“M “is for Moultrie, John, Jr. (1729-1798)

“M “is for Moultrie, John, Jr. (1729-1798.) Physician, planter, political leader. Born in Charleston, Moultrie was the first native-born American to receive a medical degree from the University of Edinburgh. In 1761 he participated in the expedition against the Cherokees and in the same year elected to the Commons House of Assembly. In 1764 the governor of British East Florida (newly acquired from Spain) appointed Moultrie to his council. Moultrie moved to Florida and soon became the council president. In 1771 he became lieutenant governor. Moultrie prospered as a planter in Florida and amassed a large amount of land and numerous enslaved persons. During the Revolutionary War he remained loyal to the crown. When Great Britain returned Florida to Spain in 1783, John Moultrie, Jr. lost his position and fortune and moved to England, where he died.