Gila Gonzalez
Gila Bonifay Gonzalez 1816-1881
Gila Bonifay Gonzalez was born in Florida in 1816. She married Pedro Gonzalez, a local tax collector, on November 3rd, 1833, at St. Michael's Catholic Church in Pensacola, FL. The census noted her occupation as ôkeeping a home,ö which in this case meant raising eleven children: Eulalie, Marie Louisa, Manuel, Maria Teresa, Mercedes, Blakely, Celestine, Lambert, Samuel, Emily, and Reuben.
She died the same year as her husband, 1881, and is buried next to him. Their son Manuel is also buried nearby. Gila's marble grave marker depicts a cross, a symbol of her Christian faith as well as of resurrection. A footstone with her initials engraved on it marks the bounds of her plot.
Researched and written by Richard Adams, University of West Florida Public History program.
