Florida Genealogical Archives - It is wise to acquaint yourself with any repository which you might visit by writing to the appropriate archive or library in advance. Every repository has published materials that introduce its collections and research policy. State archives and historical agencies also have Internet sites that provide the same information. Some even have downloadable databases for some or parts of their collections.
Florida
Dept of State Div of Library & Information Services,
Bureau of Archives & Records Management
500 S. Bronough St., Tallahassee, FL 32399-0250; (850)245-6700, [EMAIL]
The Florida State Archives is located
on the first floor of the R.A. Gray Building, 500 South Bronough
Street, Tallahassee, Florida, two blocks west of the State
Capitol. Our public research facilities are open from 8:00
a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, and 9:30 a.m. to
3:30 p.m. on Saturday.
The Archives is closed Sundays, on state
holidays , and on the Saturdays of Friday or Monday holidays. Researchers
are encouraged to check with the Archives to verify operating hours and records
availability prior to visiting. Directions to the Archives are available in
an on-line map
(PDF) . For more information on visiting the Archives, please see our Information
for Researchers . The archives is the state's official repository for public records.
It holds excellent collections, already described above, stretching
beyond this mandate. The state library maintains the printed and
secondary source material for the state, such as city directories,
histories, biographies, church surveys, as well as manuscripts.
In
person address:
Office of Vital Statistics, 1217 Pearl St., Jacksonville, FL 32202
Phone (904)
359-6900 extension 9000; M-F 8:00 -
5:00 EST
(Credit card orders will be accepted 24 hours a day, 7 days a week
at 1 (877) 550-7330
Fax: State
Office: (904) 359-6633 Order
Birth form , Order
Death form (PDF format -
requires Adobe
Acrobat Reader ) (credit
card orders may also be faxed directly
to VitalChek for credit card acceptance
at 1 (877) 550-7428
"Genealogists are generally positive and energetic, and most are ready to share their findings or research experience with anyone they can help. There are hundreds of genealogical societies at the grass-roots level. Knowledge of the genealogical community will place you in the midst of much activity, increase your productivity, and alert you to the importance of research standards and etiquette." Sandra Hargreaves Luebking,
Editor of FGS Forum, Co-editor of The Source: A Guidebook of American Genealogy
Florida Historical & Genealogical Societies - Because family history research relies greatly upon records found at the county level, many local societies represent counties. Organizations also form around shared interests. Ethnic or religious origins account for many groups, such as the Polish Genealogical Society of America and P.O.I.N.T. (Pursuing Our Italian Names Together). Societies also form around common locales of origin for members’ ancestors; hence, the Palatines to America and Germans from Russia societies. To locate these and other societies, consult Juliana Szucs Smith’s The Ancestry Family Historian’s Address Book. It lists addresses, telephone and fax numbers, and Internet addresses of thousands of organizations throughout the United States.
For almost every state there is a state genealogical society, a state genealogical council, or both. In addition to their own work, state-level groups sometimes help coordinate the efforts of local societies within the state. Their publications, newsletters and quarterlies, supplement those produced by the local societies.
Haydon
Burns Public Library,
122 N. Ocean Street,
Jacksonville, FL 32202 (Excellent holdings on Jacksonville and northern Florida.) Orlando
Public Library,
101 E. Central Boulevard,
Orlando, FL 32801 (Records depository for the Florida Daughters of the American Revolution.) Miami-Dade
County Library,
101 West Flagler Street,
Miami, FL 33130 (Its genealogy
collection contains microfilm copies the Federal Censuses.)
John
C. Pace Library,
University of West Florida,
Pensacola, FL 32514 (A
Guide to the Manuscripts and Special Collections of the
John C. Pace Library describes the extent of this valuable
research material, particularly the Panton, Leslie Papers
(1783-1821), a significant block of material on British
and Spanish West Florida trade with Native Americans).
P.K.
Yonge Library of Florida History,
University of Florida,
Gainesville, FL 32611 (Largest
collection of Spanish colonial documents in the United
States and largest microfilm collection of Florida newspapers.)
Florida Genealogical Publications - The Florida Genealogist, published by the Florida State Genealogical Society, P.O. Box 10249, Tallahassee, FL 32302, is the only genealogical periodical of statewide coverage. A number of local societies publish useful periodicals, and a current list of genealogical societies in the state is available from the Florida State Genealogical Society at the address here. See specific county page for individual county list.
The Southern Genealogist's Exchange Quarterly. Issues published from 1957-1981 are available at most large libraries with collection on the south and through American Genealogical Lending Library in Bountiful, Utah.
Statewide or regional publications include the following:
Florida Newspapers - Newspaper
collections are found in the state library and most large
libraries, but local societies and libraries in the area
of geographical interest should also be queried. The St.
Augustine Historical Society Library and most university
libraries have collections of varying coverage, but the
most comprehensive collection is located at the P.K. Yonge
Library of Florida History in Gainesville, whose Catalog,
4 vols lists newspapers as early as the St. Augustine-East
Florida Herald of 1823.
While records of birth, marriage, and death are the most commonly sought and the most consistently helpful records, only the genealogist’s imagination and resourcefulness limit newspapers’ usefulness in supplying clues about historical events, local history, probate court and legal notices, real estate transactions, political biographies, announcements, notices of new and terminated partnerships, business advertisements, and notices for settling debts.
Newspapers can provide at least a partial substitute for nonexistent civil records. For example, a person’s obituary may have appeared in a newspaper even when civil death records for that person do not exist. And newspapers are an important source of marriage records, particularly in those states where civil recording of marriages was essentially nonexistent until the twentieth century.
Unlike official records, newspapers are not limited to a particular geographical area. They often include reports of the weddings of local citizens (even those that occurred in a neighboring county or another state), and they sometimes report visits of geographically distant relatives or the visits of former local residents. They often published death notices of individuals who had left the area long before but who still had local family or friends as well. In each case the newspaper account can identify the date and place of an event, thus opening the possibility of turning up additional documentation in other sources.
The first step in searching a newspaper is to identify those which served the area of interest and which have survived. The three most necessary tools are bibliographies (What was published?), inventories of library and depository holdings (Where is it?), and indexes (How do I find what I want in it?).
Find Obituaries in The World's Largest Newspaper Archive at NewpaperArchive.com! - Find thousands of obituaries to help you research your family history. Search for a newspaper obituary about your ancestor or a celebrity. Begin your search today and find death notices and funeral announcements printed in newspapers throughout the world.
Search Historical Newspapers (1690 - 1980) -
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