Public Records: State

Tax records

Since the territorial era, Florida’s county tax collectors have been responsible for collecting revenue from taxpayers and submitting portions of it to the territorial (and later state) government along with documentation.

Tax rolls—lists of taxpayers and the amount of taxes they owed for various kinds of property and taxable activities—are the primary records illustrating this process, and they have many uses in historical research.

Tax rolls created during the antebellum era, for example, list the number of persons enslaved by each taxpayer. They also provide the names of free persons of color, who were taxpayers in their own right.

In the postbellum era, previously enslaved Black Floridians began paying taxes and accordingly appear on tax rolls—sometimes in a separate section. Tax rolls are especially helpful for pinpointing when a person moved into or out of an area, or when they died, because unlike the decennial federal census, tax rolls were completed annually.

Tax rolls, 1829-1898 (Series S28)

Election records

The State Archives holds a selection of territorial and state election records created between 1824 and 1926, which were sent to Tallahassee to be recorded by the Secretary of State or, prior to statehood, the Secretary of the Territory.

The completeness of the records varies over time and from place to place, but for most counties the State Archives holds a combination of official election returns, recapitulations, amnesty oaths, poll books, lists of registered voters, notices of elections, commissions, instructions to election inspectors, blank oaths for attesting citizenship, materials relating to contested elections and original ballots.

Of particular interest to genealogists are the poll lists, which prove residence in a specific county.

In addition, the State Archives holds voter registration rolls for 1867-1868—the first ever to include Black Floridian men. The majority of the voters on these rolls registered prior to the November 1867 election, although about 600 individuals are listed as having registered afterward.

The type of information in most volumes includes date, name, race, time of residence in county and state, native (of what state) and naturalization (where, when and how).

These records have considerable importance for genealogical research and chronicle the experiences of newly freed Black Floridians in their beginning involvement in the electoral system.

Election Returns by County, 1824-1926 (Series S21)
Voter Registration Rolls, 1867-1868 (Series S98)
Voter registration rolls within Series S98 are digitized and available on Florida Memory.

State census records

State censuses were compiled in 1845 and every ten years after. They supplemented the federal census carried out at the end of each decade and were used for the determination of legislative electoral districts.

In 1949, the state census was abolished, and the federal census has therefore served as Florida's census record since 1950.

Antebellum state census records list the number of enslaved persons by the name of the enslaver and the number of free persons of color.

Postbellum state census records list the number of persons per the name of the head of the family, and enumeration books have separate listings for white and Black inhabitants.

Some later state census records include the name, age at last birthday, sex and race of all persons listed. For some entries, additional information provided includes occupation, the value of real estate and personal property and the number of acres planted in cotton, cane or orange trees.

While state census records at the State Archives are incomplete, they have great utility for genealogical researchers in tracing Black families.

1825 Census of Leon County (Series L69)
First Census of the State of Florida, 1845 (Series S1373)
Second Census of the State of Florida, 1855 (Series S1374)
Census of the District of Florida, 1864-1865 (Series S1489)
Third Census of the State of Florida, 1867 (Series S1375)
Fourth Census of the State of Florida, 1875 (Series S1364)
Fifth Census of the State of Florida, 1885 (Series S1647)

Court records

In 1821, under the terms of the Adams-Onís Treaty, Florida became a territory of the United States.

Andrew Jackson, the first territorial governor, laid the groundwork for Florida’s legal system by modifying aspects of Spanish colonial and British common law to conform to U.S. customs.

Territorial officials established lower district (or circuit) courts and the Territorial Court of Appeals, which consisted of a panel of three justices. The 1838 Constitution forming the state of Florida also established a Supreme Court but gave it no justices of its own.

In 1845, the territorial court system was replaced by the Florida Supreme Court. The power of the court in the early years rested with judges appointed by the legislature.

The Confederate constitution of 1861 empowered the governor to appoint justices with assistance from the Senate. Subsequent changes in 1868, 1885 and 1968 further outlined the process for selecting justices and setting limits on tenure.

In addition to the Territorial Court of Appeals case files, the State Archives holds closed case files of the Florida Supreme Court in which an opinion was issued.

Case files of interest include those involving enslaved individuals, specifically concerning mistreatment of enslaved persons, crimes committed by enslaved persons and cases regarding freedom-seeking enslaved individuals.

These records are great resources for a better understanding of the history of slavery in Florida and also provide genealogical information for Black Floridians.

Territorial Court of Appeals Case Files, 1825-1846 (Series S73)
Florida Supreme Court, Case Files, 1825-2013 (Series S49)
A selection of court cases from the 1830s to the 1860s from Series S73 and S49 are digitized and available on Florida Memory.

Other records of interest

Superintendent of Common Schools for Freedmen report, 1866 (Series S288)
This series contains the 1866 report of E. B. Duncan, Superintendent of Common Schools for Freedmen. The report is a pamphlet that states the activities of the superintendent in educating Florida's Freedmen and gives information on the educational system provided for Black individuals after emancipation.