Bergen County, New Jersey Genealogy

Bergen County, New Jersey ancestry, family history, and genealogy research page. Guide to genealogy, history, and courthouse sources including birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, wills, deeds and land records, Civil War records, Revolutionary War records, family histories, cemeteries, churches, tax records, newspapers, and obituaries.

Description
Bergen County is located in the northeast region of the state. It was created in 1683. Hackensack is the county seat. The county was named for Bergen, Norway or Bergen, North Holland.

Parent County

 * 1675, formed as original county of East Jersey.
 * Formally created 1 March 1683.

Boundary Changes

 * 1710, New Barbadoes twp. added from Essex County
 * 1807, coastal boundary fixed.
 * 7 March 1837, Passaic County was set off.
 * 22 February 1840, Hudson County was set off.
 * 1852, part of Harrison twp. added as Union twp.
 * 1892, coastal boundary clarified.

For animated maps illustrating New Jersey county boundary changes, visit "Rotating Formation New Jersey County Boundary Maps" (1683-1928) may be viewed for free at the MapofUS.org website.

Record Loss
There is no known history of courthouse disasters in this county.

Cemeteries
Cemetery records often reveal birth, marriage, death, relationship, military, and religious information.

Census

 * 1855 at FamilySearch — index and images
 * 1865 at FamilySearch — images
 * 1895 at FamilySearch — index and images
 * 1915 at FamilySearch — index and images

Church Records

 * 1675-1970 at FamilySearch — index and images
 * 1666-1788 - "The Bergen Church Records (Dutch Reformed)," Year Book of the Holland Society of New York. Baptisms 1666-1782: (1903); Marriages (1904); Burials 1666-1788 (1905). 1903 and 1905 volumes are available online. For access, see WeRelate.

Emigration and Immigration

 * 1906-1942 - at FamilySearch — index and images

Civil War

 * - 65th Regiment, New York Infantry, Company B.

Naturalization and Citizenship

 * 1796-1991 - at FamilySearch — index

Indexes

 * Bergen County Watchman, 1870-1873, Genealogical Society of Bergen County
 * Bergen Index March 1875-March 1876, May 1877-Aug 1885, Genealogical Society of Bergen County
 * Hackensack Republican 1878-1936, Genealogical Society of Bergen County
 * New Jersey Republican, 1878, Genealogical Society of Bergen County
 * NJ Citizen (vital records only), May 26, 1871-May 12, 1874, Genealogical Society of Bergen County

Populated Places
For a complete list of populated places, including small neighborhoods and suburbs, visit HomeTown Locator. The following are the most historically and genealogically relevant populated places in this county:

Obtaining Copies of County Probate Records
Copies of recorded probate records and the estate files can be obtained from the surrogate's offices for a fee. Addresses of surrogate's offices are found in:


 * Eichholz, Alice, Editor. Ancestry's Red Book: American State, County, and Town Sources. Revised Edition. Salt Lake City, Utah: Ancestry, 1992. (.) Explains state-by-state history, vital records, census, background sources, periodicals, archives, libraries, societies, maps, land, probate, court, tax, cemetery, church, and military records. Includes county boundary map and table which shows when each county was created and the parent counties.

In addition, copies of the original wills, administrations, inventories, and guardianships sent to Trenton since 1901 can be ordered from:

Clerk of the Superior Court Records Information Center P.O. Box 967 Trenton, NJ 08625-0967 Phone: (609) 292-4978 Fax: (609) 777-0094

Online Probate Records


 * 1656 - 1999 New Jersey Wills and Probate Records 1656-1999 at Ancestry.com — index and images $
 * 1670 – 1760 Calendar of New Jersey Wills 1670-1760 at Ancestry.com — index and images $
 * 1670 – 1817 New Jersey Abstract of Wills 1670-1817 at Ancestry.com — index and images $
 * 1678 - 1980 at FamilySearch — images

Courthouse
Bergen County Courthouse 1 Bergen County Plaza Hackensack, NJ 07601 Phone: 201.336.7000 County Clerk has divorce records from 1955, Court and land records County Surrogate has probate records.

Family History Centers

 * Fardale New Jersey Family History Center

Societies
Bergen County Genealogy Society PO Box 432 Midland Park Website

Bergen County Historical Society 120 Main Street River Edge

Bergen County Historical Society 1201 Main St PO Box 55 River Edge, New Jersey 07661-0055 Telephone: 201-343-9492 Website

Mahwah Historical Society 1871 Old Station Lane Mahwah 07430 Telephone: 201-891-9049

Oakland Historical Society PO Box 296 Oakland, New Jersey 07436 Telephone: 201-405-7726 E-mail:[mailto:ohs1776@aol.com ohs1776@aol.com] Website

Pascack Historical Society 19 Ridge Avenue Park Ridge NJ 07656 Telephone: 201-573-0307 E-mail:[mailto:info@pascackhistoricalsociety.org info@pascackhistoricalsociety.org] Website

Ridgewood Historical Society 650 E. Glen Avenue Ridgewood E-mail:[mailto:info@ridgewoodhistoricalsociety.org info@ridgewoodhistoricalsociety.org] Website

Upper Saddle River Historical Society 245 Lake Street Upper Saddle River NJ 07458 Telephone: 201-327-864 Website

Birth

 * 1901-1903, at FamilySearch — index

Marriage
Online Marriage Indexes and Records

1606-1981 - New Jersey, United States Marriages at FindMyPast — index $
 * 1670-1980, at FamilySearch — index and images
 * 1930-1938, at FamilySearch — index

Death

 * 1901-1903 - at FamilySearch — index

Bergen County, New Jersey Neighboring Counties



 * Essex
 * Hudson
 * Passaic
 * Bronx (The Bronx), New York
 * New York (Manhatten), New York
 * Rockland County, New York
 * Westchester County, New York

Bergen County, New Jersey Websites

 * The Bergen County NJGenWeb Project, a member of The NJGenWeb Project, an affiliate of The USGenWeb Project.
 * Bergen County, New Jersey History, Records, Facts and Genealogy (Familytree101)
 * Bergen County NJ Genealogy
 * The USGenWeb Archives Project for Bergen County.
 * The USGenWeb Archives Project for Bergen County. (Backup site)
 * Bergen County Genealogical Society
 * FamilySearch Catalog