New Jersey Marriages - FamilySearch Historical Records

United States New Jersey

What is in the Collection?
This index is an electronic index for the years 1678 to 1985. This index is not complete for any particular place, region or time period. This collection may include information previously published in the International Genealogical Index or Vital Records Index collections.

When using this collection be aware that when volunteers entered data from the 1878-1900 New Jersey birth, marriage, and death index registers, the date spans were misunderstood. The registers span from July of one year through June of the next (excepting a set of registers covering June 1878, and another set covering July-Dec 1900). Unfortunately, much of the data entry was done as if the registers covered single calendar years. Thus, many if not most of the events from the months of January, February, March, April, May, and June during the 1878-1900 period are shown in your databases with the wrong year, the date is generally one year too early.

Coverage Table and Map
The Coverage Table shows the places and time periods of the original records in this collection. The table indicates how many records the collection has from each place. Most of the records in the collection are from the time periods listed in the table; however, the collection may have a few records from before or after the time period.

To see a coverage map of FamilySearch's holdings of New Jersey marriages, click here.

What Can this Collection Tell Me?
When using this collection be aware that when volunteers entered data from the 1878-1900 New Jersey birth, marriage, and death index registers, the date spans were misunderstood. The registers span from July of one year through June of the next (excepting a set of registers covering June 1878, and another set covering July-Dec 1900). Unfortunately, much of the data entry was done as if the registers covered single calendar years. Thus, many if not most of the events from the months of January, February, March, April, May, and June during the 1878-1900 period are shown in your databases with the wrong year, the date is generally one year too early.

For details about the contents of these records and help using them see the wiki article Marriages Vital Record Index Collections (FamilySearch Historical Records).

How Do I Search the Collection?
Search by Name by visiting the Collection Page: Fill in the requested information in the initial search page. This search will return a list of possible matches. Compare the information about the ancestors in the list to what you already know about your ancestors to determine if this is the correct family or person. You may need to compare the information about more than one person to find your ancestor.

Finding the Original Source for an Entry in This Collection
Each entry in this index has a source listed which includes a batch number. You will need to trace the batch number for the individual entry to learn its source. Please see the following wiki articles for more information on batch numbers:


 * IGI
 * IGI Batch Number Descriptions
 * IGI Batch Numbers for the British Isles and North America

If an FHL film number is given in the entry for your ancestor, search for it in the FamilySearch Catalog.

What Do I Do Next?
When you have located your ancestor’s marriage record, carefully evaluate each piece of information about them. These pieces of information may give you new biographical details that can lead you to other records about your ancestors.

I Found Who I was Looking for, What Now?

 * Use the marriage date along with the place of marriage to find the family in census records.
 * Use the residence and names of the parents to locate church and land records.

I Can't Find Who I'm Looking for, What Now?
Look for variant spellings of the names. You should also look for nicknames and abbreviated names. Look for another index. Local genealogical and historical societies often have indexes to local records. Search the indexes and records of nearby counties. Try alternative search methods such as only filling in the surname search box (or the given name search box) on the landing page leaving the other box empty and then click on search. This should return a list of everyone with that particular name. You could then browse the list for individuals that may be your ancestor.

Citing this Collection
Citing your sources makes it easy for others to find and evaluate the records you used. When you copy information from a record, list where you found that information. Here you can find citations already created for the entire collection and for each individual record or image.

Collection citation "New Jersey, Marriages, 1678-1985." Database. FamilySearch. http://FamilySearch.org : accessed 2016. Division of Archives and Record Management, New Jersey Department of State, Trenton. Index based upon data collected by the Genealogical Society of Utah, Salt Lake City.

Record Citation (or citation for the index entry):