John Milton (April 20, 1807 – April 1, 1865) was governor of

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

through most of the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

. A lawyer who served in the Florida Legislature, he supported the secession of Florida from the Union and became governor in October 1861. In that post, he turned the state into a major supplier of food for the Confederacy. In his final message to the state legislature as the war was ending, he declared that death would be preferable to reunion with the North. When he killed himself, his son Jefferson Davis Milton was a toddler.

Early and personal life

Milton was the son of a prominent Southern family and a relative of the famed English poet of the same name. A lawyer and politician, he was the governor of Florida through much of the Civil War, being a strong supporter of secession, as well as a slave owner. He was the son of Homer Virgil Milton (1781–1822), an officer who fought in the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States of America and its indigenous allies against the United Kingdom and its allies in British North America, with limited participation by Spain in Florida. It bega ...

, and the grandson of Revolutionary War hero, United States presidential candidate of 1789, and former Georgia Secretary of State,

John Milton John Milton (9 December 1608 – 8 November 1674) was an English poet and intellectual. His 1667 epic poem '' Paradise Lost'', written in blank verse and including over ten chapters, was written in a time of immense religious flux and political ...

(1756–1804). Born near

Louisville, Georgia Louisville is a city in and the county seat of Jefferson County, Georgia, United States, and also a former state capital of Georgia. It is located southwest of Augusta on the Ogeechee River, and its population was 2,493 at the 2010 census, dow ...

, John Milton married Susan Cobb († 1842) in about 1830, and they had three children. They lived in Georgia and later in Alabama. He remarried Caroline Howze (1826-1901) from Alabama in 1844; they had two sons and seven daughters. John and Caroline lived in Alabama, New Orleans, and eventually settled in Marianna (northern Florida). One of their sons was

Old West The American frontier, also known as the Old West or the Wild West, encompasses the geography, history, folklore, and culture associated with the forward wave of American expansion in mainland North America that began with European colonial ...

lawman

Jeff Milton Jefferson Davis Milton (November 7, 1861 – May 7, 1947) was an Old West lawman and a son of Confederate Governor of Florida John Milton. He was the first officer appointed to the U.S. Immigration Service Border Patrol in 1924. Family and e ...

, and a grandson,

William Hall Milton William Hall Milton (March 2, 1864January 4, 1942) was a US Senator from Florida who served as a Democrat. Early life, education, and career Born near Marianna, Jackson County, Florida; attended the public schools of Jackson County, Marianna ...

(1864–1942), was a

United States senator The United States Senate is the Upper house, upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States House of Representatives, House of Representatives being the Lower house, lower chamber. Together they compose the national Bica ...

from Florida in 1908 and 1909.

Career

During his career, Milton became a lawyer, practicing in a number of communities in

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

and

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...

, before settling in

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

. He came to Florida in 1846, and quickly entered the Florida political scene. In 1848, he served as a

presidential elector The United States Electoral College is the group of presidential electors required by the Constitution to form every four years for the sole purpose of appointing the president and vice president. Each state and the District of Columbia appo ...

for the state, then in 1850 was elected to the

Florida House of Representatives The Florida House of Representatives is the lower house of the Florida Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Florida, the Florida Senate being the upper house. Article III, Section 1 of the Constitution of Florida, adopted ...

American Civil War

As a supporter and enabler of slavery, he was an early advocate for

secession Secession is the withdrawal of a group from a larger entity, especially a political entity, but also from any organization, union or military alliance. Some of the most famous and significant secessions have been: the former Soviet republics le ...

of Florida from the

Union Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** ''Un ...

. He was a

delegate Delegate or delegates may refer to: * Delegate, New South Wales, a town in Australia * Delegate (CLI), a computer programming technique * Delegate (American politics), a representative in any of various political organizations * Delegate (United ...

to the

1860 Democratic National Convention The 1860 Democratic National Conventions were a series of presidential nominating conventions held to nominate the Democratic Party's candidates for president and vice president in the 1860 election. The first convention, held from April 23 t ...

from Florida and in the same year ran for the office of governor. A convention was called for to take up the issue of secession and on January 10, 1861, the measure passed. He took the oath of office on October 7, 1861. During the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

, Milton stressed the importance of Florida as a supplier of goods, rather than men, with Florida being a large provider of food and salt for the

Confederate Army The Confederate States Army, also called the Confederate Army or the Southern Army, was the military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) during the American Civil War (1861–1865), fighting ...

. As the war drew to a close and the Confederacy was close to defeat, he became worn down by the stress of his office. Governor Milton left

Tallahassee Tallahassee ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat and only incorporated municipality in Leon County. Tallahassee became the capital of Florida, then the Florida Territory, in 1824. In 2020, the population ...

for his plantation, Sylvania, in

Marianna, Florida Marianna is a city in and the county seat of Jackson County, Florida, United States, and it is home to Chipola College. The population was 6,102 at the 2010 census. In 2018 the estimated population was 7,091. The official nickname of Marianna is ...

Death

In his final message to the state legislature, he said that the Northern Army leaders "have developed a character so odious that death would be preferable to reunion with them". On April 1, 1865, he was found dead of a gunshot wound to the head by his son, William Henry Milton. His death was reported as an accident by his family, church, and the ''West Florida News''. ''The New York Times'' assumed Governor Milton’s death to be

suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Mental disorders (including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, anxiety disorders), physical disorders (such as chronic fatigue syndrome), and s ...

at the prospect of Union victory and Republican government. The president of the

Florida Senate The Florida Senate is the upper house of the Florida Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Florida, the Florida House of Representatives being the lower house. Article III, Section 1 of the Constitution of Florida, adopted ...

, Abraham K. Allison, was sworn in as governor of Florida later that day. Governor John Milton is buried at Saint Luke's Episcopal Cemetery in Marianna. The late governor’s remains lie in a Milton family section of the cemetery with 43 gravestones bearing the name. Like many families of the era,

Reconstruction Reconstruction may refer to: Politics, history, and sociology *Reconstruction (law), the transfer of a company's (or several companies') business to a new company *'' Perestroika'' (Russian for "reconstruction"), a late 20th century Soviet Unio ...

was an economically difficult time for the late governor’s family in Jackson County, Florida. Milton’ youngest son, Jefferson Davis Milton (1861–1947) moved to Texas, later Arizona. He distinguished himself as a Texas Ranger, police chief of El Paso, and served for over 25 years as America’s first border agent.

(1864–1942), grandson of the governor, was a U.S. Senator from Florida from 1908–1909.

References

* "The Hatcher-Harris Family Tree," Our Genealogy/History Directory, by Beverly & Bob Whitaker, https://web.archive.org/web/20070416082056/http://home.kc.rr.com/gentutor/ * ''The John Milton Letter Book'', Florida Historical Society, Cocoa, Florida

External links

Official Governor's portrait and biography from the State of Florida
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Milton, John 1807 births 1848 United States presidential electors 1865 deaths 19th-century American Episcopalians 19th-century American lawyers 19th-century American politicians +Families Confederate States of America state governors Deaths by firearm in Florida Democratic Party governors of Florida *American Firearm accident victims in the United States Georgia (U.S. state) lawyers Hunting accident deaths Democratic Party members of the Florida House of Representatives People from Jefferson County, Georgia People from Marianna, Florida People of Florida in the American Civil War Sports deaths in Florida