Monmouth County, New Jersey Genealogy

Monmouth 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.

Description
Monmouth County is located in the central region of the state. It was created in 1675. Freehold is the county seat. The county was named for the historic county of Monmouthshire in Wales.

Parent County
1675: part of East Jersey

1 March 1683: Created from the Colonial lands.

Boundary Changes
1710: boundary changed

1822: water boundary established

1844: part from Middlesex County

1850: Ocean County created from Monmouth and boundary clarified in 1851.

1866: water boundary further clarified

1906: coastal boundary established

1928: part of Howell twp. to Ocean County

1939: part of Middlesex gained.

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.

Bible

 * 1) Monmouth County Historical Association Library, Carol Fisher Megill and Beverly Seward Yackel

Biography
See also: Genealogy, History


 * 1) Biographical and portrait cyclopedia of the Third congressional district of New Jersey : comprising Middlesex, Monmouth and Somerset counties, together with historical sketch of each county, 1896, Samuel T. Wiley
 * 2) Biographical and portrait cyclopedia of the Third congressional district of New Jersey : comprising Middlesex, Monmouth and Somerset counties, together with historical sketch of each county, 1896, Samuel T. Wiley
 * 3) Book of the dead of Monmouth, (1915-1917) ;
 * 4) Early courts and lawyers of Monmouth County : beginning at its first settlement, and down to the last half century, 1911
 * 5) History of Monmouth County, New Jersey, 1885
 * 6) History of Monmouth County, New Jersey, 1664-1920

Cemeteries
Please refer to Populated Places for cemeteries within their localities.


 * 1) Book of the dead of Monmouth, (1915-1917) Digital version at

Census

 * 1855 at FamilySearch — index and images
 * 1865 at FamilySearch — images
 * 1895 at FamilySearch — index and images
 * 1915 at FamilySearch — index and images

Church Records
Existing churches in Monmouth County, New Jersey


 * 1675-1970 - at FamilySearch — 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:
 * Long Branch: Simpson Memorial Methodist Episcopal Church

Court Records

 * 1) Guardianship

Emigration and Immigration

 * 1906-1942 - at FamilySearch — index and images

Ethnic, Political, or Religious Groups
African Americans

Black Birth Book of Monmouth County, New Jersey, 1804-1848. Office of the Monmouth County Clerk. FHL Book 974.946 V28m

McKay, Lenora Walker. The Blacks of Monmouth County : a Bicentennial tribute - [S.I]: Monmouth County Business and Professional Women's Council, 1978-F142.M7 M28

Genealogy
See also: Biography, History

Military
Civil War


 * - 48th Regiment, New York Infantry, Company H.

Naturalization and Citizenship

 * 1796-1991 - at FamilySearch — index
 * 1804-1906 - Naturalization Record Search 1804-1906 - The Monmouth County Archives Web site has an online searchable database of naturalizations.

Newspapers
Red Bank Register The Red Bank Register is a free online historical newspaper, covering Red Bank, New Jersey and surrounding areas in Monmouth County. The following is from their website explaining publication dates and the Digitization Project.

"The Red Bank Register is captured on microfilm covering 1878 to 1964 as the Red Bank Register and 1964 to 1991 as the Daily Register. The Digitization Project was a collaborative effort between Middletown Township Public Library and the Red Bank Public Library. Because of the size of the collection, the digitization of all the microfilm was broken down into two phases. The first phase covers June 27, 1878, to December 26, 1923. The second phase covers January 2, 1924, to November 13, 1991, the final issue of the Red Bank Register."

The Independent: 1972-2000 Courtesy of the Matawan - Aberdeen Public Library

Matawan Journal The Matawan Journal offers online access to its back issues printed from 1869 through 1973. Provided by the Matawan Aberdeen Public Library.

The Independent The Independent offers online access to its back issues printed from March 1972 through March 2000. Provided by the Matawan Aberdeen Public Library.

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

A wiki article describing an online collection is found at: New Jersey, Middlesex County Probate Records - FamilySearch Historical Records


 * 1) Indexes
 * 2) Administrators Bond
 * 3) Applications for Probate
 * 4) Inestates
 * 5) Inventories (guardianship)
 * 6) Inventories (Estates)
 * 7) Letters of Administration
 * 8) Minutes
 * 9) Partitions of Real Estate
 * 10) Petitions for Administration
 * 11) Real Estate bonds
 * 12) Receipts and Discharges
 * 13) Records of Wills
 * 14) Recorded Wills
 * 15) Sale of Real Estate

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
County Clerk has marriage records 1795-1892 and land records from 1667. County Surrogate has probate records.

Family History Centers

 * Eatontown New Jersey Family History Center

Societies
Monmouth County Historical Association 70 Court St. Freehold, NJ 07728 Telephone: 732-462-1466 Website

Monmouth County Historical Commission Hall of Records, Rm 201 Freehold, NJ 07728 Telephone: 732-431-7413 Fax: 732-409-4820 E-mail:[mailto:John.Fabiano@co.monmouth.nj.us John.Fabiano@co.monmouth.nj.us] Website

Howell Historical Society 427 Lakewood-Farmingdale Road Howell Telephone: 732-938-2212

Keyport Historical Society Broad Street Keyport, NJ 07735 Telephone: 732-739-6390

Matawan Historical Society 94 Main St Matawan, NJ 07747 Telephone: 732-566-5605

Middletown Township Historical Society 900 Leonardville Rd Leonardo, NJ 07737 Telephone: 732-615-2260

Neptune Township Historical Society 25 Neptune Blvd. Neptune NJ

Ocean Grove, Historical Society Of 53 Central Avenue Ocean Grove NJ

Old Wall Historical Society 1701 New Bedford Rd Belmar, NJ 07719 Telephone: 732-974-1430

Spring Lake Historical Society 5th and Warren Avenue Spring Lake 07762 Telephone: 732-449-0772 Website

Shrewsbury Historical Society 419 Sycamore Ave. Shrewsbury

Spring Lake Historical Society 5th and Warren Avenue Spring Lake 07762 Telephone: 732-449-0772

Squan Village Historical Society 105 South Street Manasquan, NJ 08736 Telephone: 732-223-6770 Website

Birth

 * 1901-1903, at FamilySearch — index

Marriage
Online Marriage Indexes and Records

1606-1981 - New Jersey, United States Marriages at FindMyPast — index $
 * 1670-1980 - at FamilySearch — index and images
 * 1930-1938 - at FamilySearch — index

Death

 * 1901-1903 - at FamilySearch — index

Monmouth County, New Jersey Websites

 * The Monmouth County Historical Association
 * The Monmouth County NJGenWeb Project, a member of The NJGenWeb Project, an affiliate of The USGenWeb Project.
 * Monmouth County, New Jersey History, Records, Facts and Genealogy (Familytree101)
 * Monmouth County NJ Genealogy
 * The USGenWeb Archives Project for Monmouth County.
 * The USGenWeb Archives Project for Monmouth County. (Backup site)
 * FamilySearch Catalog for Monmouth County

Monmouth County, New Jersey Neighboring Counties



 * Burlington
 * Mercer
 * Middlesex
 * Ocean