from America's Oldest
Paris5 Archive 1594-1821
Consisting of more than 8000 hight-resolution images of original colonial-era documents, you can browse the entire collection or customize your search using dynamic filters and keywords. Enter the Archive to begin!
Complete transcription appear in Latin and Spanish, each accompanied by English translations!
Test your skills by hiding the transcription and try to decipther centuries-old script. Select pages include an interactive paleography tool that display the letters, as they appear in the original document, when you hover your mouse over the word!
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Use dynamic filters, create and compare information pulled from one of the world´s largest populations databases for colonial America.
Search biographic database!
Containing information on more that 100,000 people who once called la Florida home, this searchable database is one of the world´s largest for any area of colonial America.
Featured documents
On Friday, December 16, 1791, Father Miguel O'Reilly baptized an infant boy, moreno of color, born ten days earlier. Father O'Reilly named the child Antonio Joseph Maria Evestrit. The infant's parents, identified as free blacks, were both natives of "North America." Click to read the complete baptism entry or browse thousands of other baptism records.
Source: Diocesan Archive of St. Augustine, Book 17, Baptisms-Colored (1784-1792), IMG 2737
Featured documents
María Serafina Frost was a native of Ogeechee, Georgia. Her August 23, 1795 baptism record identifies her as a thirty-year-old widow of Anglican faith. In the presence of Father Miguel O'Reilly and two other witnesses, María, in a clear and raised voice, humbly requested to be admitted into the Holy Mother Church. Having examined her in Christian doctrine, Father O'Reilly officiated a conditional baptism. View this lengthy entry to learn more about Maria Serafina Frost.
Source: Diocesan Archive of St. Augustine, Book 23, Baptisms-White (1793-1807), IMG 3682
Featured documents
On Sunday, July 12, 1789, Father Thomas Hassett buried a newborn child, a mulata named Juana Zespedes. The daughter of Ana Josefa and an "unknown white father," Juana's burial entry records that she died immediately after birth, having received holy baptism. She was buried the following day in the cemetery of St. Augustine's parish church.
Source: Diocesan Archive of St. Augustine, Book 22, Burials-Colored (1785-1821), IMG 3597
Featured documents
View November 1, 1789 marriage entry that records the union between Juan de Dios, single, indio of the Yuchi nation, and the india, Maria Rosario de la Cruz, widow. Father Thomas Hassett officiated the ceremony in the presence of two other witnesses, don Gonzalo Zamorana and doña Victoriana Guillen.
Source: Diocesan Archive of St. Augustine, Book 18, Marriages-White (1784-1809), IMG 2878
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St Augustine´s Colonial Parish Records
Housed in the diocesan archive of St Augustine, Florida, these records date back to 1594. Each page holds rich details about colonial life in La Florida. The collection is organized by sacrament, including baptism, death and burial, confirmation, and marriage records.
Learn more about the collection in Building Lost Voices.
What you MIGHT find...
Each of the sacraments can include:
- + date of event
- + event location
- + name of parent(s)
- + name of godparent(s) or sponsor(s)
- + documented Race
- + Enslavement status
- + occupations
Baptisms
date of birth
legitimacy status
church name
emergency baptism details
Death and Burials
date of death
cause of death
testament details
last rites details
Marriages
name of previous spouse(s)
original place of residence
veiling and nuptial details
slave holder names
What you NOT find...
The sacraments typically do NOT include
- - date of arrival in Florida
- - land transaction record
- -petitions or application for matrimonny
- - precise age at time or event
- - precise location of residence
- - Etestament details
*There are exceptions, however dates and ages are rarely precise