The West Florida Colonists Descendants Certificate Program is open to all those persons who can prove descent from a person who lived in the Pensacola area before July 17, 1821, the date when Andrew Jackson accepted the territory from Spain on behalf of the United States. The area for inhabitation is from the Perdido River east to the Yellow River and north to the 31st parallel.

The applicant must prove that their ancestor or ancestors lived in Old West Florida before it became a United States territory (include documentation). Then they must show ascent from themselves to the ancestor or ancestors. The applicant should submit their proof on pedigree charts and family group sheets for each generation. These forms must be submitted to the West Florida Genealogical Society,

P. O. Box 947, Pensacola, FL 32594 before August 3, 1998.

The applicant may show descent from a Colonist who has already been proven by The Galvez Celebration Committee (1981) or the Florida Pioneer Descendants Certificate Program. If you are claiming using the data from the Galvez Celebration please submit a copy of your certificate and data submitted. If you are claiming using the data from the Florida Pioneer descendants Certificate Program, please submit the "Schedule of References for Lineage" plus documentation back prior to the forming of the territory.

A certificate will be awarded to each applicant who fulfills these requirements.

A representative from each Colonist family will be asked to participate in a parade to beheld at the Pensacola Naval Air Station on November 21, 1998

Colonial Inhabitants of West Florida proven by the Galvez Committee:

Pedro de ALBA Jose MAURA

Mariana Pingrow BONIFAY William MCVOY

Josefa CABERA Fernando MORENO

Thomas COMMYNS Ysabel NICHOL

Francisco DAUPHIN Francisco PALMES

Francisco DE LA RUA Maria Josefa Antonia RODRIQUEZ

Josefa FALCON Salvador RUBY

Andrea GONZALEZ Pedro SUAREZ

Salvador GUERRA John SUNDAY

Ysabel HIDALGO

When filling out the application, pedigree charts and family group sheets certain standards should be used:

1. The dates are filled out consistently as day, month (abbreviated), year (full).

Example: 10 Jan 1821

2. Localities are filled out using the smallest area first; city, county/parish, state and country. Example: Pensacola, Escambia, FL

3. Do not abbreviate names or use just initials or nicknames. Record the name as found in the source documents.

4. All women maintain their maiden names.

5. Information should be typed (with a new ribbon) or printed in black ink.

A list of primary sources is available upon request from the West Florida Genealogical Society.

BIBLIOGRAPHY OF RESOURCES FOR WEST FLORIDA RESEARCH

Tracking the Ancestor:

Libro primero de Confirmaciones de esta Parroquia de Sn. Luis de la Nueva Orleans,

contener folios y de principio al folio 1, consigne hasta g Dios No Senor ... ea servido : Confirmacion<e>s = First book of Confirmations of this Parish of St. Louis of New Orleans, containing folios from the beginning up to the present. Published: New Orleans : Genealogical Research Society of New Orleans, c1967.

Louisiana census and militia lists, 1770-1789. Compiled, translated, and edited by Albert J. Robichaux, Jr. Published: New Orleans : Polyanthos ; c1973-1977.

Louisiana marriages : a collection of marriage records from the St. Louis Cathedral in New Orleans during the Spanish regime and the early American period, 1784-1806 / edited by Alice Daly Forsyth ; with an introduction by Jack Belsom. Published: New Orleans : Polyanthos, 1977

Index to Archives of Spanish West Florida 1782-1810, by Stanley Clisby Arthur. Publisher: New Orleans: Polyanthos Press, 1975.

Indexes to the Dispatches of the Spanish Governors of Louisiana, 1766-1792, by Stanley Clisby Arthur. Publisher: New Orleans: Polyanthos Press, 1975.

Pensacola Settlers and Soldiers, 1781-1821 (an undocumented manuscript) by Jack D. L. Holmes

(abt 1976) Copies may be found at John C. Pace Library (UWF), Pensacola Historical Resource Center (Pensacola Historical Society) and other regional facilities.

Indian Traders of the Southeastern Spanish Borderlands : Panton, Leslie & Company and John Forbes & Company, 1783-1847 / William S. Coker, Thomas D. Watson ; foreword by J. Leitch Wright, Jr. Published: Gainesville, FL : University Presses of Florida ; Pensacola : University of West Florida Press, c1986.

The Spanish censuses of Pensacola, 1784-1820 : a genealogical guide to Spanish Pensacola by William S. Coker and G. Douglas Inglis ; indexes by Polly Coker. Published: Pensacola, Fla. : Perdido Bay Press, 1980.

St. Michael's Church Records, "Baptismal Records of Negroes, 1817-1882" Reel 1, vol. 3.- "Marriage Records of Whites, 1811-1886" Reel 3, vol 8.

St. Michael's Cemetery 1807-?, by Lola Lee Daniell Bruington, Manuscript for NSDAR Library (1938) and published with additions (1986).

American State Papers: Class I. Foreign relations. 6 v. 1st Cong.-20th Cong., 1st sess., April 30, 1789-May 24, 1828 -- Class II. Indian affairs. 2 v. 1st Cong.-19th Cong., May 25, 1789-March 1, 1827 -- Class III. Finanace. 5 v. 1st Cong.- 20th Cong., 1st sess., April 11, 1789-May 16, 1828 -- Class IV. Commerce and navigation. 2 v. 1st Cong.-17th Cong., April 13, 1789-Feb. 25, 1823 -- Class V. Military affairs. 7 v. 1st Cong.-25th Cong., 2d sess., Aug. 10, 1789-March 1, 1838 -- Class VI. Naval affairs. 4 v. 3d Cong.-24th Cong., 1st sess., Jan 20, 1794-June 15, 1836 -- Class VII. Postoffice department. 1 v. 1st Cong., 2d sess.-22d Cong., Jan. 22, 1790-Feb. 21, 1883 -- Class VIII. Public lands. 8 v. 1st Cong.-24th Cong., July 1, 1790-Feb. 28, 1837 -- Class IX. Claims. 1 v. 1st Cong., 2d sess.-17th Cong., Feb. 5, 1790-March 3, 1823 -- Class X. Miscellaneous. 2 v. 1st Cong.-17th Cong., April 17, 1789-March 3, 1823.

ASP, Congressional Information Service. CIS U.S. serial set index. Published: Washington : Congressional Information Service, c1975- (GOV DOCS microfiche)

American State Papers, also hard copy and microfilm. Check general stacks & Special Collections.

Division "D" (private land claims division) microform : the British West Florida papers. Published: Washington, D.C. National Archives, General Services Division, 1968. Description: v. notes: Microcopy #RG49. Best copy that can be made. Poor original. Contents: Roll no. 1 -- Alphabetical abstract of British grants in West Florida. ca. 1765-1770. 2 volumes. -- List of private claims in West Florida. 1856. 1 volume. -- Index to the West Florida reports. Undated. 1 volume. -- Copies of conveyances, Pensacola, Florida. 1765-1766. 2 volumes. --Chronological abstract of British grants in West Florida. 1766-1777. 1 volume. -- British West Florida Land records. 1770-1779. Unbound. Roll no. 2 -- British West Florida claims records. 1760-1800. Unbound. -- Roll no. 3 -- Report of the commissioners for ascertaining claims and titles to land within the district of West Florida. 1824. 1 volume. -- Abstracts of Spanish records and archives in West Florida. 1828-1829. 1 volume. -- Report of the Register and Receiver of West Florida upon claims founded on habitation and cultivation. 1819-1824. 1 volume. Reproduction note: Microfilm. Pensacola, Fla. : University of West Florida, <1985>. 3 microfilm reels :

Spanish land grants in Florida; briefed translations from the archives of the Board of commissioners for ascertaining claims and titles to land in the territory of Florida ... Prepared by the Historical records survey, Division of professional and service projects, WPA. Published: Tallahassee, Fl., State Library Board, 1940-41. Description: 5 v. in 3. 28 cm.

Notes: Reproduced from type-written copy. Contents: I. Unconfirmed claims--II. Confirmed claims: A--B--C-- III. Confirmed claims: D--J.-- IV. Confirmed claims: K--R-- V. Confirmed claims: S-Z.
Letter from the secretary of the Treasury, transmitting copies of the reports of the Commissioners of land claims, in East and West Florida. Published: Washington, Printed by Gales & Seaton, 1825. Series note: <18th Cong., 2nd sess. House. Doc. 111> Notes: Read, and referred to the Committee on the public lands, February 22, 1825. Reports on West Florida dated Nov. 12, 1824, and Jan. 20, 1825. The first report is signed by Samuel R. Overton, Joseph M. White and Craven P. Luckert: the second by Overton and White. Report of "Commissioners appointed to ascertain claims and titles to lands in East Florida", dated Jan 1, 1825, and signed by Davis Floyd, George Murray and W. H. Allen.

Spanish Plat Book of Land Records of the District of Pensacola, Province of West Florida - British and Spanish Land Grants 1763 - 1821, translated manuscript by Fernando J. Moreno 1895, compiled by Billie Ford Snider and Janice B. Palmer, 1994. Publisher: Antique Compiling (Fire Housse Printe Shoppe, Pensacola, FL)

Proving Ascent of Applicant:

Florida State Censuses; 1945, 1935 & 1885

Federal Censuses for Florida; 1920, 1910, 1900, 1880, 1870, 1860, 1850, 1840, 1830

Vital Records: Church, birth, marriage, death & obituaries

Probate and Land Records

Family Bibles