Gonzales family

The Gonzales family of Santa Cruz had an adobe residence on the west side of Mission Plaza. Juan Gonzales, whose wife belonged to the Castro family, became first mayordomo (administrator) of former Mission Santa Cruz property following its 1834 secularization. According to Rowland, a Francisco Gonzales was among the first godfathers named in mission records (appointed by the padres for neophyte baptisms). Although it's not documented, it seems likely that Francisco was Juan's father.

Juan Gonzales joined the Alvarado coup in 1836 (commissioned a captain), and was the local official charged by Alvarado in 1840 with rounding up foreigners in what became known as "The Graham Affair".

Daughter Maria Carlotta (1829-1920) married Francisco Alzina between 1846 and 1850, when Alzina built a house for them next door to her parents. She is buried in the Alzina plot at Old Holy Cross, and her parents are probably also there - in the mass grave of those moved from the Holy Cross churchyard.

A son of Juan and Maria named Felipe (aka Filipe, 1822-1892) moved to the Pajaro Valley, and his daughter Bernabe (p370-71) has a bio in Guinn. Find-a-Grave has no record of Bernabe, but a number of persons named Gonzales are buried in Watsonville cemeteries.