Societies

State Level Genealogical and Historical Societies

Following is a list of genealogical and historical societies that may be of interest to you in your ancestry search. Many of these major repositories of information are located in the New Jersey state capital of Trenton and New York City. These archives contain books, microfilm, newspapers, and other material covering more than 400 years of the state's history.

Afro-American Historical & Genealogical Society-New Jersey - Jersey City, NJ

The Delaware and Lehigh Valley Genealogy Club - Easton, PA

Descendants of Founders of New Jersey - Trenton, NJ

Genealogical Society of New Jersey - Trenton, NJ

Jewish Genealogical Society of North Jersey - Fort Wayne, NJ

New Jersey Historical Society - Newark, NJ

Society of Mayflower Descendants in NJ

Local Genealogical and Historical Societies

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.

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

Welcome to New Jersey Genealogy

State Level Genealogical and Historical Societies

Local Genealogical and Historical Societies

New Jersey County Records

USA State Resources