Narciso Gener Gonzales

Narciso Gonzales
Obelisk honoring Gonzales near the State House
Born	1859 Edisto Island, South Carolina
Died	19 January 1903 Columbia, South Carolina
Nationality	American
Ethnicity	Cuban American
Occupation	Newspaper editor

Narciso Gener Gonzales (1859 – January 19, 1903) was born in St. Paul's Parish, South Carolina, South Carolina. He and his brother, Ambrose E. Gonzales, were the founders of The State newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina.

Gonzales was the son of Colonel (CSA) Ambrosio José Gonzales and Harriet Rutledge Elliott. His father was a Colonel in the Confederate Army who played an instrumental role in the defenses of South Carolina during the American Civil War. Prior to this his father was Cuban revolutionary leader, who opposed oppressive Spanish rule. His mother was the daughter of the wealthy South Carolina rice planter, state senator and writer, William Elliott.

Gonzales was shot on January 15, 1903, by James H. Tillman (nephew of "Pitchfork" Ben Tillman), the Lieutenant Governor of South Carolina, and died four days later. Tillman escaped punishment, however. The jury was considered rigged and highly partisan considering Tillman shot Gonzales in broad daylight in the presence of many eyewitnesses. He was acquitted ostensibly on a shaky self-defense theory, but in reality because the jury believed Tillman was right in taking justice into his own hands. Gonzales had waged a crusade against Tillman in his newspaper, helping ensure Tillman's defeat in the 1902 South Carolina governor's race.

A memorial cenotaph for Gonzales was later erected on Senate Street across from the State House in Columbia, purportedly on the route Tillman regularly walked home.

Further reading

• Jones, Lewis Pinckney (1973). Stormy Petrel: N. G. Gonzales and His State. Columbia, S.C.: South Carolina Tricentennial Commission, University of South Carolina Press. ISBN 0-87249-253-2. 

Manuscripts Department Library of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill SOUTHERN HISTORICAL COLLECTION : #1009 ELLIOTT AND GONZALES FAMILY PAPERS http://www.lib.unc.edu/mss/inv/e/Elliott_and_Gonzales_Family.html