John Milton (Florida politician)

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John Milton gubernatorial portrait

John Milton (April 20, 1807–April 1, 1865) was an American politician who was the fifth governor of Florida. A descendant of the poet John Milton, he was born near Louisville, Georgia. He became a lawyer, practicing in a number of communities in Georgia and Alabama, before settling in New Orleans. He came to Florida in 1846, and quickly entered the Florida political scene. In 1848, he served as a presidential elector for the state, then in 1850 was elected to the Florida House of Representatives. As a strong supporter of states' rights, he was an early advocate for secession of Florida from the Union. In 1860, he was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention from Florida and in the same year ran for the office of governor. He took the oath of office on October 7, 1861, and quickly moved the state toward seceding from the United States. A convention was called for to take up the issue of secession and on January 10, 1861, the measure passed. During the war, Milton stressed the importance of Florida as a supplier of goods, rather than personnel, with Florida being a large provider of food and salt for the Confederate Army. As the war drew to a close, and the Confederacy close to defeat, Governor Milton left Tallahassee for this home, "Sylvania", in Marianna, Florida. In his final message to the state legislature, he said, "Death would be preferable to reunion". On April 1, 1865, he committed suicide, in his home, by a gunshot to the head. The president of the Florida Senate, Abraham K. Allison, was sworn in as governor of Florida later that day.