Juan Nepomuceno de Quesada

De Quesada was born in 1738 at Jaén, Spain.[3] He joined the Spanish Royal Army in his youth, attaining the ranks of Brigadier of the Infantry of the Royal Armies and Commander General of the presidio of St. Augustine.[4][2]

De Quesada was appointed Governor and intendant of Honduras in 1783, and remained in this office until 1789, when he was replaced in the Honduran government by Alejo García Conde.[5]

Photo of the Cathedral of St. Augustine, 1914.

In 1790 De Quesada was appointed Governor of East Florida by Charles IV of Spain,[6][7] to replace Vicente Manuel de Céspedes. He assumed the governorship in July 1790, during the Nootka Sound Crisis.[1] Upon his appointment, De Quesada wrote to George Washington informing the president of his new position in Florida and offering his diplomatic friendship to the United States.[8]

After his arrival at Saint Augustine, as a consequence of the Nootka Crisis, De Quesada revamped the defenses of the city, which were not extensive enough, according to him and his engineer, Mariano de la Roque. The garrison was small and dispirited, as the Spanish royal subsidy (situado)[9] had not arrived in Florida since 1787.[1]

In the course of his service as governor of the province, De Quesada also obtained the titles of Vice Royal Patron, and Subdelegate of St. Augustine and the province.[4] Construction of the Cathedral was begun in 1793 under his administration and finished in 1797, a year after he left his post.[10]

He became ill in February 1796, and continued to serve as governor of East Florida only until March of that year, when he was succeeded by Bartolomé Morales. He died in 1798.