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Record Group Number: 900000
Series/Collection Number: M96- 4
Creator: Bay County Genealogical Society
Title, Dates: Bay County and Brake Funeral Home burial records, 1858-1995.
Amount: 1.00 microfilm reel 16 mm.
Medium Included:
Organization/Arrangement: Alphabetical.
Restrictions:
Terms Governing Use:
Biographical/Historical:     The Bay County Genealogical Society organized in September 1980 with a dedication "to the advancement, education, promotion of family history research, and to the preservation and distribution of historical records related to Bay County, Florida, and surrounding areas." Society members and volunteers undertake projects to advance this cause, including indexing projects for cemeteries, obituaries, and vital records.

    The Florida Legislature created Bay County on April 14, 1913, from parts of Calhoun and Washington Counties (Chapter 6505, Laws of Florida). Bay County contains 38 cemeteries, including the historically Black Gainer, Hillside, Lynn Haven Community, and Redwood cemeteries. In 1905, Arthur H. Brake founded Brake Funeral Home. Brake was the first licensed director in the Bay County area. In 1935, he turned the business over to his son, who sold the business to T. Woody Smith in 1946.

Summary:     This collection consists of the information recorded from the headstones of cemeteries in Bay County, Florida, and the burial records of the Brake Funeral Home, which operated in several locations in Bay County. Members of the Bay County Genealogical Society recorded the headstone information between 1990 and 1995, and it contains genealogically relevant information from the 38 cemeteries in Bay County, including four Black cemeteries. The earliest dated headstone appears to be 1858.

    The information from Brake Funeral Home is not a microfilm copy of the original records. Rather, it is information compiled by the Bay County Genealogical Society and does not contain complete records of the Brake Funeral Home. Included is the deceased's name, place of residence, age, date of death, and remarks made by funeral home staff. The column headed by the letter "R" denotes the race of the 114 Black individuals tended to by funerary staff, including five unidentified persons. The column headed "Res" lists the place of residence of the deceased. Not included on the microfilm is the cause of death, date of burial, and the name of the person who ordered the service.

Finding Aids: Microfilm listing available. 0
Additional Physical Form:
Reproduction Note: Microfilm.
Location of Originals/Duplicates:
Associated Materials: For more records created or indexed by the Bay County Genealogical Society, see the databases available on the Society's website: http://www.nwfgenealogy.com/
Language Notes:
Ownership/Custodial History:
Publication Note:
General Note:
Electronic Records Access:
Subject Access Fields: Cemeteries Florida
Cemeteries Florida --Bay County
Burial records. aat
Bay County (Fla.)
Added Entries Brake Funeral Home (Bay County, Fla.)