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Genealogical
Research at the New Jersey Historical Society
Genealogical
research is just that, RESEARCH – research that take genealogists from the
Internet to libraries to courthouses and beyond. Although, genealogy is not the only subject we focus on at
the NJHS (a characteristic of many libraries), we have many resources that can
assist the genealogist in his or
her search. A list of the major
collections and sources for genealogy at the NJHS library are listed below.
For further assistance please consult our library staff. Cemetery Transcriptions Epitaphs
on cemetery gravestones can be useful in providing birth and death information
for an ancestor and many times these epitaphs have been transcribed and indexed.
Occasionally family relationships are also apparent (or can be explored
further) from information on gravestones and their location next to other
stones. Additional
books of cemetery records can be found by using the card catalog in the reading
room. Index To Civil War Soldiers’ Graves In New Jersey ca. 11,000 cards Location: Reading Room (Index in Card Catalog; Records at Reference Desk) Provides access to “New Jersey Regiment Infantry
Volunteers - U.S. Civil War: Burial Records by County of Veterans Who are Buried
in the State of New Jersey,” compiled by William Freck. Index by Richard Lum. Cemetery Gravestone Inscriptions 20 manuscript volumes Location: Reading Room Call# REF N 929.017 M815) Cemetery inscriptions compiled by county (exclusive of Camden, Hudson, Hunterdon, Passaic, and Warren). An index for each volume is available. Woodland Cemetery Card Index Location: Reading Room This index is an alphabetical listing of burials in Woodland Cemetery, Newark, from 1895 to the early 1980’s. The index contains the name, date of death, age, cause of death, address, plot size, and name of undertaker. The Library also holds the internment records for Woodland Cemetery (1855-1980) in one of the manuscript collections (MG 1230). Census and Tax Records The United States
government began taking a census of individuals around the country starting in
1790 and still takes a census every ten years.
Though statistics regarding the census are usually available about a year
after the taking of the census, the population schedules that show the
individual households in a town or city (and thus the most useful for
genealogists) are released 72 years afterwards. Therefore, the 1790-1930 censuses are available for research
(1930 being released in April of 2002), but no later schedules.
In addition to the census, tax records were also taken and show at least
the head of the household and the amount of taxes paid.
In New Jersey, tax lists were kept before 1790 at various times depending
on the area of the state. Jackson,
Ronald Vern. Early American
Series; Early New Jersey, 1600-1819, Bountiful, Utah: Accelerated Indexing Systems, 1980.
2 vols. Location:
Reading Room Call# REF N 312 3 J1373 New Jersey State Census, 1855 Microfilm:
3 reels Location:
Cabinet W#1 New Jersey State Census, 1865 Microfilm:
4 reels Location:
Cabinet W#1 Jackson,
Ronald Vern. New Jersey Tax
Lists, 1772-1822, Bountiful,
Utah: Accelerated Indexing Systems, 1981. 6
vols. Location:
Reading Room Call# REF N 929.3 J1371 New Jersey Tax Ratables Gift of New Jersey State Society, Daughters of American Colonists, 1960; and the Huguenot Society of New Jersey, 1961. Microfilm: 23 reels Location: Closed Stacks, Cabinet 5a Arranged by county, 1778-1832. Index on first reel. Originals
at New Jersey State Library, Trenton. United States
Federal Census – Population Schedules Microfilm: about
300 reels Location: Cabinet
W#1 The NJHS has the
federal census for the following counties in the following years: 1790
All States (hard-bound books, not microfilm) 1800
no population schedules survive for New Jersey 1810
no population schedules survive for New Jersey 1820
no population schedules survive for New Jersey 1830
All New Jersey population schedules 1840
All New Jersey population schedules 1850
All New Jersey population schedules and mortality schedules 1860
All New Jersey population schedules and mortality schedules 1870
All New Jersey population schedules and mortality schedules 1880
All New Jersey population schedules and mortality schedules, but no
soundex 1890
Jersey City population schedules and veterans’ schedules 1900
All New Jersey population schedules, but no soundex 1910
All New Jersey population schedules (no soundex was done for New Jersey) 1920
All New Jersey and soundex United States Federal Census – Indices Location: Reading
Room Call # REF N 312… The NJHS has the
following statewide indices for New Jersey: 1790, 1830, 1840, 1850, and 1860. City Directories Before telephones,
city directories provided residents with lists of businesses, government
officials and services, and other residents often alphabetically and in street
order. The Society has a large
collection of city directories of New Jersey cities on microfilm and in book
form for the 19th and 20th centuries.
See the finding guide as to the specific holdings of the library
for particular cities. Compiled Genealogical Material Many
genealogical researchers will compile the work they have completed on their
families into published genealogies or into articles in genealogical journals.
The Society also maintains files on New Jersey families that it maintains
in its family files, which contain a multitude of material.
Researchers should also consult the guide to the Family Files,
available on this web site. Family Files ca. 1,200 files Location: Closed stacks - Vertical File area. See guide. Vertical files containing miscellaneous unpublished material on New Jersey and related families. NOTE: The Library welcomes donations of family papers, originals and copies. A Family File will be started for members to include typescripts of research in progress. See Reference staff for further details. Family Genealogies Location:
Closed stacks The
Society library also has a collection of published family histories concerning
mainly New Jersey families (but a few others) that are in a closed-stack area.
Researchers should consult the library’s catalog to determine if a
genealogy has been published on their family of interest.
Call slips can be filled out to have the necessary books pulled for use. Genealogy Chart Collection Location: Closed stacks - Flat File cabinets This collection, available for use in the Library, consists of hand-written and published lineage or ancestral charts. See Reference staff for assistance. Genealogical
Magazine of New Jersey
Location: Reading Room, Call# 929 N425 Published since 1925 by the Genealogical Society of New Jersey, the journal covers family information, transcriptions of original records and various other articles in relation to New Jersey families. It is well-indexed and the Society has a complete run of the publication. [The Genealogical Society of New Jersey, P.O. Box 1291, New Brunswick, NJ 08903; http://www.rootsweb.com/~njgsnj/] Other General Published Works on New Jersey Families Cooley, Eli, et.
al. Genealogy of Early Settlers
in Trenton and Ewing, New Jersey, Trenton: W. S. Sharp, 1883. Location: Reading
Room Call# REF N 929.1 C77 Howe, Paul S.
Mayflower Pilgrim Descendants in Cape May County, Baltimore:
Genealogical Publishing Co., 1977. Location: Reading
Room Call# REF 929.1 H83 Littell, John.
Genealogies of the First Families of the Passaic Valley, Baltimore:
Genealogical Publishing Co., 1976. Location: Reading
Room Call# REF N 929.1 L717 Miles, Ann P.
Monmouth Families, King William, Va.: A.P. Miles, 1980-. 4 vols. Location: Reading
Room Call# REF N 929.1 M593 Monnette, Orra E.
First Settlers of ye Plantations of Piscataway and Woodbridge…, Los
Angeles: Leroy Carman Press, 1930-1934. 7 vols. Location: Reading
Room Call# REF N 929.1 M746 Sinclair, Donald.
New Jersey Biographical Index, Covering Some 100,000 Biographies and
Associated Portraits in 237 New Jersey Cyclopedias, Histories, Yearbooks…, Baltimore:
Genealogical Publishing Co., 1993. Location: Reference Desk
Call# REF N 920.09749 Si62 Stillwell, John E.
Historical And Genealogical Miscellany, Data Relating to the
Settlement and Settlers of New York and New Jersey, Baltimore: Genealogical
Publishing Co., 1970. 5 vols. Location: Reading
Room Call# REF N 974.9 St54 Genealogical Card Indices Some genealogical
researchers developed a series of indices on cards to help make some record
sources easier to use or to organize their own research.
The Society has several card indices of use for genealogists that contain
family relations or vital record information. Some of these indices have been microfilmed. Canfield Genealogical And Marriage Collection Location: Reading Room Genealogical card file listing name, birth, death, marriage, children, and the ancestors of the individual. Marriage card file lists name, marriage, children, and ancestors of the individual. Freeman Worth Gardner Genealogical Card Index Gift of Mrs. Gilbert B. Lanterman, 1945. ca. 35,000 cards on microfilm Location: Microfilm 3A Contains information on descendants of early families of Woodbridge, New Jersey and vicinity. Charles Carroll Gardner Genealogical Collection ca. 30,000 cards; 29 notebooks; 180 manuscript folders Location: Reading Room and Microfilm 2A Data on northern New Jersey families. Another extensive of C.C. Gardner’s later work is located at Rutgers University Library, New Brunswick, NJ as a part of the Genealogical Society of New Jersey’s collections. New Jersey Biographical Card Index ca. 80,000 cards Location: Reading Room Name index of births, marriages, and deaths compiled as a WPA project primarily from northern New Jersey newspapers in the Society’s collection (ca. 1790-1900). Some additional cards largely derived from Trinity Church, Newark burial records and from the genealogical compilations of Elmer T. Hutchinson were added in 1958. For additional information, see the first card in the file. Stelle F. Randolph Collection Location: Reading Room Card file listing name, line of descent, who the individual was a descendant of, birth, death, marriage, and children. Contains approximately ¼ Fitz Randolph surnames, and ¾ other associated surnames. Elias Boudinot Stockton Genealogical Collection Gift of the New Jersey Historical Society’s Women’s Branch, 1920. ca. 75,000 cards; 1,500 file folders Location: Microfilm 6A Stockton, a priest in the Episcopal Church, compiled information into a statewide index on New Jersey families and also some out-of-state families (though principally New York). Weyel Index To Birth And Family Records, Centerville, Bayonne: 1884-1917 Location: Reading Room Birth and family records indexed from the records of Annie Specert Weyel, a midwife. Approximately 4,000 cards identify child’s name, parents’ names and places of birth, mother’s maiden name, street address, and number of children in each family. Histories of Towns, Cities and Counties From the late 1800s
through the 1930s, authors in many counties and communities published what was
considered then (and for some places still are) the authoritative histories of
their city, town or county. Many of
these authors not only outlined the political history of the community, but also
described town fire departments cemeteries, schools, and even genealogies of
local residents. Many of these
histories came to be known as “mug books” since biographical sketches and
photographs of many residents appeared in them.
Additional histories and books can be found by using the card catalog in
the reading room. Location: Reading
Room Call# 974.91… Maps and Cartographic Records Maps and gazetteers
can also be useful in locating where ancestors were living, what town formed out
of what town, and what county a town now resides. The Society library maintains several map cases of street,
topographic, highway, and hand-drawn manuscript maps in its collection.
They are organized by place and the librarian on staff will retrieve any
for researchers. Gazetteers and place name directories are also available in
the reading room. Map Card Catalog Location: Reading
Room Contains call
numbers for all of the maps in the collection at the NJHS. New Jersey Place Name Card Catalog Location: Reading Room Military Records The following
publications will aid researchers in locating information relating to soldiers
form New Jersey who served in various wars [see also “Cemetery
Transcriptions” above]. Additional
military histories and books can be found by using the card catalog in the
reading room. However, these are
all secondary resources and for original muster rolls, service records, or
pensions, researchers should consult the National Archives web site for their
holdings of military records [http://www.nara.gov/research/ordering/milordr.html]. Boyce, Hampton V. Records of Veterans of 1812 and present Descendants, S.l.: s.n., n.d. 60 p. mimeo. Location: Reading Room Call#973.52/H189 McNally, B. Soldiers and Sailors of New Jersey in the Spanish-American War, Newark: McNally, 1898. 46 p. Location: Reading Room Call#973.89 M232 New
Jersey Adjutant General. Officers
and Men of New Jersey in Wars, 1791-1815, Trenton: State Gazette Publishing, 1909. Location:
Reading Room Call #REF 973.5 N425 New
Jersey Adjutant General. Officers
and Men from New Jersey Who Served in the War with Mexico, Trenton:
s.n., n.d. 10 leaves. Typ. Location:
New Jersey Pamphlet Collection (filed under New Jersey Adjutant General) Stryker,
William S. Official
Register of Officers and Men of New Jersey in the Revolutionary War…, 1911.
Reprint. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1967. Location:
Reading Room Call
# 973.344 N42c Stryker, William S.
Record of Officers and Men of New Jersey in the Civil War, 1861-1865, Trenton:
John L. Murphy, 1876. Location: Reading Room Call# 973.74 fn Newspapers Marriage and Death
notices, obituaries, and even birth announcements will appear in daily, weekly,
and ethnic newspapers and can be a great resource for the 19th
century forward. Local elections,
court sentencing, and even the comings and goings of residents and other society
news will appear in newspaper pages as well.
For a listing of the original and microfilm copies of newspapers at the
Society, check out the appropriate finding guides that provide a list alphabetically
by title and alphabetically by the place of publication. Newspaper Card Catalog Location: Reading
Room. A card catalog
version of our guide mentioned above listing the holdings of the NJHS. Other Record Sources The Society does
not have copies of county probate records (wills, inventories, administrations,
etc.), land deeds, nor naturalization records.
Therefore, researchers should consult the county governments, who are the
keepers of the original information [see New Jersey Genweb for more details at: http://www.rootsweb.com/~njgenweb/index.html]
or should try to order microfilm copies of these records (if available for the
appropriate time period) from the Family History Resource Centers of the Church
of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints [library catalog at: http://www.familysearch.com/Eng/Library/FHLC/frameset_fhlc.asp;
list of Family History Resource Centers at: http://www.familysearch.com/Eng/Library/FHC/frameset_fhc.asp].
The Society does have a few secondary sources that may be of some help
however and they are listed below. Some
additional books of source records can be found by using the card catalog in the
reading room. “Abstracts
of Wills,” Documents Relating to the Colonial History of the State of New Jersey [title
various and is commonly called the New Jersey Archives], 1st series, vol. 23, 30, 32, 33-43.
Trenton: MacCrellish and Quigley [publishers also vary], 1901-1949. Location:
Reading Room
Call# REF N974.9 N421 Contains
abstracts of wills from the state archives from 1670-1818. Jackson,
Ronald V. Index to New Jersey Wills, 1689-1890, The
Testators, Bountiful,
Utah: Accelerated Indexing Systems, 1979. Location:
Reading Room
Call# REF N929.3 J137 Religious Records Churches,
temples and other houses of worship often maintain membership records of their
parishioners, and depending on the religion, many also keep death, burial or
marriage records. Christian
churches will often have baptismal, confirmation, and sacramental records.
Additional church histories and
records can be found by using the card catalog in the reading room. Holland Society Of America Church Records Gift of the New Jersey Huguenot Society, 1959-1960. Microfilm: 14 reels Location: Stacks, Cabinet 9a Contains Reformed Church records from New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania. Index available. Vital Records (Births, Marriages, and Deaths) The most useful tool
for the genealogist are certainly birth, marriage, and death certificates, which
provide dates of each event and a link to other individuals whether parental, or
spousal. The state of New Jersey
started civil registration (i.e. state record keeping of births, marriages, and
deaths) in 1848, but copies of those records are not at the Society. For copies
of those records, see chart below. Prior
to 1848, other record sources should be consulted (such as church records,
census schedules, wills, etc.) since no civil registration exists.
Films
of vital records can be ordered through the Family History Centers of the Church
of Jesus-Christ of Latter-day Saints [library catalog at: http://www. familysearch.com/ Eng/Library/FHLC/frameset_fhlc.asp;
list of Family History Resource Centers at: http://www.familysearch.com/Eng/Library/FHC/frameset_fhc.asp].
Some vital record information is in other record sources at the Society
including many of the sources listed above and the list below.
Additional vital record books can be found by using the card catalog in
the reading room. Family Bible Records ca. 400 files Location: Stacks - Vertical File area Photocopies and typescripts of family Bible records. See the finding guide for a list of surnames included within the collection. Nelson, William. New Jersey Marriages, 1665-1800, Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1967. Location: Reading Room Call# 929.3 N33 |
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