Florida Cemetery Records
This entry was originally written by the Florida Pioneer Descendants Certification Program Committee of the Florida State Genealogical Society, Inc. for Red Book: American State, County, and Town Sources.
Florida House Bill 3763, Cemetery Preservation and Consumer Protection Act, 'provides duty of care and maintenance of licenses cemeteries'¦creates Task Force on Abandoned and Neglected Cemeteries.' In 1998, the Task Force was assigned to review and report on the status of neglected and abandoned cemeteries in Florida and, if necessary, to propose legislation to counter this problem.
Florida libraries, historical societies, and archives hold many of the published and unpublished cemetery records. In addition, the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) has abstracted a large percentage of the cemeteries in Florida, microfilmed and available through the FHL. E. H. Hayes and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints published Cemetery Records of Florida in 1946, nine volumes also available on microfilm.
One important compiled source is the WPA Register of Deceased Veterans Buried in Florida, (the Alachua County version of this report is online here, http://www.alachuaclerk.org/archive/AncientJ/FrontPage.cfm?BID=897) which covers fifty-one of the sixty-seven counties (St. Augustine, Fla.: Veterans' Graves Registration Project, 1940'41). The complete index to this microfilm is being published by the Florida State Genealogical Society in its quarterly The Florida Genealogist, starting with volume 22, issue 3, Fall 1999 (86). Information includes veteran's name, military service, birth and death dates, burial locations, next of kin, and other personal information. See also:
- Thompson, Sharyn. Florida's Historic Cemeteries: A Preservation Handbook. Tallahassee: Historic Tallahassee Preservation Board, 1989.
- Florida Cemetery Records Directory. Compiled by volunteers of the Genealogical Society of Utah from sources in the FHL.
Of the general cemetery records sources for all states (see pages 7-8), the following are particularly helpful for Florida:
- Florida Tombstone Transcription Project usgwtombstones.org/florida/florida.htm
- American History and Genealogy Project'Florida Cemetery Transcription and Photo Project www.usgennet.org/usa/topic/cemetery/florida.
- Florida Cemetery Records online with links to maps at www.accessgenealogy.com/cemetery/florida.htm.
- Alachua County Virtual Cemetery Project is here [1]
Many online cemetery transcriptions can be located here: Florida Cemetery Records
Florida funeral records are available at the funeral homes, with a few exceptions. Some of them require proof of relationship. Some funeral home records have been deposited at the Florida State Archives; and the FHL has microfilmed some records from major cities in Florida (see pages 7-8).