Sussex County, New Jersey Genealogy

United States New Jersey  Sussex County

Sussex 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.

Sussex County, New Jersey Historical Facts

 * Named for Sussex County, England by the Royal Governor of New Jersey, Jonathan Belcher because it was the ancient seat of His Grace Thoams Pelham-Holles, the first Duke of Newcastle-upon-Trent and first Duke of Newcastle-under-Lyne who at the time was the Secretary for the Northern Department, and later the Prime Minster of the United Kingdom. He was Governor Belcher's political supervisor. (source: Wikipedia.org)

Parent County

 * 16 May 1753, set off from Morris County.

Boundary Changes

 * 20 November 1824, Warren County set off.

For animated maps illustrating New Jersey county boundary changes, "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.

Church Records

 * 1675-1970 - at FamilySearch — index and images


 * 1741-1830 - "Church Register of the Walpeck Congregation," The New York Genealogical and Biographical Record, Baptisms 1741-1753: Vol. 40, No. 3 (Jul. 1909):193-205; Baptisms 1753-1772: Vol. 40, No. 4 (Oct. 1909):264-275; Baptisms 1772-1791: Vol. 41, No. 1 (Jan. 1910):28-43; Baptisms 1791-1807: Vol. 41, No. 2 (Apr. 1910):83-98; Baptisms 1807-1816: Vol. 41, No. 3 (Jul. 1910):200-215; Baptisms 1817-1830, Marriages 1741-1769: Vol. 41, No. 4 (Oct. 1910):345-366. Digital version at New York Family History ($); . Internet Archive has digitized Vol. 40 and Vol. 41 - free.


 * 1785-1819 - Canfield, Amos. "The Clove Dutch Reformed Church of Clove Valley, Wantage, Sussex Co., N.J.," The New York Genealogical and Biographical Record, Baptisms 1785-1801: Vol. 57, No. 4 (Oct. 1926):355-364; Baptisms 1801-1818, Marriages 1798-1812, Membership Lists 1793-1819, 1787 Petition, List of Elders and Deacons 1788-1806: Vol. 58, No. 1 (Jan. 1927):45-55. Digital version at New York Family History ($);.

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

Sussex County, New Jersey Web Sites

 * USGenWeb project. May have maps, name indexes, history or other information for this county. Select the state, then the county.
 * Sussex County, New Jersey History, Records, Facts and Genealogy (Familytree101)
 * Sussex County NJ Genealogy

Sussex County, New Jersey Neighboring counties



 * Morris
 * Passaic
 * Warren
 * Orange, New York
 * Monroe, Pennsylvania
 * Pike, Pennsylvania