About Family History Research in New Jersey
Map of New Netherland and New England in 1685
New Jersey is a great place to do research because of the wealth of historical material that can be found at the state's many archives, libraries, and other repositories. Some of New Jersey's best resources for historical research can be found at the state capital in Trenton. In addition to state level archives, records can also be located at the local level at county courthouses, public libraries, churches, town clerks' offices, cemeteries, and local historical societies. Many records are also now available online at a number of great websites like Ancestry.com and FamilySearch, both of which have searchable databases consisting of billions of records relating to the history of New Jersey.
Records for the entire state of New Jersey can be found at the New Jersey State Archives and New Jersey State Library in Trenton. These records include property deeds, court records, newspapers, local histories, immigration records, estate files, tax lists, vital records, biographies, and other types of records for all of the state's 21 counties. Both of these places house billions of records relating to New Jersey history and genealogy and are definitely worth a visit to help expand your family history research in the state.
There are a number of ways to get copies of vital records (birth, marriage, and death certificates) in New Jersey. New Jersey began statewide registration of vital records in 1848, and the New Jersey State Archives has vital records available on microfilm from 1848 through 1915. Records from 1916 to the present day can be ordered from the New Jersey State Department of Health. Birth records are available to researchers for births that occurred at least 80 years ago, marriages that occurred 50 years ago, and death records that occurred at least 40 years ago. Access to copies of more recent vital records is restricted to immediate family members.
The Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah also holds a large collection of historical records relating to the state of New Jersey. This is the largest and most important genealogy collection in the world and is worth a visit to explore the many billions of records that can be found there. Published material consists of books, microfilm, microfiche, and other records for the 21 counties of New Jersey. The Family History Library also has smaller family history centers located throughout the world where you can order microfilm and have these records shipped from Utah to the local area where you live. The library has also transcribed and indexed millions of New Jersey vital, immigration, census, military, and other records which are available to view or download online at FamilySearch.org.
Records for the entire state of New Jersey can be found at the New Jersey State Archives and New Jersey State Library in Trenton. These records include property deeds, court records, newspapers, local histories, immigration records, estate files, tax lists, vital records, biographies, and other types of records for all of the state's 21 counties. Both of these places house billions of records relating to New Jersey history and genealogy and are definitely worth a visit to help expand your family history research in the state.
There are a number of ways to get copies of vital records (birth, marriage, and death certificates) in New Jersey. New Jersey began statewide registration of vital records in 1848, and the New Jersey State Archives has vital records available on microfilm from 1848 through 1915. Records from 1916 to the present day can be ordered from the New Jersey State Department of Health. Birth records are available to researchers for births that occurred at least 80 years ago, marriages that occurred 50 years ago, and death records that occurred at least 40 years ago. Access to copies of more recent vital records is restricted to immediate family members.
The Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah also holds a large collection of historical records relating to the state of New Jersey. This is the largest and most important genealogy collection in the world and is worth a visit to explore the many billions of records that can be found there. Published material consists of books, microfilm, microfiche, and other records for the 21 counties of New Jersey. The Family History Library also has smaller family history centers located throughout the world where you can order microfilm and have these records shipped from Utah to the local area where you live. The library has also transcribed and indexed millions of New Jersey vital, immigration, census, military, and other records which are available to view or download online at FamilySearch.org.
Immigration to New Jersey
Cunard Passenger Log Book 1894
For almost 400 years, New York City and Philadelphia have been the two main ports of entry for immigrants arriving to New Jersey. During the 1600s, many immigrants came to the area from England, France, Scotland, Sweden, and the Netherlands. The 1700s witnessed a continued influx of British immigrants along with new arrivals from places like Ireland and Germany. From 1855 to 1924, during the largest immigration wave in U.S. history, many immigrants came to America and settled in New Jersey. The largest groups to arrive during this time period were Germans, Irish, Italians and Eastern European Jews. After World War II, people came from even farther afield from countries located in the Middle East, Caribbean, Asia, Africa, and Latin America.
Information relating to your immigrant ancestors can be found at National Archives (NARA) records centers in places like New York City and Philadelphia, and at the New Jersey State Archives in Trenton. The New York Public Library in New York City also has a large collection of ships' passengers lists on microfilm, as well as many other records relating to historical immigration in the area. Websites like Ancestry.com and FamilySearch.org also have large databases of New Jersey immigration and naturalization records that are available to search online.
Many immigrants became naturalized U.S. citizens at courts throughout the state of New Jersey. Records relating to your ancestors' citizenship can thus often be found at county courthouses when they're not available for download online, or on microfilm at places like the Family History Library, NARA, and New Jersey State Archives. Locating these records can sometimes prove difficult and time-consuming. However, immigration records are some of the most widely used in New Jersey family history research and can provide you with a wealth of detail about your ancestor's life story and origins.
If your ultimate goal is to trace your ancestry beyond New Jersey to your family's place of origin overseas, it is important to first locate the many different types of records that your immigrant ancestors left behind in New Jersey. Records like ships' passenger lists, declarations of intention, naturalization petitions, census records, military records, vital records, obituaries, and cemetery records can often provide you with information about your ancestor's birthplace, names of relatives, and other important information. This will help you narrow down your search parameters when your ancestry search continues overseas. It is generally not possible to locate family records in places like Russia, Germany, Poland, or Italy without first conducting extensive research in the USA.
Information relating to your immigrant ancestors can be found at National Archives (NARA) records centers in places like New York City and Philadelphia, and at the New Jersey State Archives in Trenton. The New York Public Library in New York City also has a large collection of ships' passengers lists on microfilm, as well as many other records relating to historical immigration in the area. Websites like Ancestry.com and FamilySearch.org also have large databases of New Jersey immigration and naturalization records that are available to search online.
Many immigrants became naturalized U.S. citizens at courts throughout the state of New Jersey. Records relating to your ancestors' citizenship can thus often be found at county courthouses when they're not available for download online, or on microfilm at places like the Family History Library, NARA, and New Jersey State Archives. Locating these records can sometimes prove difficult and time-consuming. However, immigration records are some of the most widely used in New Jersey family history research and can provide you with a wealth of detail about your ancestor's life story and origins.
If your ultimate goal is to trace your ancestry beyond New Jersey to your family's place of origin overseas, it is important to first locate the many different types of records that your immigrant ancestors left behind in New Jersey. Records like ships' passenger lists, declarations of intention, naturalization petitions, census records, military records, vital records, obituaries, and cemetery records can often provide you with information about your ancestor's birthplace, names of relatives, and other important information. This will help you narrow down your search parameters when your ancestry search continues overseas. It is generally not possible to locate family records in places like Russia, Germany, Poland, or Italy without first conducting extensive research in the USA.
Getting Started with Your Research
New Jersey State Flag
Many people wonder where they should begin with their family history research in New Jersey. If you are new to genealogical research, the first thing you'll need to do is to start building a family tree with the information you already have at your disposal. There are some great genealogy software programs available that will help you get started with this process. Family Tree Maker, Legacy Family Tree, Family Historian, and RootsMagic all make great programs that can help you organize your research.
Get started by first creating a pedigree chart for yourself and family group sheets for your parents, grandparents, and other close family members. You can download free copies of these forms at FamilySearch.org and Ancestry.com. You can also create these records using a genealogy software program. Family group sheets allow you to record information like family members' birth dates, marriage dates, death dates, burial places, spouses' names, and other information that will be helpful to you as your research progresses. Interview living relatives and take notes about the major events of their lives. Add this information to your family files so that you will have a strong foundation of information as you move forward with your project.
During the initial stages of your research, you can accomplish a great deal using online resources. It is highly recommended that you get subscriptions to websites like Ancestry.com and Fold3.com to help with your ongoing research. Information can also be found online at FamilySearch.org. Many types of records including censuses, World War I draft registration cards, naturalization records, and Social Security Death Index are available online and will help you put in place the building blocks for the first part of your family tree. Using a combination of online resources along with more traditional archival research at places like the New Jersey State Library and NARA will allow you to create a thoroughly documented family history.
A professional genealogist could also be helpful to your research in New Jersey. With the expertise and knowledge of a skilled researcher, you can have someone visit local archives and libraries on your behalf throughout the state of New Jersey. This is especially helpful if you don't live in the area and don't have ready access to court, land, and many other types of records that can often only be found after a visit to a local county courthouse, public library, historical society, or town clerk's office. If you would like a professional genealogist to assist you with your ongoing research in New Jersey and elsewhere, please click here.
It is important when carrying out your research that you are thorough in documenting your family tree. Don't overlook the importance of finding your ancestor's siblings, cousins, and other close relatives. Brick walls are often encountered in genealogical research. To get beyond an apparent impasse it is often worthwhile to approach your research holistically. Many researchers who are new to genealogy often just want to get back as far as possible along a direct paternal or maternal family line. However, it is often the death certificates, obituaries, or other records of your direct ancestor's siblings or other close relatives that will provide you with the breakthroughs you are looking for.
Get started by first creating a pedigree chart for yourself and family group sheets for your parents, grandparents, and other close family members. You can download free copies of these forms at FamilySearch.org and Ancestry.com. You can also create these records using a genealogy software program. Family group sheets allow you to record information like family members' birth dates, marriage dates, death dates, burial places, spouses' names, and other information that will be helpful to you as your research progresses. Interview living relatives and take notes about the major events of their lives. Add this information to your family files so that you will have a strong foundation of information as you move forward with your project.
During the initial stages of your research, you can accomplish a great deal using online resources. It is highly recommended that you get subscriptions to websites like Ancestry.com and Fold3.com to help with your ongoing research. Information can also be found online at FamilySearch.org. Many types of records including censuses, World War I draft registration cards, naturalization records, and Social Security Death Index are available online and will help you put in place the building blocks for the first part of your family tree. Using a combination of online resources along with more traditional archival research at places like the New Jersey State Library and NARA will allow you to create a thoroughly documented family history.
A professional genealogist could also be helpful to your research in New Jersey. With the expertise and knowledge of a skilled researcher, you can have someone visit local archives and libraries on your behalf throughout the state of New Jersey. This is especially helpful if you don't live in the area and don't have ready access to court, land, and many other types of records that can often only be found after a visit to a local county courthouse, public library, historical society, or town clerk's office. If you would like a professional genealogist to assist you with your ongoing research in New Jersey and elsewhere, please click here.
It is important when carrying out your research that you are thorough in documenting your family tree. Don't overlook the importance of finding your ancestor's siblings, cousins, and other close relatives. Brick walls are often encountered in genealogical research. To get beyond an apparent impasse it is often worthwhile to approach your research holistically. Many researchers who are new to genealogy often just want to get back as far as possible along a direct paternal or maternal family line. However, it is often the death certificates, obituaries, or other records of your direct ancestor's siblings or other close relatives that will provide you with the breakthroughs you are looking for.
New Jersey County Records
Many New Jersey family records can be found online and at various archives and libraries located throughout the state of New Jersey. Many millions of records aren't yet available online, though, and many of these are awaiting your discovery at the local level at county courthouses, historical societies, churches, town clerks' offices, cemeteries, and elsewhere in New Jersey. To find these and other records, click on the links below to find more information about the specific counties where your ancestors lived in New Jersey. You'll find information on these pages that will lead you to the specific documentation you're searching for.
It is important to keep in mind when doing research that the names and boundaries of certain counties in New Jersey have changed over the past few hundred years. Your ancestors may have lived on a certain farm in one county and when borders were redrawn records relating to your family history might have been located in another area entirely. When searching for land, court, tax, and other records it is also a good idea to search for these records in adjacent counties. Following is a complete list of New Jersey's 21 counties along with their formation dates, county seats, and names of parent counties.
It is important to keep in mind when doing research that the names and boundaries of certain counties in New Jersey have changed over the past few hundred years. Your ancestors may have lived on a certain farm in one county and when borders were redrawn records relating to your family history might have been located in another area entirely. When searching for land, court, tax, and other records it is also a good idea to search for these records in adjacent counties. Following is a complete list of New Jersey's 21 counties along with their formation dates, county seats, and names of parent counties.
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County
Atlantic County Bergen County Burlington County Camden County Cape May County Cumberland County Essex County Gloucester County Hudson County Hunterdon County Mercer County Middlesex County Monmouth County Morris County Ocean County Passaic County Salem County Somerset County Sussex County Union County Warren County |
Formation Date
1837 1675 1681 1844 1685 1748 1675 1686 1840 1714 1838 1675 1675 1739 1850 1837 1681 1688 1753 1857 1824 |
County Seat
Mays Landing Hackensack Mount Holly Township Camden Cape May Courthouse Bridgeton Newark Woodbury Jersey City Flemington Trenton New Brunswick Freehold Borough Morristown Toms River Paterson Salem Somerville Newton Elizabeth Belvidere |
Parent County
Gloucester County Original county Original county Gloucester County Burlington County Salem County Original county Burlington County Bergen County Burlington County Various counties Original county Original county Hunterdon County Monmouth County Bergen & Essex Counties Original county Middlesex County Morris County Essex County Sussex County |
USA State Resources
Follow the links below to find many other helpful resources available in the U.S. states where your ancestors lived in the past.
Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming
Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming