Baker County, Florida Genealogy

Guide to Baker County Florida ancestry, family history, and genealogy. Birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, family history, and military records.

United States   Florida    Baker County

County Courthouse


Baker County Courthouse 339 E MacClenny Avenue MacClenny, FL 32063-2100 Phone: 904.259.3121

County Judge has marriage and probate records Circuit Court has divorce and court records from 1880

Parent County
1861--Baker County was created 8 February 1861 from New River county. New River County's name was changed to Bradford in 1861. County seat: MacClenny

(Macclenny was once called Darbyville but was changed in 1890 to Macclenny.)

Baker County was named in honor of James McNair Baker. Baker was the former Judge of the Fourth Judicial District of the state of Florida, which included the Baker County area at the time (History of Baker County).

The majority of the pre civil war settlers who came to the area now known as Baker County were hunters and farmers. However after the war industries involving turpentine and logging brought a greater number of northern settlers because of the higher opportunity for employment. The county seat was first in Sanderson. Later however, after the burning of the Sanderson courthouse in 1877 and also with pressure from Darbyville settlers, a vote was held to determine the county seat. On February 22, 1886 a votes rendering results with only 23 more votes in favor of the county seat being in Darbyville. The county seat was then moved to Darbyville, presently known as Macclenny. Darbyville was named after the Darby family who owned a lot of the land in the area. When Carr Bowers McClenny married one of the Darby girls he purchased most of the land. This brought about the new name of the area in 1890 and it has stayed Macclenny ever since. (Step Back in Time at Baker County Heritage). The area began with farming cotton and corn as the main crops followed by sugar cane, sweet potatoes and lots of leafy vegetables. After the environmental disturbance or the boll weevil which destroyed the cotton, corn took the place of Baker main crop. Selling mostly as moonshine. Some time after tobacco became the main cash crop. (History of Baker County).

Source:

"Baker County Review." History of Baker County, Florida. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Nov. 2013.http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~flbakehs/history.html

Boundary Changes
For animated maps illustrating Florida county boundary changes, "Rotating Formation Florida County Boundary Maps" (1821-1997) may be viewed for free at the MapofUS.org website.

Record Loss
1888 -- Courthouse burned and many records were damaged. For a list of record loss in Florida counties see: Florida Counties with Burned Courthouses

For further information on researching in burned counties, see the following:


 * Burned Counties Research
 * http://blogs.ancestry.com/circle/?p=2424

Populated Places
( * indicates an incorporated city or town )


 * Baxter
 * Bessent
 * Eddy
 * Glen Saint Mary*
 * Kenny
 * LaBuena
 * Macclenny* (county seat)
 * Manning
 * Manns Spur
 * Margaretta
 * McPherson
 * Olustee
 * Pine Top
 * Sanderson
 * Sapp
 * Sargent
 * Steckert
 * Taylor

Neighboring Counties

 * Bradford
 * Charlton County, Georgia
 * Clay
 * Clinch County, Georgia
 * Columbia
 * Duval
 * Nassau
 * Union
 * Ware County, Georgia

Census
The includes sex, age, relationship, occupation, place of birth of each family member and parents. Also census for agriculture, manufacture and mortality.

Church
LDS Ward and Branch Records


 * Sanderson

Maps

 * Maps of Florida (1821-1997)



Civil War Battle

 * Civil War


 * - Florida, Civil War Service Records of Confederate Soldiers, 1861-1865
 * - Florida, Civil War Service Records of Union Soldiers, 1861-1865
 * - Florida, Confederate Veterans and Widows Pension Applications, 1885-1955
 * - Florida, Confederate Pension Applications Files
 * - A Guide to Civil War Records at the State Archives of Florida

The following Civil War battle was fought in Baker County:


 * October 16-18, 1863 = Olustee, also known as Ocean Pond

Map showing Civil War battles in Florida.

Marriage

 * 1877-1900 - Baker County Marriage Index 1877-1900. Batch at FamilySearch - free.
 * 1877-1920 - Baker County Marriage Books A thru C Index 1877-1920. Batch at FamilySearch - free.
 * 1900-1919 - Baker County Marriage Book 2 Index 1900-1919. Batch at FamilySearch - free.
 * 1919-1927 - Baker County Marriage Books 3 thru 5 Index 1919-1927. Batch at FamilySearch - free.

Societies and Libraries

 * List of Florida Archives, Libraries, Publications, Historical & Genealogical Societies

Family History Centers

 * MacClenny Florida Family History Center

Web Sites

 * Baker County, FL History, Records, Facts and Genealogy
 * Florida Genealogy Network Community on Google+
 * Florida Genealogy Network Group on Facebook
 * The Baker County FLGenWeb Project, a member of The FLGenWeb Project, an affiliate of The USGenWeb Project.
 * Baker County FLGenWeb Project, Inc&lt;
 * Baker County, Florida Genealogy and Family History (Linkpendium)