Headstone: William Pope Duval (1784–1854)

This installment of Headstones: Who’s Who takes us far from Jacksonville, Florida, to Washington, D.C. It was here that William Pope Duval died suddenly and was buried in the Congressional Cemetery (as was customary in the day). The Congressional Cemetery, constructed along the Anacostia River, was founded in 1807 and contains the remains of former Congressmen and many influential early American leaders. The cemetery contains landowners, speculators, builders, architects, mayors of Washington, D.C., and Civil War veterans.

Several famous names of those interred who were not Congressmen include composer John Phillip Sousa, F.B.I. Director J. Edgar Hoover, Silent Film Actress Mary Fuller, and Choctaw Indian Chief Push-Ma-Ha-Ta. When it became easier to move deceased Congressmen back to their home states, burying the majority of Congressmen here was discontinued.

Without Congressmen’s bodies, Congress allocated funds to provide Cenotaphs (Greek for empty tomb) for each deceased Congressmen in the Congressional Cemetery. A cenotaph is a memorial or headstone without a body below it (like the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier). In the Congressional Cemetery, there are dozens of such memorials. This tradition was eliminated in the late 1800’s due to the expense.

What makes researching history so interesting is that while reading source documents, you might trip over a topic so unique it can lead you down a different path. That is what happened in the last couple weeks. While busily researching the Cummer family, I discovered a listing of Florida counties (written in the late 1800’s) and the description regarding the origin of these counties. I took a moment to read the chapter. This, in turn, led me to Duval County, Florida. Established on August 12, 1822, Duval County was the fourth county named in the state. This document described how Duval County was named for William Pope Duval, the first territorial governor of Florida (1822-1834) who served twelve years.

Governor Duval, son of Revolutionary War hero Major William Duval, was born near Richmond, Virginia, on September 4, 1784. Governor Duval’s great-grandfather was Marin Duval, a Huguenot immigrant who settled in Maryland in 1643. Marin, built the first brick home in Richmond, Virgina. Marin’s young son, William Duval (Governor William Pope’s father), planted a oak tree on this site. It still stands today.

William had become known locally as a “unlucky boy” who was always getting into trouble. Since he was the youngest of the children, he was also considered the runt of the litter. The added pressure of being a hero’s son was too much to bare. Immediately following a childish prank gone wrong and a serious flogging he made up his mind to leave home. At age 14, William Pope Duval boldly told his father that he wanted to become a hunter and trapper in Kentucky. Since Kentucky was sparsely populated, hunting sounded attractive to many young men, including young William.

In order to appease his son’s nature, William’s father provided him with substantial funds for his travels but denied him the horse and servant, which William requested. In response to William’s request, he stated, “You will race the horse and break your neck and you will lose your servant!” Without horse or servant, he expected William to give up on his quest. However, William just packed and walked out. As his sister ran alongside him, she said, “Will I ever see you again.” His response is one for the history books, “I will return when I am a Congressman.”

The “unlucky boy” suddenly became lucky. By chance, William met one of Kentucky’s finest hunters out in the woods. He offered William room and board then trained him in the finer skill of hunting. Over the next year and a half, William honed his skills and became the type of hunter any Kentuckian would have been proud to hunt alongside.

Physically, he developed muscles and a tough demeaner. He was now a force to be reconned with around town.

Whether divine intervention or part of William’s larger plan, hunting was suddenly ignored, and studying law became his passion. It was written that when he put his mind to something, he focused harder than any human being and became so passionate about his mission that he would achieve his goal. At age 18, in 1804, he passed the Kentucky bar exam and began the practice of law. That same year, he married Nancy Hynes. They established a home and a law practice in Bardstown, Kentucky.

In 1812, when Indian attacks threatened local communities, William was given command of a mounted company of volunteers. His heroic actions along with his outstanding legal career endeared him to his new home state of Kentucky. In 1813, they elected him to represent their state in Congress. He had finally achieved the dream. After serving a full term and asking not be re-elected, he returned to Kentucky to his practice of law.

His next honored position came in 1821 when Florida became a U.S. Territory. He was asked to move to Florida and serve as its Northeast Florida Federal District Judge. In 1822, President James Monroe appointed him Governor of the newly-created state of Florida. He was so popular that he was reappointed by President John Quincy Adams and again by President Andrew Jackson, serving as Governor a total of twelve years. He established a record that no Florida Governor has surpassed.

His hunting skills in formidable years prepared him best for his negotiations with the Florida Seminole Indians. William became the “de facto” Indian negotiator in Florida. The Indians respected him for his peaceful dealings. William was not a push-over. Once when a senior Indian overstepped his bounds, William grabbed him by the throat in front of over 50 Indians, startling everyone in the room.

William was made bigger than life by authors. During his lifetime, those around him asked him to tell his tales of hunting in Kentucky and his stories of dealing with Indian Chiefs. Washington Irving took notes of his stories while riding in a stage coach with William from Virginia to Kentucky. Through the writings of author Washington Irving (regarding Ralph Ringwood aka William Pope Duval) and author James K. Paulding (regarding Nimrod Wildfire aka William Pope Duval) everyone in the nation read and knew something of Duval’s life experiences.

Washington Irving claimed that not one word about Duval was fictionalized by his writings. When visiting Tallahassee in 1827, Ralph Waldo Emerson described Duval in his notebook writing “Gov. Duval is the button on which all things are hung.”

Originally, state business was conducted half the year in St. Augustine and the other half in Pensacola. During his administration, William moved the state capital to Tallahassee, Florida. At first he ran the state from a log cabin, then finally built a two-story 40’ x 26’ masonry building in 1826. His plantation home sat overlooking the entire city of Tallahassee. Its 375 acres were later purchased and Florida A & M University moved to its property.

After leaving office in 1834, William practiced law in Tallahassee. In 1848, he closed his practice and moved to Texas to live near his son, Captain Burr Harrison Duval (i.e. Duval County, Texas).

Governor William Pope Duval died while on a trip to Washington, D.C., March 19, 1854. And that folks, is how we earned the name Duval County. We should all be proud.

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Joseph Miller is a life-long resident of Jacksonville, Florida, and an active member of the Rotary Club of South Jacksonville. As a historian, he recently completed his first book on the Founder of Rotary, Paul P. Harris, titled “That Paul Harris.”

Joseph can be reached at JaxHistory@gmail.com.