The Online Catalog allows searching and browsing of information about the Florida State Archives’ holdings of over 48,000 cubic feet of state and local government records and historical manuscripts. The catalog provides descriptions of over 3,400 collections and lists the contents of containers and folders in many of those collections. For assistance with accessing and using State Archives collections, call our Reference Staff at 850.245.6719 or email us at archives@dos.myflorida.com.
Byrd, Bernard, Bradford, Taylor, and Tilden family papers, ca. 1918-2000.
Amount:
1.00 cubic ft.
Medium Included:
Organization/Arrangement:
By subject.
Restrictions:
Terms Governing Use:
Biographical/Historical:
The Bernard, Blake, Bradford, and Byrd families came to Leon County, Florida in the early 1800s and eventually became linked through marriage. According to family records, none of the original surnames survive; today they are carried on by the descendants as first and middle names. The families arrived in Leon County in wagons and survived the Civil War. The families spent many summer vacations at either St. Teresa or Lanark on the Gulf of Mexico, and described several of these vacations in a family book titled, "Tides That Bind."
In the early 1800s, Thomas Blake Byrd opened a grocery business in Tallahassee. Throughout its operation, the grocery store had three different addresses and name changes: first on the west side of Monroe Street between College and Park Avenue (near Calhoun); then at 211 East Tennessee Street as T. B. Byrd & Son; and finally at 1101 Thomasville Road as Byrd's Grocery & Market. The store closed in 1965.
Elizabeth (Doc) Byrd Taylor (1903-1985) graduated from Florida State College for Women in 1926. After four months of training at the State Board of Health Laboratory in Jacksonville, Elizabeth took charge of the branch laboratory in Tallahassee. On October 28, 1930, she married building contractor Robert A. Taylor and became involved in numerous community service activities. The Taylors had two children: Martha Taylor Tilden (b. 1940) and Robert (b. 1943).
Summary:
This collection contains letters, photographs, business records, and other papers documenting Tallahassee's prominent Bernard, Blake, Bradford, and Byrd families over much of the 20th century. Among the papers are family vacation and school photographs, Elizabeth Byrd's school memory book, World War II ration booklets for the Taylor family, Welcome Wagon reports, Robert A. Taylor's World War II military identification card. The Byrd family grocery store business records include invoices; correspondence from the Office of Price Administration regarding the rationing of items; mileage ration identification folders, weekly operations reports, and tire inspection reports for the store vehicles; and Egg and Poultry Dealer's Certificates.
Finding Aids:
Folder listing available. 0
Additional Physical Form:
Reproduction Note:
Location of Originals/Duplicates:
Associated Materials:
For more materials related to the Byrd and Bradford families, see Collection M85-23, Augustus Bernard Byrd, Tallahassee Photographs, 1899-1945 (12 items); and Collection M85-10, Sallie G. Bradford, Walnut Hill Labor Farm Record of Enslaved Births and Deaths, 1860-1876 (1 volume).
Language Notes:
Ownership/Custodial History:
Publication Note:
General Note:
Electronic Records Access:
Subject Access Fields:
Bernard family. Bradford family. Byrd family. Taylor family.
Family Florida General stores Florida Grocers Florida World War, 1939-1945 Florida Youth Societies and clubs
Business records. aat Clippings. aat Diaries. aat Letters. aat Poetry. aat Programs. aat Reports. aat
Tallahassee (Fla.)
for detailed listing.