New Jersey Census

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Microfilm images
Copies of these censuses can be found in the following repositories: National Archives and all of its regional centers, Family History Library, New Jersey Historical Society, New Jersey State Archives, Newark Public Library, Rutgers University Library and the New Jersey State Library.



Indexes: fiche, film, or book
For a list of microform and book indexes for the population schedules of New Jersey, click here

Microfilm images

 * United States. Census Office. 11th Census, 1890. Schedules Enumerating Union Veterans and Widows of Union Veterans of the Civil War. File Microcopies of Records in the National Archives, number 123. Washington, DC: National Archives, 1948. (Family History Library films 338200-202.)
 * United States. Census Office. Census of New Jersey, 1850-1880; Third Series (of Persons Who Died During the Years Ending 30 June 1850, 1 June 1860; 1 June 1870; 31 May 1880. Trenton, New Jersey: State Library of Archives and History, Department of Education, 1996. (Family History Library films 802952-55.) The 1880 schedules are for Atlantic to Hudson counties only.

Indexes: fiche, film, or book
For a list of microform and book indexes for the non-population schedules of New Jersey, click here.

State, territorial, and colonial censuses
The original records and microfilm copies of state censuses are at the New Jersey State Archives. Copies of the 1905 and 1915 censuses are also at the New Jersey Department of Health. The Newark Public Library, New Jersey State Library, Rutgers University Library, and Family History Library have microfilm copies of all New Jersey state censuses. State censuses were taken beginning in 1855. Some records are missing, as indicated below:


 * 1885, 1895, 1905, 1915 - All counties are available.
 * 1875 - Only Sussex and Essex counties are available.
 * 1865 - Missing Cape May, Mercer, Morris, Ocean, Somerset, and Warren counties and incomplete for the others.
 * 1855 - Missing Burlington, Cape May, Mercer, Middlesex, Ocean, and Salem counties and incomplete for the others.


 * 1693 A special census was taken of Swedes who were associated with the Swedish Lutheran Church and who were living in Pennsylvania, Delaware, west New Jersey, and Cecil County, Maryland. The census and an index to it are in Craig, Peter Stebbins. The 1693 Census of the Swedes on the Delaware. Winter Park, Florida: SAG Publications, 1993. (Family History Library book 973 X4c.)
 * 1671 New Castle County, Delaware; Philadelphia and Delaware counties in Pennsylvania; and Burlington County, New Jersey.

Existing and lost censuses
For a list of available and missing New Jersey censuses, click here.

Why use a census?
A well-indexed census is one of the easiest ways to locate where an ancestor's family lived and when they lived there. You can also use censuses to follow the changes in a family over time, and identify neighbors. These and other clues provided by censuses are important because they help find additional kinds of records about the family.

More about censuses
Click here for additional details about how to use censuses, such as:


 * index searching tips
 * analyzing and using what you find
 * census accuracy
 * historical background
 * contents of various census years and types