Richard Keith Call (October 24, 1792 – September 14, 1862) was an American attorney and politician who served as the 3rd and 5th territorial governor of Florida. Before that, he was elected to the Florida Territorial Council and as a delegate to the U.S. Congress from Florida. In the mid-1830s, he developed two plantations in Leon County, Florida, one of which was several thousand acres in size. In 1860, Call held more than 120 people as slaves, the third-most in the county. Call was a Southern Unionist who opposed Florida's declared secession during the American Civil War.

Early life and education

Richard Call was born to William and Helen Meade Walker Call and was the nephew of another Richard Call, a Revolutionary War hero. Call was born in Pittsfield, Prince George County, Virginia. When Call was young, his father, William, and two of his brothers died. Shortly after 1800, his widowed mother brought her four surviving children and five enslaved people across the Appalachian Mountains into Kentucky. She eventually settled on land owned by her brother Senator David Walker in Russellville, Kentucky, where Call spent most of his remaining childhood. Following the death of his mother in 1810, Call settled near another uncle in Tennessee to receive a formal education. In 1813, he left college to take part in the Creek War, which occurred during the period of the War of 1812 with Great Britain. Call was the uncle of Wilkinson Call, who became a U.S. Senator.

War and politics

thumb|Richard Keith Call, miniature by unknown artist (Florida State Archives, Tallahassee via The Papers of Andrew Jackson, Volume 4)

Richard Call came favorably to the attention of General Andrew Jackson, a leader during the war. In 1814, Call was commissioned as a first lieutenant and went to serve as Jackson's aide in Spanish Florida. He was a witness to the signing of the 1818 Treaty of Tuscaloosa with the Chickasaw. He returned with General Jackson in 1821 to establish the territorial government after the United States acquired Florida from Spain by the Adams-Onís Treaty. After resigning from the Army in 1822, Call made Tallahassee, FL his home and opened a legal practice.

Marriage and family

In 1824, Call married Mary Letitia Kirkman of Nashville. Her parents were enemies of Jackson and opposed the marriage. The young couple was married at General Jackson's home, the Hermitage. Of their several children born, two daughters, Ellen Call Long and Mary Call Brevard, survived to adulthood. he was appointed receiver in the land office, giving him insight into developing areas, and was considered one of the leaders of the "land-office faction," sometimes called the Nucleus, which was a force in territorial politics. He was elected to the Legislative Council of the territory and served as a Delegate to the U.S. Congress. In the 1830s, he bought and developed two plantations in Leon County. One had nearly 9,000 acres, and the other, The Grove Plantation, was a square mile in northern Tallahassee. Construction on the Grove probably began in 1824, at the time of Tallahassee's founding; the mansion was considered "one of the finest examples of Georgian-Colonial architecture in the South."

References

  • Morris, Allen and Joan Perry Morris, compilers. The Florida Handbook 2007–2008 31st Biennial Edition. p. 304. Peninsula Publishing. Tallahassee. 2007. Softcover Hardcover
  • Biographical Directory of the US Congress
  • Official Governor's portrait and biography from the State of Florida
  • Call Family and Brevard Family Papers, Florida Memory, State Library and Archives of Florida. This collection contains correspondence, writings, and other papers of Richard Keith Call and his family from 1788 to 1916.