Hudson County, New Jersey Genealogy

Hudson 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.

Hudson County, New Jersey Historical Facts
At the time of European contact in the 17th century, Hudson County was the territory the Lenape or Lenni-Lenape, namely the bands (or family groups) known as the Hackensack, the Tappan, the Raritan, and the Manhattan. They were a seasonally migrational people who practiced small-scale agriculture (companion planting) augmented by hunting and gathering which likely, given the topography of the area, included much (shell)fishing and trapping. These groups had early and frequent contact with the by Europeans, with whom they engaged in trade. Their Algonquian language can still be inferred in many local place names such as Communipaw, Harsimus, Hackensack, Hoboken, Weehawken, Secaucus, and Pamrapo.

Henry Hudson, for whom the county and river on which it sits is named, established a claim for the area in 1609 when anchoring his ship the Halve Maen (Half Moon) at Harsimus Cove and Weehawken Cove. The west bank of the North River (as it was called) and the cliffs, hills, and marshlands abutting and beyond it, were settled by Europeans (Dutch, Flemish, Walloon, Huguenot) from the Lowlands around the same time as New Amsterdam.

Parent County
22 February 1840: formed from Bergen County.

Boundary Changes
1852: part of Harrison twp. returned to Bergen County as Union twp.  1892: water 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.

Census

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

Church Records

 * 1675-1970 at FamilySearch — index and images

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

 * Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
 * Hoboken
 * Hoboken Dist

Lutheran
St. Olav Lutheran Church, Weehawken


 * Records of St. Olav Lutheran Church, Weehawken, in Evangelical Lutheran Church in America database at Archives.com ($).

Trinity Lutheran Church, Jersey City


 * Records of Trinity Lutheran Church, Jersey City, in Evangelical Lutheran Church in America database at Archives.com ($).

Military
Civil War service men in Hudson County served in various regiments. Men often joined a company (within a regiment) that originated in their county.
 * - 88th Regiment, New York Infantry, Company G
 * - 102nd Regiment, New York Infantry, Company K

Naturalization and Citizenship
Naturalization Records from 1840 to 1989 can be obtained from the Office of the Clerk of Hudson County ($).

Newspapers

 * Bayonne Herald - full-text of more than 1800 issues spanning 1869-1915 freely available via Google Newspaper Archive

Occupations
Some occupations include the glazing industry. Glazing involved producing and installing windows.The practice involved working with various types of glass; the practice includes cutting, coloring, and heating glass. The glazing industry is heavily involved with architecture. Individuals who worked in the glazing practice were called glaziers, and they would work as apprentices and would join a union in order to learn the trade.

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
Hudson County Courthouse 583 Newark Ave Jersey City, NJ 07306 Phone: (201) 795-6112 Register of Deeds has land records. Clerk Surrogate Court has probate records.

Family History Centers

 * Union City New Jersey Family History Center

Museums

 * Afro-American Historical and Cultural Society Museum
 * Ellis Island Immigration Museum
 * Hoboken Historical Museum

Societies
Hudson County Genealogical Society 135 Irving St. Jersey City 07307 Website

Hudson County, New Jersey Websites

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

Hudson County, New Jersey Neighboring Counties



 * Bergen
 * Essex
 * Union
 * Kings, New York
 * New York, New York
 * Richmond, New York