Martín de Argüelles Jr. (1566–1630) was the first white child known to have been born in what is now the contiguous

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. His birthplace of St. Augustine, Florida ( Spanish: ''San Agustín, La Florida'') is the oldest continuously occupied, European-founded city in the United States.

Birth

Argüelles was born in 1566 in the Spanish settlement of San Agustín,

Spanish Florida Spanish Florida () was the first major European land-claim and attempted settlement-area in northern America during the European Age of Discovery. ''La Florida'' formed part of the Captaincy General of Cuba in the Viceroyalty of New Spain, and th ...

. Martín's parents were Martín de Argüelles (Sr.) and Leonor Morales. The family of Argüelles is said to have been of

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

origin, descended from shipbuilders, who were originally from the

city of Argos; some researchers have stated that this is where their name derives from. Argüelles' father, Martín Argüelles Sr., an Asturian '' hidalgo'', was one of the expeditioners who came to

New Spain New Spain, officially the Viceroyalty of New Spain ( ; Nahuatl: ''Yankwik Kaxtillan Birreiyotl''), originally the Kingdom of New Spain, was an integral territorial entity of the Spanish Empire, established by Habsburg Spain. It was one of several ...

in the

New World The term "New World" is used to describe the majority of lands of Earth's Western Hemisphere, particularly the Americas, and sometimes Oceania."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: ...

with Captain General

Pedro Menéndez de Avilés Pedro Menéndez de Avilés (; ; 15 February 1519 – 17 September 1574) was a Spanish admiral, explorer and conquistador from Avilés, in Asturias, Spain. He is notable for planning the first regular trans-oceanic convoys, which became known as ...

in 1565. Argüelles Sr. was the first ''

Alcalde ''Alcalde'' (; ) is the traditional Spanish municipal magistrate, who had both judicial and Administration (government), administrative functions. An ''alcalde'' was, in the absence of a corregidor (position), corregidor, the presiding officer o ...

'' (Mayor) of San Agustín, and had been in charge of munitions in the Florida forts of Santa María, San Agustín (now St. Augustine), and Santa Elena. Arguelles heraldry

Lifetime

Martín Argüelles Jr. served the Spanish crown in

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

and several garrisons and expeditions which embarked in the

Spanish Armada The Spanish Armada (often known as Invincible Armada, or the Enterprise of England, ) was a Spanish fleet that sailed from Lisbon in late May 1588, commanded by Alonso de Guzmán, Duke of Medina Sidonia, an aristocrat without previous naval ...

which went in search of corsair

Francis Drake Sir Francis Drake ( 1540 – 28 January 1596) was an English Exploration, explorer and privateer best known for making the Francis Drake's circumnavigation, second circumnavigation of the world in a single expedition between 1577 and 1580 (bein ...

. He was later transferred in 1594 from

Havana Havana (; ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

, to Mérida,

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

, where he was appointed Executive Officer of the Mérida fortress and coast. Argüelles was married in Mérida.

References

* Abbad y Lasierra, Iñigo, ''Relación del descubrimiento, conquista y población de las provincias y costas de la Florida'' - ' ''Relación de La Florida'' (1785); edición de Juan José Nieto Callén y José María Sánchez Molledo. * Fairbanks, George R. (George Rainsford), ''History and antiquities of St. Augustine, Florida'' (1881), Jacksonville, Fla., H. Drew. * Reynolds, Charles B. (Charles Bingham), ''Old Saint Augustine, a story of three centuries,'' (1893) St. Augustine, Fla. E. H. Reynolds. * Menéndez de Avilés, Pedro. ''Cartas sobre la Florida, 1555-1574 / Pedro Menéndez de Avilés" "Letters regarding Florida, 1555-1574 by Pedro Menéndez de Avilés''; Juan Carlos Mercado, edición, introducción y notas.

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...

. * Lyon, Eugene, ''The enterprise of Florida : Pedro Menéndez de Avilés and the Spanish conquest of 1565-1568'' (1976), Gainesville : University Presses of Florida. {{DEFAULTSORT:Arguelles, Martin de 1566 births 1630 deaths People from Spanish Florida 16th-century Spanish explorers Spanish people of Greek descent

Birth

Lifetime

See also

References