Joseph Hernandez

Joseph Hernandez was a significant person in early Florida, with a fascinating life. Part of it was spent at his Mala Compra Plantation, and the main buildings were located on this site. , , Planter , Joseph Hernandez acquired three plantations in today's Flagler County. He purchased Mala Compra (Spanish for Bad Bargain) in 1816, Bella Vista (Beautiful View), to the north and St. Joseph, named for himself, across the Matanzas River. , , On these plantations he planted cash crops of cotton, sugar and oranges. , , Mala Compra grew sea island cotton that offered longer, stronger fibers than short-staple cotton, grown throughout the south, It required many more hours of labor to harvest, clean and pack. , , Ownership of plantations and a large work force placed Hernandez in the planter class. Planters identified themselves with their plantations. Hernandez referred to himself as “of Mala Compra." , , Planter families were considered members of the highest social class. They held political offices, influenced voters, and served as militia officers. They were expected to be gracious hosts. , , Hernandez invited the naturalist John Audubon to visit. Audubon immortalized Mala Compra in his illustration of the American coot, which he found “in every ditch, bayou and pond” on the plantation. , , But Audubon considered Hernandez a provincial Spaniard, and Hernandez saw Audubon as an uncouth backwoodsman engaged in a useless quest. , , Florida's First Voice in Congress , Hernandez was the first Hispanic person to serve in Congress. His parents came to Florida from Minorca, an island off the coast of Spain, in 1768. He was born in Spanish St. Augustine in 1788. When Florida became part of the United States in 1821, Joseph stayed in the new territory while his relatives moved to Cuba. , , Hernandez was the first presiding officer of Florida’s territorial legislature in 1822, and he helped select Tallahassee as the state capitol. In 1845, Hemandez was elected Mayor of St. Augustine. He also served with other influential Floridians as a director of the Union Bank in Tallahassee. He was apparently the first Hispanic to serve in Congress as well, but additional efforts to further his political career ended without success. , , Soldier , Hernandez was commissioned by President James Monroe as a brigadier general in the territorial militia in 1823. He was mustered into active service in December, 1835. In addition to problems with the Indians, he had to contend with untrained, undisciplined and too few troops. , , General Joseph Hernandez led about 250 troops to a conference with Seminole leaders near Fort Peyton, five miles south of St. Augustine. U.S. Army General Thomas Jesup had ordered Hernandez to ignore the Indians white flag of truce and capture them. Hernandez captured Osceola and 80 others. , , Floridians were delighted by the capture of Osceola but Americans beyond the fighting area were scandalized at what they considered dishonorable behavior by the Army. , , Hernandez and Jesup were court martialed, but not convicted. , , Family Man , Hernandez acquired a ready-made family when he married widow Ana Maria Hill Williams in 1817. To the marriage came her four young children and assets, mostly slave laborers, inherited from her late husband. , , Joseph and Ana Maria then had ten more children. The walls of the Mala Compra residence echoed the sound of many voices at play, at prayer, at work or sick. , , During the Seminole War they lived in St. Augustine. Ana Maria died in 1849. In the 1850s, Hernandez moved to his family’s sugar estate in Matanzas, Cuba. He is buried there. , , (captions) , Audubon coot , Map of Hernandez’s duce plantations , Union Bank notice, Florida Herald, January 13, 1882 , Joseph Hernandez, The U.S. House of Representatives during Hernandez’s term, 1822 , Sea island cotton, A toast given by Hernandez, Sept. 23, 1835 , Minorca , Hernandez’s 1788, Baptism in St. Augustine , Diary of Dr. J. Rhett Motte, who rode with Hernandez’s troops , Grandsons of Osceola and Hernandez in Castillo, 1934 , Osceola, Florida Herald, May 11, 1836 , Seminole woman , Goods available in St. Augustine East- Florida Herald, July 28, 1821 , Hernandez’s St. Augustine property , Cane carts in Matanzas, Cuba