I wanted to share, as this was quite the project. I have always been told that I was a 7th generation Floridian. Thanks to some other family members, I had much of the information for my family tree. I was always happy to leave it be with names and dates.
Then, crazy me, came across an article about designating ancestors to be Florida State Pioneers--those who were in the State before Statehood in 1845. There is another designation for those who were here between March 3, 1845 and Dec 31, 1900. Altogether, I got nine of my ancestors approved to be either Pioneers or Settlers and Builders.
The initial application, along with the directions, was 17 pages. It intimidated me, so I put it off for many years! I came across it recently and thought I had the information needed. Silly me! Just because someone owns land in Florida doesn't make them a resident. Just because they were married in Florida doesn't make them a resident. No birth certificates. No death certificates for most of them. Some information was found on the FamilySearch site.
The application I sent in was 115 pages in length. They sent me back a 7-page letter asking for more details, more proof. In the end, I didn't quite have enough proof to connect a daughter to her dad (since not many records exist for women back in the early 1800s).
All the paperwork gets recorded in the Florida State Archives.
Very nice! It's was hard to find a native Floridian in the 80s when I was there- got to be harder now with all the transplants. My ex was born and raised in Apopka and still lives somewhere around there.
@bluemoon oh, there were times I had to question my sanity! At one point, I put it aside for a few weeks. The chair of the Pioneer Committee was my cheerleader. Without her, it would not have gotten done. In fact,it is because of her that I went that far back.
June 24th, 2024
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