Juan de Ayala y Escobar

Juan de Ayala Escobar (1637–1727) was a prominent Spanish soldier and politician who ruled Florida between 1716 and 1718. Juan de Ayala Escobar was born in Cuba in 1637. Ayala spent his early adult life serving aboard merchand vessels in the Caribbean, and he familiarized himself with its trade routes, harbors, and channels. At the age of forty Ayala married the daughter of the adjutant to the sergeant major of the La Habana presidio and decided upon a career in the military. In 1677, he was named captain of infantry and, later, in 1683 he was assigned to the presidio of Saint Augustine where he served as lieutenant of the Castillo with the corresponding rank of capitain "reformado" (an honorary rank without command of troops). In the...