Guidelines for Submitting Queries

Members of the Genealogical Society of Bergen County may submit without charge four queries each year.

Queries will be researched by the GSBC Library Patron Volunteer Staff members as time permits, and may also be published in the Archivist. Replies to the queries that are received by the GSBC will also be published in the Archivist.

Queries submitted by non-members will be researched and/or published if accompanied by a payment of $5.00 (see below).

We can only do Obituary lookups if you have an approximate date (within a month). Please note that the only newspapers we have access to are:

• Ridgewood News (from Jan 4, 1973)
• Ridgewood Sunday News (1973 - Aug 4, 2001)
• Ridgewood Herald (Jul 1901 - 1940)
• Ridgewood Herald News (1940 - 1972)
• Ridgewood Sunday News (1940 - 1972)
• Bergen County Democrat (Dec 27, 1861 - Sep 20, 1907) A transcription (made by Pat Wardell) of a number of years has been published in the Archivist
• Hackensack Republican (Apr 3, 1873 - Feb 4, 1909)
• New Jersey Citizen (May 18, 1871 - May 12, 1874)
• Bergen Index (Feb 27, 1875 - Dec 30, 1895)
• The Record (from 1970)
• New York Times (1851 - 1995), and online
• We have some indexes to other local papers for the years 1967 - 1980, and 1974-1987, but we might not have the paper itself.

We only have access to the city directories of Ridgewood and surrounding towns: Midland Park, Glen Rock, Fair Lawn, and Hohokus. The date range is 1926-1973.

Check our Vital Records listing to see what we have available.

When submitting a query:

• Be brief and concise, but give as much clearly written information as possible to help identify an individual (dates, places, relatives, etc.) The more information you give, the more likely someone will be able to connect with your ancestor.
• To avoid confusion, limit queries to one or two requests about the same individual or family. If you need information about more than one individual or family, write separate additional queries.
• Use common, clear abbreviations. If you're not sure of an abbreviation, use the complete word or term to avoid misunderstanding.
• Use CAPITAL letters for Surnames only
• Include surnames and other important information in the subject line.

GSBC Members only may submit queries by email.
Members may also submit a query by mail to the address noted below.

Non-Members should send their query to the following address along with a payment of $5.00 payable to the GSBC. Queries received without payment may not be accepted.

Genealogical Society of Bergen County
Attn: Queries Chair
P.O. Box 432
Midland Park, NJ 07432