Tony Gonzalez

02/18/2012 – Tony Gonzalez – 2nd Annual Cartoon Network Hall of Game Awards – Arrivals – Barker Hanger – Santa Monica, CA, USA – Photo Credit: Andrew Evans / PR Photos 

Birth Name: Anthony David Gonzalez

Place of Birth: Torrance, Los Angeles, California, U.S.

Date of Birth: February 27, 1976

Ethnicity:
*father – Cape Verdean [Portuguese, African], Jamaican [African, Scottish]
*mother – African-American, some English

Tony Gonzalez is an American professional football player. He was a tight end. He was inducted into the Football Hall of Fame in 2019.

Tony is the son of Judith (Smith) and Joseph Felix Gonzalez, Jr. All of his grandparents identified as black. His father is of half Cape Verdean [including Portuguese and African] and half Jamaican [including African and Scottish] descent. His mother is African-American, and also has some English ancestry. Tony is sometimes said to have Native American ancestry. It is not clear if this is accurate.

He is married to October. He has a son with his former partner, entertainment reporter Lauren Sánchez; and three children with October.

Tony’s paternal grandfather was named Joseph Felix Gonzalez (the son of a father surnamed Goncals, and of Regina Augusta Machado). Joseph was said to have been from Cape Verde, and was of Portuguese and African descent. He is listed as black on the 1950 U.S. Census.

Tony’s paternal grandmother was Swiftley Elsie McIntosh (the daughter of William James McIntosh and Genevieve Amelia Duany/Duhaney/Delany). Swiftley was born in Manchioneal, Portland, Jamaica, and is listed as black in U.S. records. William was the son of William McIntosh. Genevieve was the daughter of John James Duany.

Tony’s maternal grandfather was Russell Holmes Smith (the son of Benjamin Franklin Smith and Edith Anna Russell). Tony’s grandfather Russell was born in Cambridge, Middlesex, Massachusetts, to African-American parents. Benjamin was the son of Charles E. Smith and Nonie Windley. Edith was the daughter of William H. Russell and Margaret Norwood Betts. Tony’s great-great-grandmother Margaret was the daughter of George Washington Betts, who was born in Wilmington, North Carolina, and was an enslaved man, who ran away from slavery, and was re-captured; and of Polly Merrick.

Tony’s maternal grandmother is Helen Marie Field (the daughter of Hannibal Harold “Hal” Field and Ophelia Birdsong). Helen was born in Chicago, Illinois. Hal was African-American, and was the son of Mathew Fields and Philla Hubard. Ophelia was likely born in Eatonton, Georgia, and was adopted. She was the biological daughter of John Rees Hudson, who was white, and of Dora Birdsong, who was black. John was the son of Marshall Rees Hudson and Sarah Tompkins Scott. Dora was the daughter of Mariah Birdsong, Tony’s great-great-great-grandmother.

Tony is a first cousin, twelve times removed, of playwright William Shakespeare. Tony’s ancestor, Richard Shakespeare, was also William’s grandfather.

Sources: http://grantland.com
https://www.ajc.com

Tony’s maternal grandfather, Russell Holmes Smith, on the 1920 U.S. Census – https://www.familysearch.org
Russell Holmes Smith on the 1930 U.S. Census – https://www.familysearch.org

Death records of Tony’s maternal great-grandfather, Hannibal Harold “Hal” Field – https://www.familysearch.org
https://www.familysearch.org