Florida Research Tips and Strategies

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Florida

Research Tips and Strategies

Florida Research Strategies

Below are links to different research strategy pages to help you locate your ancestors in Florida

Florida Online Genealogy Records

How to find Florida Birth Records

How to find Florida Marriage Records

How to find Florida Death Records

Florida Research Tips

These tips will help you as you research your ancestors in Florida.

• Birth information: Statewide registration of births began in 1899 in Florida with general compliance by 1920. A helpful substitute record to find birth information is a death record. However, date and place of birth on a death record is considered secondary information, as it was not recorded at the time of the birth event. The birth information should be corroborated with other substitute records to improve accuracy.
• Finding Parents: Statewide registration of deaths began in 1899 in Florida; however, general compliance did not begin until 1917.. They often will list the parents of the deceased and their birth information. Search Florida death records
• Look in all censuses: Always look for your ancestor in every possible census. There are clues regarding immigration, naturalization, and occupation that can lead to other records. Sometimes parents can be found living with their children later in life. Search U.S. Censuses.

Florida Record Finder

This brief Record Finder is designed to help you determine the best record to search for the type of information you are looking for. It is most helpful for post-1850 research. For a more complete Record Finder, covering additional research needs, see Florida Record Finder.

1. What you are looking for:	2. Try these records first:	3. Other useful records
Birth information	Birth records Death records Obituaries Church records	Cemeteries Naturalization and Citizenship Bible records Military records
Marriage information	Marriage records Obituaries Bible records	Church records Probate records Military records
Death information	Death Records Cemeteries Obituaries	Probate Records Church Records Bible Records
Parents	Birth records Death records Obituaries Census Church records	Biography Genealogy
Maiden name	Marriage Records Obituaries Probate records	Church Records Military Records
Immigration date	Emigration and Immigration Naturalization and Citizenship Census	Obituaries Biography History
Naturalization	Naturalization and Citizenship Census Court Records	Voting Records Biography Periodicals
Physical description	Military Records Naturalization and Citizenship (after 1906)	Biography History

Further Florida Research

• Remember, for a more complete Record Finder, covering additional research needs, see Florida Record Finder.
• For online record collections, go to Florida Online Genealogy Records.
• For more research on Florida, including research at the county level, visit the Florida page on the Research Wiki.
• Search all of the Florida record collections at FamilySearch.