The governors complained of the problem of feeding the increasing number of children in the colony, and asked that the married soldiers be given extra pay. The yellowed pages of St. Augustine’s Cathedral Parish records, dating from 1594, indicate an average of twenty-five births per year during the early 1600’s. They also record the deaths and marriages.
The first buildings in St. Augustine were of wooden boards, with roofs of thatched palmetto leaves held down by stringers.
The principal officers of the colony consisted of the governor, who was its chief executive; the royal treasurer, who was custodian of the royal funds and their disbursement; and the factor, who distributed the supplies. A sergeant-major was in command of the infantry and succeeded the governor in case of the latter’s death or resignation. A minor but important official, from the standpoint of historians, was the Escribano (writer), who kept a record of meetings, handled correspondence, took the testimony of witnesses, and acted as a notary public.
The governors of Florida were appointed by the King in distant Spain from a list of candidates proposed by the Council of the Indies. They were usually men of previous military experience, and served generally for a term of six years. When a new governor arrived at St. Augustine to take office, Indian chiefs trooped in from the outlying districts to pledge their friendship and allegiance. They were entertained as elaborately as the resources of the settlement would permit, given trinkets and food for the long journey home. Although relatively small in size, St. Augustine was the capital and citadel of a vast area. La Florida then as claimed by Spain embraced not only the present peninsula, but the entire Atlantic coast as far north as Canada and as far inland as the continent was known to exist. For a time after the expulsion of the French Huguenots, no other European nation seriously challenged this claim, but the clouds of strife were beginning to appear.
A pamphlet, designed to attract English settlers, described Carolina as being “On the Coasts of Floreda”.
A Brief Description
OF
The Province
OF
CAROLINA
On the Coasts of FLOREDA
AND
More perticularly of a New-Plantation begun by the ENGLISH at Cape-Feare, on that River now by them called Charles-River, the 29th of May. 1664.
Wherein is set forth
The Healthfulness of the Air; the Fertility of the Earth, and Waters; and the great Pleasure and Profit will accrue to those that shall go thither to enjoy the same.