New Jersey Church Records

United States   New Jersey    Church Records



Church records and the information they provide vary significantly depending on the denomination and the record keeper. They may contain information about members of the congregation, such as age, date of baptism, christening, or birth; marriage information and maiden names; and death date. Records may include names of other relatives who were witnesses or members of the congregation. The members of some churches were predominantly of one nationality or ethnic group.

The first churches established in New Jersey were the Dutch Reformed, Congregational (Puritan), Society of Friends (Quaker), and Lutheran. Church membership waned in the early 1700s, but revivals rekindled interest around 1740. By 1775 the largest denominations in New Jersey were the Presbyterian, Society of Friends, Dutch Reformed, Baptist, and Anglican (Episcopal) churches.

In the mid-1800s, the Methodist church was the largest, followed by the Presbyterian, Baptist, Reformed, Friends, and Episcopal churches. The Roman Catholic Church has been the predominant faith since the beginning of the twentieth century, followed by the Jewish, Methodist, Presbyterian, and Episcopal faiths.

Except for the Dutch Reformed and Lutheran churches in northern New Jersey, few of the earliest church records have survived. The Family History Library has some important collections of church records described below under the denominational headings.

For help in finding church records not at the Family History Library, see:


 * New Jersey Historical Manuscripts: A Guide to Collections in the State (described in New Jersey Archives and Libraries). To locate a copy nearest you, use WorldCat.

Other helpful guides to church records include the following:


 * Nelson, William. "Church Records in New Jersey," Journal of the Presbyterian Historical Society, Vol. 2, No. 4 (March 1904):173-188; Vol. 2, No. 5 (June 1904):251-266. Digital version at Google Books. This is very helpful for determining all denominations that existed prior to 1800. . To locate a copy nearest you, use WorldCat.
 * Guide to Vital Statistics Records in New Jersey. 2 vols. Newark, N.J.: New Jersey Historical Records Survey, 1941. Digital version at Ancestry ($). Volume 2 contains the names and addresses of churches located in New Jersey in 1940. . To locate a book copy nearest you, use WorldCat.
 * Historical Records Survey. Directory of Churches in New Jersey. 21 Volumes. Newark, N.J.: Historical Records Survey, 1940-1941. There is a volume for each county; the Family History Library has volumes for Atlantic through Hunterdon, and Monmouth counties..

The Family History Library has nine volumes of church record inventories for the Baha'i, Baptist, Seventh-Day Baptist, Congregational Christian, Evangelical, Presbyterian, Protestant Episcopal, Salvation Army, and Unitarian churches. Each volume is cataloged separately but they have similar titles. Find these volumes in the Family History Library Catalog Author/Title Search under the title Inventory of the Church Archives of New Jersey.

Some denominations have their records in central repositories. You can write to the following addresses to learn where their records are located:

Baptist
American Baptist Historical Society 3001 Mercer University Dr. Atlanta, Georgia 30341 Telephone: (678) 547-6680

Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons)
Early church records, for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, for New Jersey Wards and Branches can be found on film and are located at the LDS Family History Library in Salt Lake City. The film numbers, for each ward, can be located through the Family History Library Catalog or by refering to Jaussi, Laureen R., and Gloria D. Chaston. Register of Genealogical Society Call Numbers. 2 vols. Provo, Utah: Genealogy Tree, 1982. (FHL book 979.2258 A3j; fiche 6031507). These volumes contain the film numbers for many (but not all) membership and temple record films.

Dutch Reformed
Commission on History, Reformed Church in America New Brunswick Theological Seminary Gardner A. Sage Library 21 Seminary Place New Brunswick, New Jersey 08901 Telephone: (732) 246-1779

The Family History Library has microfilm copies of many of the Dutch Reformed church records from the above listed archive. The records are described in:


 * Gasero, Russell L., ed. Guide to Local Church Records in the Archives of the Reformed Church in America and to Genealogical Resources in the Gardner Sage Library, New Brunswick Theological Seminary. New Brunswick, N.J.: Historical Society of the Reformed Church in America, 1979. Digital version at Reformed Church in America; (does not circulate to Family History Centers). To locate a copy nearest you, use WorldCat.

The Holland Society of New York Library 20 West 44th Street, 5th Floor New York, NY 10036 Telephone: (212) 758-1675

Year Book of The Holland Society of New York, 1912. New York, New York: The Society, 1912, available in the lists the transcripts of New Jersey Dutch Reformed and Lutheran records at the Holland Society Library. It also lists those that were published as of 1912. The Family History Library has microfilm copies of many of these transcripts. To locate a copy nearest you, use WorldCat.

Episcopal
Diocesan House of the Episcopal Church 808 W. State Street Trenton, New Jersey 08618-5326 Telephone: (609) 394-5281

Jewish
Most synagogue records have not been centralized, so you must write to the local congregation. Addresses are listed in:


 * Lightman, Sidney, ed. The Jewish Travel Guide 1990. London, England Jewish Chronicle Publications, 1990. To locate a copy nearest you, use WorldCat.

Synagogue and cemetery records for some congregations in Middlesex, Somerset, and Union counties are at:

Jewish Historical Society of Central Jersey 1050 George St, Box 1-L New Brunswick, New Jersey 08901 Telephone: (732) 249-4894

Methodist
United Methodist Church Commission on Archives and History Greater New Jersey Conference 1001 Wickapecko Drive Ocean, New Jersey 07712 Phone: (732) 359-1000 Toll free: (877) 677-2594

Presbyterian
Presbyterian Historical Society and Department of History United Presbyterian Church in the USA 425 Lombard Street Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19147 Telephone: (215) 627-1852

The Family History Library has microfilm copies of most of the records from the above listed archive.

Roman Catholic
Diocese of Camden 631 Market Street Camden, New Jersey 08102 Phone: (856) 756-7900.

The diocese includes the counties of: Atlantic, Camden, Cape May, Cumberland, Gloucester and Salem.

Diocese of Metuchen P.O. Box 191 Metuchen, NJ 08840-0191 Phone: (732) 562-1990 Office Location 146 Metlars Lane Piscataway, New Jersey 08854

The diocese includes the counties of: Hunterdon, Middlesex, Somerset and Warren.

Archdiocese of Newark 171 Clifton Avenue Newark, New Jersey 07104-0500

The Archdiocese includes the counties of: Bergen, Essex, Hudson and Union.


 * Records of the Archdiocese of Newark are kept by: University Archives Seton Hall University South Orange Avenue South Orange, New Jersey 07079 Phone: (201) 762-7052 All sacramental registers, 1832 through 1914, and cemetery records in the archdiocese have been microfilmed. They are available at the Family History Library and at the university archives. A small fee is charged for mail inquiries, and records can be searched by appointment. Christenings through 1885 and marriages through 1895 for most of these parishes are indexed in the International Genealogical Index.

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Paterson 777 Valley Road Paterson, New Jersey 07013 Phone: (973) 777-8818

The diocese includes the counties of: Morris, Passaic and Sussex.

Diocese of Trenton 701 Lawrenceville Road Trenton, New Jersey 08648 Phone: (609) 406-7400

The diocese includes the counties of: Burlington, Mercer, Monmouth and Ocean.

The marriages of some New Jersey Catholics from 1758 to 1800 were published in:


 * American Catholic Historical Society of Philadelphia Records. Volumes 1-4, 8. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: American Catholic Historical Society, 1886-1889, 1893. (Not at the Family History Library.) To locate a book copy nearest you, use WorldCat.

Additional records for this time period are in:


 * Dirnberger, Janet Drumm. New Jersey Catholic Baptismal Records from 1759-1781. Seabrook, Texas: Brambles, 1981. This book is available in the . However, it does not circulate to Family History Centers.

Most Catholic records have not been gathered into central repositories. You must determine the town where your ancestors lived and the parish they most likely attended and then write to that parish. Addresses of parishes and diocesan chancery offices are listed in:


 * The Official Catholic Directory. Chicago, Illinois: Hoffman Bros., annual. A copy is located in the .To locate a copy nearest your location check at WorldCat.

When a parish closes, the records are sent to the diocesan archives or a nearby parish. If the diocese does not have an archive, the chancellor usually knows where the records are currently located.


 * Flynn, Joseph Michael. The Catholic Church in New Jersey. Morristown, N.J.: n.p., 1904 is located in the and has short histories of individual parishes. Digital versions: Ancestry ($); Internet Archive. To locate a copy of the book nearest you, use WorldCat.

Society of Friends (Quakers)
The Friends Historical Library Swarthmore College 500 College Avenue Swarthmore, Pennsylvania 19801 Telephone: (610) 328-8496 This library collects microfilm copies of all records of New Jersey meetings.

The Quaker Collection Haverford College Library 370 Lancaster Avenue Haverford, Pennsylvania 19041 Telephone: (610) 896-1161 This library collects West Jersey Orthodox records.

Haviland Records Room 15 Rutherford Place New York, New York 10003 Telephone: (212) 673-6866 This library collects records of East Jersey meetings that have been part of the New York Yearly Meeting. Learn more.

The records formerly at the Friends Records Department in Philadelphia are now at Haverford College. These records are on microfilm at the Family History Library, as are most of the records from the Haviland Records Room. There is a large collection of the records at Swarthmore College.

The Family History Library also has microfilm copies of the John Pickens Dornan and Gilbert Cope collections and abstracts from most New Jersey monthly meetings, compiled by William Wade Hinshaw, John Cox, and John P. Dornan.

Published abstracts:


 * Hinshaw, William Wade. Encyclopedia of American Quaker Genealogy. 6 Vols. Ann Arbor, Mich.: Edwards Brothers, 1936-1950. Volume II covers New Jersey Monthly Meetings. ; digital version at Ancestry ($). To locate copies nearest you, use WorldCat.

For a history of New Jersey Quakers, see:


 * Bowden, James. The History of the Society of Friends in America. 2 vols. London: W. &amp; F.G. Cash, 1850-1854. Digital version of Vol. 1 at Google Books.