Florida, U.S., Death Index, 1877-1998

This index covers over 5 million deaths recorded in Florida from 1877-1998. Most records contain:

• Name of deceased
  
• Death place (city and/or county)
  
• Death date
  
• Race
  
• Birth date
  
• Gender
  
• Certificate and/or volume number
  

This collection of records was digitized from microfiche provided by The Florida Department of Health, Office of Vital Statistics, P.O. Box 210, Jacksonville, Florida 32231-0042. It is important to use the information gathered from this index to obtain a copy of the original record, as original records usually contain more information than do their indexes. Information about how to order a copy of a death certificate is available on The Florida Department of Health website.

The Bureau of Vital Statistics of the State Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services, P.O. Box 210, Jacksonville, Florida 32231, has custody of birth and death records filed from January 1917 to date.

Death records begin about 1877, but the first state law mandating registration of deaths was passed in 1899, and records before 1917 are spotty. It is always wise to check with city health departments. Some years ago, for example, the St. Augustine Health Department deposited a number of "death certificates and burial permits" written on scraps of paper, prescription blanks, etc., for the late 1870s and early 1880s with its local historical society library.

Taken from Florida, Ancestry's Red Book by Lyn Scott and Gary Topping, edited by Alice Eichholz. (Salt Lake City, UT: Ancestry Incorporated, 1992).

Death records of the nineteenth century often include the name of the deceased, date, place, and cause of death, age at the time of death, place of birth, parents' names, occupation, name of spouse, name of the person giving the information, and the informant's relationship to the deceased. Race is listed in some records.

Death records, both early and modern, can help you identify others related to the decedent. The information provided in the records is usually given to authorities by a close relative. If the relative is a married daughter, the record will state her married name. Aunts, uncles, in-laws, cousins, and other relatives are listed as informants on death records. Each new name is a clue to the identity of other ancestors that should be pursued.

Taken from Chapter 3: Research in Birth, Death, and Cemetery Records, The Source: A Guidebook of American Genealogy by Johni Cerny; edited by Loretto Dennis Szucs and Sandra Hargreaves Luebking (Salt Lake City, UT: Ancestry Incorporated, 1997).