Researching my historic Pensacola house

Back in 1991, I was a single mother of two teenagers looking for a house. This was during the days of the Resolution Trust Corporation's federal auction, and the house on West Gregory Street was one of the S&L foreclosures. Despite all the broken windows (52 in all), peeling paint, nesting pigeons and obvious signs of unauthorized occupancy, the 4,000 square foot Victorian was exactly what I wanted.
Once we'd won the auction, we turned on the utilities and discovered all the water pipes leaked, the electric fuses popped, and the furnaces weren't functional. Until we got these things working, we felt like we were camping. Neighbors introduced themselves and helped out. Even the kids in my daughter's class turned an outside wall that needed painting into a class project.
The main library was a couple of blocks away, and I spent cooling off times reading local history. I soon discovered that Dr. Robert W. Hargis, son of Dr. Robert B.S. Hargis, was living in the house in 1890. With him were his wife, Merced Bonifay, children and several brothers-in-law. Merced's mother was Irene Gonzalez and her father Leocardio Bonifay. Those two surnames are linked to the earliest families in Pensacola through Marie Louisa Bonifay, who married Don Manuel Gonzalez (1767-1838). The two doctors Hargis helped fight the yellow fever epidemic and were part of the developing military base in Pensacola, the city known as the cradle of naval aviation.
According to family researcher Thomas W. Saltmarsh Jr., Don Manuel Gonzalez was born in 1767 in San Vincente, de la Barquera, Santander Province, Spain. In 1784, he volunteered to go with the troops to New Orleans, where was appointed Indian agent in 1792.
While in the Spanish Army, Don Manuel earned the rank of colonel and later brigadier general and received honors and land grants from the Spanish Crown. Among the land grants were vast tracts lying within the present city of Pensacola. Don Manuel Gonzalez donated Plaza Ferdinand (named for King Ferdinand VII of Spain) to the city of Pensacola. The plaza is the site where, in 1821, Spain ceded West Florida to the United States.
Representing the Americans was General Andrew Jackson, who was closely associated with Don Manuel while Jackson remained in Pensacola.
Don Manuel was commissioned a colonel in the American Army and later was made quartermaster general in 1822.
The first Florida Legislature was held in Don Manuel's estate and the first statutes were enacted.
Leocardio Bonifay, the father of R.W. Hargis' wife, Merced, as well as many of Don Manuel Gonzalez's children were brickmakers. Among the bricks that came from my house is one that has the stamp "J Gonzalez." Of course, this led to lots of research on bricks. The highlight of this study was a collection of early Pensacola bricks at the nearby Museum of Commerce. In this exhibt, I learned the "J" stands for James.
James Gonzalez sold many of his bricks to the Confederacy, and a 30-foot chimney built with his brick in the 1850s still overlooks the bay on Scenic Highway. The chimney is the only remnant of the steam-powered wood planing mill operated by Hyer-Knowles. At the base of the chimney are bricks with the same "J Gonzalez" stamp on them. The mill burned down in 1852, but in 1881, Manuel F. Gonzalez rebuilt the mill using the standing chimney.
Gonzalez brick is also plentiful at St. Michael's cemetery just down the street. Most of these early family members are buried here, and the history of Pensacola unfolds as you walk among the tombstones during any of the historic tours given to raise money to restore the cemetery. What's especially helpful in locating family resting spots is the computerized map developed by UWF students. During some of the tours, cemetery association members dress in period costume and give oral history. Dorothy Walton, whose husband signed the Declaration of Independence, is one of the most famous residents that were placed to rest at St. Michael's.
At the library, I also found the Confederate pension application by Merced Hargis.
These are the Hargis family members who have lived in my house (or their house, to be more exact):
Robert Whitmore Hargis
Birth : 21 JAN 1846
Spouse: Merced Bonifay
Birth : 1848
Children:
1. Robert Bonifay Hargis
Birth : BET. 1865 - 1870
2. Irene Mary Hargis
Birth : BET. 1865 - 1870
3. Kate Hargis
BET. 1870 - 1875
4. Genevieve Hargis
Birth : BET. 1870 - 1875
5. Petronella Hargis
Birth : BET. 1875 - 1880
(Named for Petronilla de La Rua b. 1815, married to
James Gonzalez)
6. Susie Hargis
Birth : BET. 1875 - 1880
7. George Joseph Hargis
Birth : BET. 1875 - 1880
8. Ethel Hargis
Birth : BET. 1880 - 1885
9. Eva Hargis (died at age 3) born about 1882

Here is Merced Bonifay's family in the 1850 Escambia County census:
272 141 25 25 Bonifay Leocadio W M 39 Brick Maker 1,000 Fla. -- -- -- --
272 141 25 25 Bonifay Irene W F 28 -- -- Fla. -- -- -- --
272 141 25 25 Bonifay Theodore W M 7 -- -- Fla. -- -- -- --
272 141 25 25 Bonifay George W M 5 -- -- Fla. -- -- -- --
272 141 25 25 Bonifay Merced W F 4 -- -- Fla. -- -- -- --
272 141 25 25 Bonifay Jno. W M 3 -- -- Fla. -- -- -- --
272 141 25 25 Bonifay Petronilla W F 2 -- -- Fla. -- -- -- --
272 141 25 25 Bonifay Mary Louisa W F 3/12 -- -- Fla. -- -- -- --
272 141 25 25 Bonifay Victor W M 28 Blacksmith -- Fla. -- -- -- --

According to a biography of Dr. Robert B.S. Hargis by Barbara Walker Winge, the doctor moved from Mobile to Pensacola around 1851 and was elected port physician in 1852. Two years later, after a bout with yellow fever himself, he was named surgeon at the newly established U.S. Marine Hospital. He also served as a medical officer in the Confederate States Army.
I learned that members of the Hargis family lived in the house well into the next century.
It has been most enjoyable piecing together the history of these early Pensacola families. After all, Pensacola is America's "first place" city, and these are Pensacola's first families.

PHOTO: Robert B.S. Hargis in his Confederate uniform. Source: UWF archives