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Record Group Number: 900000
Series/Collection Number: M93- 5
Creator:
Title, Dates: Spanish Florida censuses 1783-1814
Amount: 1.00 microfilm reel 35 mm.
Medium Included:
Organization/Arrangement:
Restrictions:
Terms Governing Use:
Biographical/Historical:     The 1783 Treaty of Versailles transferred Florida from British control back to the Spanish, a reward for Spanish aid rendered to the colonists during the American Revolution. The treaty obliged British subjects residing in Florida to emigrate within a period of 18 months following its signing, without fear of molestation by the Spanish government, although it permitted timber and logging businesses to continue within a defined neutral area between the rivers Nuevo and Hondo. The treaty required residents of some areas to fully evacuate within three months, rather than 18, namely East Florida and the Bahamas, the latter having been returned to Great Britain. Any British inhabitants choosing to remain in Florida could do so only if they agreed to do so under Spanish law, subject to the laws of their new monarch, Carlos III.

    The first official census under the Second Spanish Period occurred in 1784, intended to record current residents and their intentions to stay and change allegiances, or to leave Florida. Beginning in 1786, the Spanish government offered land grants to white and Black men who were willing to establish residence in East Florida, owing to a royal decree recognizing the need to boost the population. In the several years that followed, considerable movement of both Spanish and British subjects in and out of Florida necessitated additional censuses, particularly in the lone major urban area in East Florida, Saint Augustine.

Summary:     This collection contains microfilmed copies of transcribed translations of East Florida censuses from the Second Spanish Period in Florida. Included are the 1783 Spanish Census of Florida; the 1786 Saint Augustine census of Father Hassett; a 1793 Saint Augustine census by street with a name index; and an 1814 census of various areas in East Florida, including Pablo and Fernandina; Talbot, Amelia, and Shell Islands; St. Mary, St. Johns, and Nassau Rivers; and the Spanish Mosquito Territory. In addition to the censuses, the microfilm contains copies of genealogical documents related to John Carroll Houston, whose family were early settlers in Pablo, Florida.

Finding Aids: Microfilm listing available. 0
Additional Physical Form:
Reproduction Note: Microfilm.
Location of Originals/Duplicates:
Associated Materials: See "East Florida Papers" at P. K. Yonge Library, University of Florida.
Language Notes:
Ownership/Custodial History:
Publication Note:
General Note: See case file for additional information about where to locate records on the Second Spanish Period.
Electronic Records Access:
Subject Access Fields: Houston, John Carroll, 1813-1885
Census.
Census records. aat
Amelia Island (Fla.)
East Florida.
Fernandina (Fla.)
Florida Census
Florida History To 1821
Saint Augustine (Fla.)
Added Entries