Mary Luisa Ursula Gonzalez Durant

A girl of color enslaved in the household of Don Manuel Gonzalez. (There were three men by the name of Manuel Gonzalez in the 1820 Spanish census of Pensacola; only two were referred to as Don. Louisa was enslaved by the rancher, Don Manuel Gonzalez, who married Marie Louise Bonifay.)

Born 21 October 1820. Race is not recorded.

Baptized on 20 August 1821 by Father James Coleman at St. Michael’s Parish (Spanish Pensacola). Mother was Maria, a mulata woman enslaved in the same household. Father was listed as unknown in baptismal record (this usually meant the father was unwilling or unable to acknowledge the child). 

Her baptismal record is the last time the name Ursula appears in the records associated with this woman. Instead, she is usually referred to as just “Louisa,” or sometimes “Mary Louisa.” 

On 9 December 1851, Louisa Gonzalez married Joseph Durant, a free man of color. It was noted in the record that Louisa was enslaved at the time. She was probably emancipated sometime around 1852 or 1853, as none of the baptismal records of the children she had with Joseph Durant have any indication that she or the children were enslaved. (Her sister, Maria Juana, also appears to have been emancipated around this time, again, with no extant documentation.)

The children of Louisa and Joseph were: Joseph, born 16 June 1853; Manuel, born about 1857; Isabella, born 1 April 1857; John, born about 1859; Mary Louise, born 16 August 1859; and Irene, born in November 1864. Manuel and John are recorded only in the 1860 census; they do not appear to have a baptismal record at St. Michael’s.

It is possible that Louisa had two children before her marriage to Joseph: Victoria, whose father’s surname was Gagnet, born in 1846; and Marie LaPerle, whose father was not identified, born in 1849. These are based on the children’s baptismal records, who identify the mother as Louisa, enslaved by Mrs. Gonzalez. This might not be the same Louisa.

In the 1860 Federal Census for Pensacola, the Durant family was living in the city and Joseph worked as a carpenter. The birthplaces for all members of the family was given as Florida, and all members of the family were identified as mulatto. I have not found the family in the 1870 census yet, but the 1880 census shoes them living at 176 Government Street. Joseph is called “Joe,” and was still working as a carpenter. Also in the household were Louisa, who kept house; Belle Hawkins – who was her daughter, Isabella – and her husband, Walter Hawkins, who worked in a Railroad shope. Irene Durant was 16 and still living at home; and the Hawkins had two children, Joseph, who was 3; and Letha, who was 2 (Letha was mistakenly identified as a Durant daughter). Interestingly, Joe claims to have been born in Florida of two parents born in Spain. 

The Durants would go on to have a large extended family in Pensacola. Joseph died on 22 August 1887 of malarial fever. Mary Louisa died on 19 May 1893 of senility, and is buried in St. Michael’s cemetery.

FAMILY:

Mother: Maria Gonzalez*

Sister: Maria Juana Gonzalez*

Children: Joseph Durant, Manuel Durant, Isabella Durant, John Durant, Mary Louis Durant, Irene Durant

Grandchildren: Joseph Hawkins, Letha Hawkins, Elmira Hawkins, Bertha Isabel Hawkins, Walter Hawkins (who may have died in infancy), Ernest Walter Hawkins, Mary Irene Hawkins, Robert Neely, Mary Neely, Isabella Neely, Kate Neely, Frances Pearl Neely, George Vincent Neely

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SOURCES:

Records of St. Michael’s Parish, Pensacola, FL, Book III: Baptisms of People of Color, 1817 – 1882. University of West Florida Archives and West Florida History Center. 22 SEP 2021.

Will of Manuel Gonzalez, 19 JUN 1833. Ancestry.com. Florida, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1827-1950 [accessed 22 OCT 2023].

Escambia County, Florida Marriage Records, 1821 – 1900, transcribed and published by the West Florida Genealogical Society.