Virginia Governor Alexander Spotswood

[Sully Cross]

   Alexander Spotswood after a long military career, was nominated in 1710 to colonial governor of Virginia, a post which he held for twelve years. During that period, Spotswood engaged in the exploration of the territories beyond the western border, of which he was the first to see the economic potentials.

 

   As the governor of Virginia, Spotswood's first preoccupation was to make sea routes safe and fight against the pirates. He was responsible for the famous pirate Blackbeard being hunted down and killed in 1718.

 

   Years later, between 1730 and 1739, Spotswood was Postmaster General for British America and, with his young friend Benjamin Franklin, extended the postal service network north of Williamsburg and improved its efficiency.

 

   At the outbreak of the War of Jenkins' Ear, Spotswood was called back into army service. Promoted to major general, he was put in command of the colonial troops stationed in America with the task of preparing a military action against the Spanish stronghold of Cartagena de Indias, but, in Annapolis, where he was to consult with the local governors, he died suddenly in 1740.

Edited May 23 by Sully Cross