Richard K. Call

Richard Keith Call ( * October 24, 1792 in Petersburg, Virginia; † September 14, 1862 in Tallahassee, Florida ) was an American politician and from 1836 to 1839 and again from 1841 to 1844 governor of the Florida Territory, which he also represented as a delegate in the House of Representatives of the United States.

Early years

Call Richard attended the schools of his home and the Mount Pleasant Academy. In 1814 he joined the U.S. Army and served as a lieutenant under Andrew Jackson. During the Battle of New Orleans beginning 1815, he was the General Staff of Jackson. In the following years call remained in the army, in 1818 promoted him to captain ( Captain ). In 1821 he accompanied General Jackson to Florida, who had been appointed military governor there. In May 1822, he submitted his resignation in order to settle in Florida and to study law. After qualifying as a lawyer, he opened a practice in Pensacola.

Political career

At the same time, he took part in his new home in the political process. He was a member of the Territorial House of Representatives and rose in the militia up to brigadier general on. Between 1823 and 1825 he represented his territory in Congress in Washington. On March 16, 1836, he was appointed by President Jackson as the new territorial governor of Florida. This office he retained until December 2, 1839, when he was recalled by President Martin Van Buren. During this time there were wars with the Indians of the Seminole tribe. This was due to the implementation of the Indian Removal Act. The plan called for the relocation of the Indians from the eastern parts of the United States to areas beyond the Mississippi. Call Governor went down in Florida history as the winner of the battle of Wahoo Swamp.

In March 1841 Richard Call was again appointed as territorial governor. In his previous term of office until 1844 he set the course for the accession of Florida as a State into the Union, which was then completed by his successor John Branch. He tried to keep the financial and economic consequences of the economic crisis of 1837 for Florida as low as possible.

Further CV

In 1845, Richard Call competed for the Whig Party for the office of the first governor of the new State of Florida. But he was defeated by Democrat William Dunn Moseley. Meanwhile, he had begun to build two large plantations in Florida, which he also managed. He died in September 1862 at its Grove Plantation near Tallahassee.