CAPTAIN MARTIN GONZALES

Sacramento County

Biographies

CAPTAIN MARTIN GONZALES

CAPTAIN MARTIN GONZALES.--In the death of Capt. Martin Gonzales, Sacramento County mourned the loss of one of the oldest steamer captains on the Sacramento River. He was born in Santiago, Chili, and came from a family of sea captains, following in his ancestor's footsteps from the time he was able to climb a span. He loved the water, and was at home only when pacing the deck of a vessel.

In 1849 Martin Gonzales came to Sacramento in a sailing vessel, and here he made his home until his death. He knew the Sacramento River from the waters of the bay to Red Bluff, better than any river man. He led an active life, roughing it as a sailor while a young man, working on steamers and sailing vessels, and always doing his share of the hard labor. He never shirked his duty at any time. Until his final illness, ten weeks before his death, at the age of seventy-six, he was active and strong, and able to take his place on any steamer, but at that time he was obliged to take to his bed and admit his weakness. For more than twenty-five years he was employed by the Sacramento Transportation Company, and was considered one of the best known river captains because of his ability and long service. Captain Gonzales was loved and respected by all who knew him, and was highly valued by his employers. His last run was made on the steamer "Red Bluff" on a journey up the San Joaquin River, and he was compelled to return home, from this trip, by train, on account of an illness from which he had suffered at intervals for two years, and which was the cause of his death.

Capt. Martin Gonzales married Miss Charlotte Swenson, a native of Sweden, who was also an early settler of San Francisco, and their union was a happy one. Her demise occurred in 1894. She left him two children, both boys: Henry, a druggist in Oakland, who has a child, Artiero; and Capt. Peter B., whose sketch appears in this history, and who has a daughter Muriel, now the wife of Edward Dudley of Los Angeles, and the mother of a child named Edward Dudley, Jr.

Transcribed by: Jeanne Sturgis Taylor.

Source: Reed, G. Walter, History of Sacramento County, California With Biographical Sketches, Page 830. Historic Record Company, Los Angeles, CA. 1923.