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New Jersey Research Outline |
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Table of Contents
Records At The Family History Library
Family History Library Catalog
Archives And Libraries
Bible Records
Biography
Cemeteries
Census
Church Records
Court Records
Directories
Emigration And Immigration
Gazetteers
Genealogy
History
Land And Property
Maps
Military Records
Naturalization And Citizenship
Newspapers
Periodicals
Probate Records
Public Records
Societies
Taxation
Town Records
Vital Records
For Further Reading
Comments And Suggestions
PUBLIC RECORDS The following indexes may be very useful for finding the names of ancestors and learning where they were living at a particular time:
Indenture Collection containing Deeds, Bonds, Commissions, etc. of New Jersey Individuals: and other States, 1600-1900. Salt Lake City: Genealogical Society of Utah, 1970. (FHL films 849596, 849543-57; computer number 326161.) There is an alphabetical index on films 849596 (A-Con), and 849543-547 (Con-Z). The indexes and the records are at Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey.
Index of Names to Various Records in Various New Jersey Counties, 1600-1800s. Salt Lake City: Genealogical Society of Utah, 1972. (FHL films 946856-61; computer number 326159.) This is an alphabetical index to names listed in commissions in the military, powers of attorney, court appointments, Justice of Peace appointments, pardons, earmark registrations, land agreements, mortgages, warrants, surveys, patents, wills, marriages, court suits, licenses, naturalizations, quit claims, affidavits, and apprentices. The index indicates the volume in which the record is to be found. These indexes and the records are at the Division of Archives and Records Management, Trenton, New Jersey.
For genealogical and historical societies which have records and services to help you with your research, see the “Archives and Libraries,” “Church Records,” and “Periodicals” sections of this outline. Many counties also have local historical and genealogical societies.
Many counties also have local historical and genealogical societies. You can find local society addresses by using directories cited in the “Societies” section of the United States Research Outline (30972).
The first tax was levied by the general assembly in 1668. As early as 1670, quitrents (annual property taxes) were paid by landowners to the proprietors. The most valuable collection of tax records is the tax rateables (lists of landowners and other taxables). The ratables list married couples, single men, and widows and indicate if they owned land. Approximate ages and relationships can sometimes be inferred. The ratables are arranged by county and township. There are some lists for 1773 to 1822 in varying degrees of completeness to 1822. This collection's primary value is to determine where someone lived during the period from 1773 to 1832.
The original lists are at the state archives, and microfilm copies are at the New Jersey Historical Society and the Family History Library (FHL films 411285-318; computer number 432127). The following books index most of the lists:
Jackson, Ronald Vern. New Jersey Tax Lists, 1772- 1822. 4 vols. Bountiful, Utah: Accelerated Indexing Systems, 1981. (FHL book 974.9 R42n; computer number 399355.) The index is missing all of Hunterdon County and most of the townships of Burlington and Middlesex counties. (It is also found as part of search number one of the AIS microfiche census index.)
Stryker-Rodda, Kenn. Revolutionary Census of New Jersey: An Index, Based on Ratables . . . 1972. Revised. Lambertville, N.J.: Hunterdon House, 1986. (FHL book 974.9 R4s; computer number 261576.) This book indexes the ratables for 1773 to 1774, 1778 to 1780, and 1784 to 1786. The complete lists for these years were published serially, county by county, in the Genealogical Magazine of New Jersey volumes 36-54 (May 1961-September 1979). (See the Periodicals section of this outline for the call number.)
Between 1862 and 1872 the federal government levied an income tax to pay for the Civil War:
United States. Bureau of Internal Revenue. Assessment Lists of the Federal Bureau of Internal Revenue, 1862-1866. Washington, D.C.: National Archives, 1965. (On 218 FHL films 1534790—; computer number 462516.) The lists are arranged by county and indicate the name of the person or business being taxed, address, taxable period, article or occupation taxed, remarks, and notation of payment.
The following is an inventory of the tax lists which are available for 1773 to 1889:
Register of New Jersey County Tax Ratables, Abstracts and Exempt Lists, 1773 to about 1889. Salt Lake City: the Genealogical Society of Utah. (FHL film 599498 item 4; fiche 6051263; computer number 261571.)
Town records, particularly for the early New England settlements of East Jersey, contain valuable information such as names of elected officials, lists of freeholders, petitions, vital records, deeds, cattle earmarks, and other documents useful in locating persons. The largest existing collection of town records is at the state archives in Trenton, and a smaller number are found at Rutgers University Library. The New Jersey Historical Society has the records of Pequannack, Morris County, from 1741 to 1862.
Some town records that are available on microfilm at the Family History Library include those of Burlington, Elizabeth, Newark, Piscataway, Woodbridge, and towns of Hunterdon County. Middletown and Woodbury were other towns that also had seventeenth century records.
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SOCIETIES
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TAXATION
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TOWN RECORDS
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Version of Data: 6/9/2001]