An enslaved woman 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. Maria was enslaved by the rancher who married Marie Louise Bonifay.)
Race is recorded as mulata.
Appears in the baptismal records of her daughters: Maria Juana (1820) and Luisa Ursula (1821) from St. Michael’s Parish (Spanish Pensacola). In both records, the father was listed as unknown in baptismal record (this usually meant the father was unwilling or unable to acknowledge the child).
She also appears in the 1833 will of Don Manuel Gonzalez along with her four children: Mary Jane, Louisa, Lavenia, and Andres or Andrea (the name is difficult to make out). The entirety of Don Manuel’s estate was left to his widow, Marie Louise Bonifay Gonzalez.
I believe Maria was still alive at the time of the 1850 Census for Pensacola, as the enslaved people listed in Mary Louise Gonzalez’ household in the Slave Schedules are easily matched to names in other documents. A 65-year-old female is listed among them, who is the right age to be Maria.
In the early 1850s, Mary Louise Gonzalez emancipated many of the people she enslaved; however, I have found instruments for these emancipations only for apparently unrelated persons and for Maria’s grandchildren – the children of Mary Jane by Alexander Ruby. I find circumstantial evidence that Mary Jane and her sister, Louisa, would have been emancipated around this time as well; however, there does not appear to be an instrument documenting this. Neither is there any mention of Maria after 1850.
Based on the known whereabouts of Don Manuel Gonzalez during his lifetime, I believe Maria was enslaved by the Gonzalez household before they came to Pensacola, possibly during his stay in New Orleans. Research continues to identify her before the births of the children listed in the baptismal records.
FAMILY:
Children: Maria Juana Gonzalez* and Mary Luisa Ursula Gonzalez Durant
Grandchildren: Mercy Stephany (“Fannie”) Ruby Wells, Marie Rufina Ruby, Mary Louise Ruby
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].
1850 Census of the United States – Slave Schedule: The National Archive in Washington DC; Washington, DC; NARA Microform Publication: M432; Title: Seventh Census of the United States, 1850; Record Group: Records of the Bureau of the Census; Record Group Number: 29. Ancestry.com. 1850 U.S. Federal Census – Slave Schedules [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2004. Original data: United States of America, Bureau of the Census. Seventh Census of the United States, 1850. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1850. M432, 1,009 rolls.