Spotlight on the Collection: Florida Voter Registration Lists 1867-68

There are a variety of records that can be used to fill in the gaps between censuses. These under-used resources include tax assessment list, property records and voter's registration lists. One such resource available at the library for people researching Florida ancestors is the Florida Voter Registration Lists 1867-68.

This book is a transcription of the original voter's lists held at the Florida State Archives, Voter Registration Rolls, 1968 [Record Group 151, Series 98]. These records contain the names of over 14,000 male Floridians of voting age from 19 counties. The records were created as a result of the Congressional Reconstruction Act passed in March 1867, which called for registration of qualified voters who would elect delegates to a Constitutional Convention to restore civil government to the state. For the first time in southern history, race was not a qualifying factor in registering to vote.

The entries contain the voter's name, his race, his length of residence in the state, where he was born and the date of his registration. The registration information is is more reliable than census information because the registrants themselves provided all the information to the registars. In a census enumeration, one family member provides data for the entire household, thereby increasing the chances of erroneous information.

Unfortunately, the 1867-1868 voters records for 20 Florida counties (including Duval) were lost or destroyed long before the state began preserving its history. The 19 counties included in this publication are: Hernando, Leon, Levy, Liberty, Madison, Marion, Nassau, Orange, Polk, Putnam, St. Johns, Santa Rosa, Sumter, Suwannee, Taylor, Volusia, Wakulla, Walton, and Washington.

The Politics of Our Ancestors

When you go to the voting booth this year, you'll be provided a ballot prepared by election officials and you'll be able to make your choices privately and cast your ballot in secret. We may take this for granted but most of our ancestors would be surprised by these practices.

Although the world's first votes were cast as early as 508 B.C. in ancient Athens, Athenian "democracy" resembled town meetings more than modern elections. Officials were chosen by lottery and voting was negative: Anyone receiving more than 6000 votes was exiled for 10 years. While negative voting may sound foreign to us, the practice of crossing out the names of unwanted candidates persisted into the 20th century in the Southern United States. Another example of negative voting is blackballing which comes from the Masonic practice of casting a black ball as a vote against a potential member.

Yet another form of voting was voice voting. The few Americans with voting rights would take an oath and announce their votes. Election officials would then record these voice votes. With voice voting, the fear of being recognized was the only deterrent to voting "early and often." Voice voting continued up until the 1860s in some locations.

The first paper ballots were scraps of paper, supplied by the voters themselves. As American political parties grew, partisans began printing ballots. More recently, new voting technologies such as electronic voting systems have been introduced.

Below is a timeline of voting milestones in the United States:

1789: The Constitution empowers states to set voting rights; most enfranchise only white male property owners over the age of 21
1830: Most restrictions based on property ownership had been abolished.
1838: Kentucky allows widows to vote.
1848: Women's Rights Convention in Seneca Falls, NY launches suffragette movement
1855: Only 5 states allow blacks to vote.
1869: The territory of Wyoming grants voting rights to women.
1870: The 15th Amendment extends voting rights to African-American men.
1920: The 19th Amendment grants women's suffrage.
1924: The Indian Citizenship Act gives Native Americans the right to vote.
1965: The Voting Rights Act protects minority voters.
1971: The 26th Amendment lowers the voting age to 18.

You can learn more about the history of voting at the following websites:
A Brief Illustrated History of Voting
Vote: The Machinery of Democracy
Political Culture and Imagery of American Woman Suffrage
Voting Technology Timeline

Photo from the Proclaimation signing

We had a very nice turnout for the signing of the Family History Month Proclaimation! Thanks to the Mayor and the SGES for making this possible. Pictured from left to right are:
Gretchen Mitchell, Administrative Supervisor, Main Library David Fuller, Librarian, Genealogy Collection Bud Reed, SGES Carolyn Williams, Deputy Director, Jacksonville Public Library Jon Ferguson, SGES Mayor John Peyton David White, Librarian, Genealogy Collection Laura Minor, Senior Librarian, Genealogy Collection Dick Cardell, SGES Betty Reed, SGES Jim Vearil, SGES Barbara Gubbin, Director, Jacksonville Public Library Skip Brown, SGES

JPL Genealogy's Flickr page!

Beginning with the program "Celebrating Family History", we will be posting pictures of our various activities and programs on our Flickr site!

Flickr is a photo sharing website that offers a generous free membership. If you would like to view our photos from the October 11th program, co-sponsered by the Southern Genealogist Exchange Society, please click on the following link:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jplgenealogy/

We hope you'll enjoy the photos. We'll be posting more as we have more events.

National Society United States Daughters of 1812

The War of 1812 was a conflict between the United States and Great Britain. It involved several issues, such as the seizure of American sailors by the British navy, England’s ongoing conflict with France, and "War Hawks" in congress wanting to expand American territory into Canada. The War lasted from 1812 to 1815. Although the "Treaty of Ghent" (which was to officially end the war) was signed on December 24th, 1814, news of the treaty did not reach the U.S. for several months. During the interim, military struggles continued with Great Britain. The war finally ended in somewhat of a stalemate with neither side with an indisputable victory. However for the United States, it appeared to had given the county (as a whole) a spirit of unity. The sentiment that it could pull together and defend itself from outside forces created a common element around which it could rally.

Throughout history organizations and groups have been established or created around such events. In this tradition of commemorating events in history, the National Society United States Daughters of 1812 (U.S.D 1812) was organized on January 8, 1892 by Mrs. Flora Adams Darling. This date also marked the anniversary of the "Battle of New Orleans". Incorporated in 1901, the society’s mission is recorded as "…to promote patriotism, to preserve and increase knowledge of the history of the American people by the preservation of documents and relics, the marking of historic spots, the recording of family histories and traditions, the celebration of patriotic anniversaries, teaching and emphasizing the heroic deeds of the civil, military and naval life of those who molded this government between the close of the American Revolution and the close of the War of 1812, to urge Congress to compile and publish authentic records of men in civil, military and naval service from 1784 to 1815 inclusive, and to maintain at National Headquarters a museum and library of memorabilia of the 1784-1815."

In regards to resources of the U.S.D. of 1812, the Genealogy collection contains a few references that may assist you in locating ancestors who might have served in the war. One source for example is the 1812 Ancestor Index, 1892-1970: National Society United States Daughters of 1812. This text provides a roster of established ancestors who rendered military or other service during the close of the American Revolution until the end of the War in 1815. Service took the form of civil and/or military. Entries provide the name of the ancestor, their spouse, their children, and their children’s spouses. Also, individual entries may vary. For example, those entries with volume numbers listed indicate that future applicants must prove lineage to their ancestor.

Volume II of this index, lists the names of member’s ancestors. These individuals served in civil, military, or naval capacities during the War of 1812 and from periods between 1784 and 1815. The information given is type of service, birth place, birth date, death date, name of spouse, names of children, as well as the names of their spouses through which the lineage is traced.

Another resource that is available is the National Society United States Daughters of 1812 News-Letter. The newsletter provides a calendar of events, articles submitted by individuals, a membership roster, as well as news and updates. The Jacksonville Public Library has from volume 4 of June 1923 to August 2008. Check at the fourth floor Genealogy/Florida desk for location.

If you believe that you have ancestors who service in the war of 1812, you may wish to consider reviewing these resources. For more information about this lineage society and their endeavors, you may visit their website at http://www.usdaughters1812.org.

The Jacksonville Public Library – Your Family History Center

For those who may not know, the Jacksonville Public Library is an official Family History Center of the Family History Library. The Family History Library (FHL) is located in Salt Lake City, Utah, and is apart of The Church of Jesus Christ Latter-day Saints. The Family History Library is the main repository for most of the genealogical information that the Church has collected. It was founded in 1894 with the purpose of collecting and disseminating genealogical records of church members and non-church affiliated historical records. The FHL contains a variety of record types, such as land, vital, historical, church, directory, and county to name a few.

The Family History Center (FHC) is a branch of the Family History Library. Over 4,000 centers operate in more than 88 countries. The benefit of the family history centers is access to a rich resource of genealogical records without the need or expense to travel to Salt Lake City. Through the public library, our customers have access to all types of resources ranging from census, land, and court records to cemetery, newspaper, and international material. The great plus of this service is that it extends your family research beyond the geographical boundaries of Florida. Materials may be ordered from the Family History Library via the Genealogy service at the Main Library downtown. Items that are held in microfilm or microfiche format may be requested via JPL. The FHL charges a fee of $5.50 per microfilm reel supplied and a fifteen cents charge for each microfiche supplied. This fee is billed to our customer’s library account. Materials that are in book or monograph format are restricted and cannot be ordered via the FHC. However, photocopy service is provided and must be ordered directly from the Family History Library via customers. Photocopy forms may be accessed and printed from the FamilySearch website.

To explore the “FamilySearch.org” homepage, you may open your web browser to http://www.familysearch.org. Once there, you also may click on the text at the top of the page that says “Library”. This page will tell you about the library and will allow you to search their online catalog.

In short, the Family History Library is a superb addition to your genealogy research. In addition, with the Jacksonville Public Library as an official Family History Center, access to these materials is available to you. For more information regarding the FHC, please contact the Special Collections staff at the 630-2409 or you may send your queries or questions to this announcement by clicking on the “comment” link at the end of the post.

“We make Family History Everyday”

Scanning microfilm

At one point or another in our genealogy research, we all hope to manage to gain access to a great roll of microfilm that knocks down that brick wall, or has more information than we imagined or bargained for. As you’re sitting in the library making dozens of copies, maybe you wonder if there is a better way. Maybe you plan on scanning the copies at home from that flatbed scanner you bought just to get that document onto your genealogy software? You can take a step out of that process and scan directly from the microfilm here at the library!

We have two dedicated microfilm readers and computers, which will enable you to scan from microfilm onto cd-r, cd-rw, or a flash drive, or if you have a laptop, directly to your hard drive. We have printed step-by-step instructions at the reference desk, or, if you need one-on-one instruction, you can make an appointment with us through Book-A-Librarian, where we can give you in-depth training on how to create and store your scans from microfilm.