins Bronson was an American lawyer and jurist who served one term as a United States representative from New York from 1837 to 1839. He later served as a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Florida and the United States District Court for the Northern District of Florida.
Robert McClellan was an American lawyer and politician who served two non-consecutive terms as a U.S. Representative from New York from 1837 to 1839,and from 1841 to 1843.
Isaac Parrish was an American lawyer and politician who served two non-consecutive terms as a U.S. Representative from Ohio in the mid-19th century.
The Huguenot Cemetery in St. Augustine,Florida,located across from the historic City Gate was a Protestant burial ground between the years 1821 and 1884. The Spanish colonial city of St. Augustine,along with the entire Florida Territory became de facto American possessions after the 1819 signing of the Adams-Onis Treaty. The actual physical occupation of the city and Florida territory occurred in 1821.
