Hudson County, New Jersey Genealogy

United States New Jersey  Hudson County

Quick 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.

Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

 * Hoboken
 * Hoboken Dist

Societies, Libraries and Museums

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

Websites

 * USGenWeb project. May have maps, name indexes, history or other information for this county. Select the state, then the county.
 * Family History Library Catalog