Gloucester County, New Jersey Genealogy

Guide to Gloucester County, New Jersey ancestry, genealogy and family history, birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, and military records.

Description
Gloucester County is located south of Philadelphia and northwest of Atlantic City. It was created in 1686. Woodbury is the county seat. The county was named for the city of Gloucester, England.

County Courthouse
Gloucester County Courthouse 1 N Broad Street Woodbury, NJ 08096-4611 Phone: 856-878-5050 Gloucester County Courthouse

County Clerk has court and land records from 1787. Surrogate Court has probate records. Clerk Superior Court has divorce records. Early records preserved at Surveyor General’s Office, Burlington Sec. of State Office, Trenton.

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:

History Timeline
1642-1643: The New Sweden Colony expanded from present-day Wilmington, Delaware east to New Jersey at New Stockholm, now Bridgeport, Gloucester, New Jersey, and Sveaborg, now Swedesboro, Gloucester, New Jersey. 1654-1655: In 1654 New Sweden captured Fort Casimir (now New Castle, Delaware) from the Dutch without a fight and renamed Fort Trinty (Trefaldighets). In 1655 New Netherland returned with a large army and all of New Sweden in presend-day New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware submitted to Dutch rule. 1664: As part of the Second Anglo-Dutch War New Netherland including West Jersey was surrendered to the English. 1673-1674: A new war broke out and the Dutch sent a large armada to retake New Netherland for a few months. But as the war ended the colony was ceeded to England for the last time. Created 28 May 1686 from the Colonial Lands.
 * 1692, boundary set with Burlington county and repealed in 1693
 * 1694, formed in West Jersey with Egg Harbor from Cape May County
 * 1710, boundaries redefined
 * 1837, part forms Atlantic County
 * 1844, part made into Camden County
 * 1871, Monroe twp. and bulk of Washington twp. from Camden County
 * 1892, part of Landis twps., Cumberland County taken and returned in 1897
 * 1926, part of Washington twp. to Camden County with some more going in 1931
 * 1938, boundary clarified with Atlantic County
 * 1950, some to Camden County.

Cemeteries

 * 1880-1983 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index and images

Census Records

 * 1855 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index and images
 * 1865 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index and images
 * 1895 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index and images
 * 1915 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index and images

Church Records

 * 1675-1970 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index and images
 * 1708-1985 Pennsylvania, Church and Town Records, 1708-1985 at Historical Society of Pennsylvania – ($), free to members of the society; Also available at Ancestry.com – $; 7,542,774 entries. This database is incomplete for all counties.
 * Contains the church records of:
 * Gloucester: Church of the Ascension; First Presbyterian Church
 * Monroe: Methodist Church
 * Woodbury: United Methodist Church
 * Woolwich: Trinity Episcopal Church

Episcopal
 * 1787-1815 Stevenson, J.R. "Records of St. Mary's Church, Colestown, (Old Gloucester Co.) New Jersey," Publications of the Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania, Vol. 3, No. 3 (Jun. 1908):237-240. For free online access, see WeRelate; the FamilySearch Library also has this series in its collection: . Baptisms 1787-1815, marriages 1795-1796, burials 1794-1795.

Lutheran Raccoon Parish was the first Swedish Church built in New Jersey (1703). 1754 and 1786 membership lists of Raccoon Parish are preserved in Archivum Americanum at the Consistory Court of the Archbishop of Upsal in Sweden. A copy of the 1754 list is held at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania.

List of Churches and Church Parishes
 * FamilySearch Places: Map of cities and towns in this county - How to Use FS Places

Emigration and Immigration

 * Clement, John. "Swedish Settlers in Gloucester County, New Jersey, Previous to 1684," The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, Vol. 17 (1893):83-87. For free online access, see WeRelate.

Ethnic, Political, and Religious Groups
African Americans Gloucester County Series, Slave Documents. prepared by Gloucester County Historical Project; edited and published by the New Jersey Historical Records Survey Project, Division of Professional and Service Projects, Works Projects Administration; sponsored by New Jersey State Planning Board. - Newark, N.J. Historical Records Survey, 1940.- xii, 66 leaves, 9transcriptions of early county records of New Jersey) F142.G5 H5 1940

Maps and Gazetteers

 * United States Geographic Survey Place Names - GNIS for Gloucester County (may not always be present in alphabetic order on first try.)
 * FamilySearch Places: Map of cities and towns in this county - How to Use FS Places

Naturalization and Citizenship
Online Naturalization Indexes and Records
 * 1796-1991 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index and images
 * 1905-1944 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index and images

Probate Records
Online Probate Indexes and Records
 * 1656-1999 New Jersey Wills and Probate Records 1656-1999 at Ancestry — index & images ($)
 * 1670-1760 Calendar of New Jersey Wills 1670-1760 at Ancestry.com — index & images ($)
 * 1670-1817 New Jersey Abstract of Wills 1670-1817 at Ancestry.com — index & images ($)
 * 1678-1980 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; images only; Use the Surrogate's Docket Index 1700-1972 to obtain the Docket Number for the name. Then, use the Docket Number to locate the correct Estate file.

Social Security Records

 * 1935-2014 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index. Also at Ancestry, findmypast, Fold3, GenealogyBank, MyHeritage, and Steve Morse. Click here for more information.
 * 1936-2007 U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007

Birth

 * 1600-1990 New Jersey Vital Records, Historical Society of Pennsylvania at Findmypast — index & images ($)
 * 1660-1980 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index & images; ''Also at: Ancestry Index ($)
 * 1746-1795 New Jersey Baptisms 1746-1795 at Findmypast — index, ($)
 * 1901-1903 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index
 * 1901-1929 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index

Marriage

 * 1600s-1900s US Marriages, New Jersey at Findmypast — index, ($)
 * 1670-1965 New Jersey Marriage Records, 1670-1965 at Ancestry — index & images ($)
 * 1670-1980 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index & images
 * 1678-1985 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index & images
 * 1683-1802 New Jersey Marriage Records, 1683-1802 at Ancestry — index & images ($)
 * 1684-1895 New Jersey Compiled Marriage Records, 1684-1895 at Ancestry — index, ($)
 * 1901-1914 New Jersey Marriage License Index, 1901-1914 at MyHeritage — index, ($)
 * 1901-2016 New Jersey Marriage Index, 1901-2016 at Ancestry — index, ($);
 * 1901-2016 New Jersey Marriage Index, 1901-2016 at Findmypast - Browse index ($)
 * 1915-2016 New Jersey Marriage License Index, 1915-2016 at MyHeritage — index, ($)
 * For a complete list of all New Jersey Marriage databases

Death

 * 1600-1990 New Jersey Vital Records, Historical Society of Pennsylvania at Findmypast — index & images ($)
 * 1798-1971 New Jersey Deaths and Burials Index, 1798-1971 at Ancestry — index, ($)
 * 1848-1878 Death Records, May 1848 - May 1878 at New Jersey State Archives - index, $ for photocopies
 * 1878-1900 Death Records, June 1878 - December 1900 at New Jersey Department of State — index, $ for photocopies
 * 1901-1929 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index & images
 * 1901-2017 The New Jersey Death Index at New Jersey Death Index — index; Also at: Ancestry index ($)
 * 1920-2017 New Jersey Death Index, 1920-1929, 1949-2017 at MyHeritage — index, ($)
 * For a complete list of all New Jersey Death databases

FamilySearch Centers

 * Cherry Hill New Jersey FamilySearch Center
 * Vineland New Jersey FamilySearch Center
 * Cherry Hill Public Library - an affiliate library
 * Gloucester County Historical Society - an affiliate library
 * Haddon Heights Public Library - an affiliate library

Societies
Gloucester County Historical Society 17 Hunter Street PO Box 409 Woodbury, NJ 08096-0409 Website {| border="0" style="float: right;"

Websites

 * The Gloucester County NJGenWeb Project, a member of The NJGenWeb Project, an affiliate of The USGenWeb Project.
 * Gloucester County NJ Genealogy
 * – The FamilySearch catalog contains descriptions and access information for all genealogical materials (including books, online materials, microfilm, microfiche, and publications) in their collection.  Use Historical Records to search for specific individuals in genealogical records.