Preceded by Manuel de Cendoya | Died unknown | |
Preceded by Alonso de Aranguiz y Cortés Succeeded by Francisco de la Guerra y de la Vega Succeeded by Pablo de Hita y Salazar Profession Soldier, interim accountant and administrator | ||
Nicolás Suárez Ponce de León II was a Spanish soldier who served as acting governor of Spanish Florida from 1663 to 1664, and from 1673 to 1675. He was appointed to a second term as interim governor after the death of Manuel de Cendoya, and continued construction of the masonry fort, the Castillo de San Marcos, to defend the city against attacks by the British.
Biography
Nicolás Suárez Ponce de León II was born in St. Augustine, Florida. He was the son of the former governor of La Florida, Nicolás Suárez Ponce de León (1631 – 1633 and 1651), and interim accountant of Havana and La Florida, due to the absence of the official accountant, Santos de la Eras. The young Ponce de León II enlisted in the Spanish Army on December 20, 1648. In May 1651, he joined the company of Luis Salazar y Valdecillas, where he was appointed alferez.
After the death of Luis Salazar y Valdecillas in the same month, Nicolás Suárez Ponce de León II was appointed acting governor of Florida, and on May 23, his father appointed him captain of one of the companies of these provinces. He was later promoted to alferez, an office he occupied for only 16 days. On August 3 he was appointed Sergeant major by his father.
Ponce de León II assumed the office of acting governor of Florida on November 2, 1663, ruling until December 30, 1664, and a second time from July 8, 1673 to May 3, 1675, following the death of Manuel de Cendoya. He continued construction of the Castillo de San Marcos, the new defensive fort at St. Augustine, begun by Cendoya. Construction proceeded at a slow pace because of engineering errors and sloppiness by the Spanish building supervisors, as well as the collapse of scaffolding and poorly built sections of the fort's walls. Most of the work of building the structure was done by the forced labor of local Native Americans; disease caused by poor hygiene and overcrowding killed many of them. The excessive weight of the loads they had to carry also caused them to develop musculoskeletal problems and contributed to the high casualty rate. Lack of funds remained the biggest impediment to progress in the construction, as thousands of pesos (the equivalent of thousands of dollars) were required to supply food and wages.
In addition to Native Americans, Spanish and English prisoners (who were better treated) and fifty black slaves, including skilled craftsmen, worked on construction of the fort, which was stopped because of several accidents and lack of funds sent by the Crown from Mexico City. Pablo de Hita y Salazar was subsequently appointed official governor of Florida.