Francisco San Maxent

Francisco Maximiliano de San Maxent La Roche (April 22, 1761 - November 25, 1825) was the interim governor of West Florida. He served four stints in the office of governor. He also commanded the Spanish forces in Mobile [phone] and in 1811).

Francisco San Maxent
6th Governor of West Florida
In office March 1809 – May 1809
Preceded by	Vicente Folch y Juan
Succeeded by	Vicente Folch y Juan
8th Governor of West Florida
In office December 1809 – October 1810
Preceded by	Vicente Folch y Juan
Succeeded by	Francisco Collell
10th Governor of West Florida
In office April 1811 – June 1812
Preceded by	Francisco Collell
Succeeded by	Mauricio de Zúñiga
15th Governor of West Florida
In office September 1816 – November 1816
Preceded by	Mauricio de Zúñiga
Succeeded by	José Fascot
Personal details
Born	April 22, 1761 (1761-04-22) New Orleans, Louisiana
Died	November 25, 1825(1825-11-25) (aged 64) Cuba
Profession	Colonial administrator and commander of the Spanish presidio of Mobile, Alabama

Biography

Maximilien François de Saint-Maxent was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, to Gilbert Antoine de St. Maxent and Elizabeth LaRoche. He was the fourth of nine siblings.^[1]

Saint Maxent joined the Spanish army as a young man. On May 4, 1795 whilst holding the rank of Captain, he was appointed as the officer commanding the third infantry battalion of the Regimiento Fijo de la Luisiana.^[2] He was appointed commandant of Mobile on 16 July 1805.^[3] In 1807, while commanding Mobile, he got into a dispute with American commander Edmund P. Gaines at Fort Stoddert.^[4] San Maxent was commandant of Mobile until 30 August 1807.^[3] During 1807, he was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel.^[2]

In March 1809 he was appointed governor of Florida on an interim basis. He held the post for only two months and was removed in May of the same year. After a short period of governorship by Colonel Vicente Folch y Juan, Saint Maxent resumed the interim government of Florida in December 1809 and remained in office until October 1810.^[5][6] Shortly afterwards he returned to the post of commandant of Mobile, but he was replaced on 23 March 1811.^[3]

Just the following month Saint Maxent was appointed governor of Florida for the third time and he remained in office until June 1812. In 1814 he was promoted to Colonel and became the Commanding Officer of the regiment.^[2] In September 1816, he was appointed governor of Florida for the fourth time. However, like the first time he governed Florida, he held the office for only two months, as he was removed from office in November of that year.^[5] In 1817, he continued to be the Commanding Officer of the regiment, and was promoted to Brigadier General.^[2]

He died in Cuba in 1825.^[1]

Personal life and legacy

San Maxent married Maria Irene Folch on 20 March 1805.^[1] Maria Irene Folch was daughter of Vicente Folch, who preceded him as governor.^[7]

Letters to and from him survive.^[8]

See also

• List of colonial governors of Florida

References

1. Family tree of Gilbert Antoine de Saint Maxent and Elizabeth LaRoche, retrieved on 6 June 2017. Page 4.
2. Requena, Guillermo C. (March 30, 2020). "GOBERNADORES DEL REY DE ESPAÑA EN LAS FLORIDAS (5) FRANCISCO MAXIMILIANO DE SAINT MAXENT". Contando historias antiguas de militar – semblanzas e historias militares (in Spanish). Retrieved October 29, 2024.
3. John Craig Stewart (1975). The Governors of Alabama. Pelican Publishers Company. p. 38. ISBN 9781455605194.
4. William C. Davis (2011). The Rogue Republic: How Would-Be Patriots Waged the Shortest Revolution in American History. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, New York; first edition. p. 56. ISBN 978-0151009251.
5. Caro, Joseph (1927). "Governors of Spanish West Florida". The Florida Historical Quarterly. 6 (2): 118–119.
6. Cahoon, Ben. U.S. States F-K
7. Caroline Mays Brevard (1924). A History of Florida from the Treaty of 1763 to Our Own Times: From the treaty of 1763 to the admission to statehood. Florida state historical society. p. 249.
8. Roscoe R. Hill (1916). Descriptive Catalogue of the Documents Relating to the History of the United States in the Papeles Procedentes de Cuba Deposited in the Archivo General de Indias at Seville. Carnegie institution of Washington, Harvard University. ISBN 978-1376469349.