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Middlesex County, New Jersey Genealogy

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Middlesex 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.


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Middlesex County, New Jersey
Map
Map of New Jersey highlighting Middlesex County
Location in the state of New Jersey
Map of the U.S. highlighting New Jersey
Location of New Jersey in the U.S.
Facts
Founded  , 1675
County Seat New Brunswick
Courthouse
Address Trenton County Courthouse
Old Bridge, 235 Ticetown Road
New Brunswick, NJ 08857
Phone: (732) 745-3005
Middlesex County Website


County Information[edit | edit source]

Description[edit | edit source]

Middlesex County is located in the east central region of the state. It was created on February 16, 1867. Hastings is the county seat. The county was named for the Historic English county of Middlesex.[1]


Middlesex County, New Jersey Record Dates[edit | edit source]

Known Beginning Dates for Major County Records[2]
Birth* Marriage Death* Court Land Probate Census
1901 1683 1901 1786 1766 1786 1830
Statewide registration for births and deaths started in 1840. General compliance by 1920.

Middlesex County, New Jersey Historical Facts[edit | edit source]

Parent County[edit | edit source]

  • 1675, original part of East Jersey
  • 1 March 1683, created as a county from the Colonial lands. [3]

Boundary Changes[edit | edit source]

  • 26 May 1688, part taken for Somerset County.[4]
  • 1710, some boundary changes
  • 1714, part of Somerset County taken back
  • 1790, some boundary changes with Somerset County
  • 1822, water boundary established
  • 22 February 1838, West Windsor and part of East Windsor twps. to Mercer County.[5]
  • 1844, part of Monroe twp. to Monmouth County
  • 1844, part of Monroe twp. to Monmouth County and returned in 1845
  • 1847, piece of Monroe twp. to Monmouth County
  • 1850, part of Franklin twp. of Somerset County to North Brunswick twp.; water boundary clarified
  • 1855, some changes to boundary with Somerset County and again in 1858
  • 1860, part of Woodbridge twp. to Rahway, Union County
  • 1871, boundary with Plainfield, Union County changed
  • 1878, boundary at Kingston, Somerset County clarified
  • 1892, water boundary further clarified
  • 1939, land to Matawan, Monmouth County.

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[edit | edit source]

There is no known history of courthouse disasters in this county.

Middlesex County, New Jersey Genealogy Resources[edit | edit source]

Bible[edit | edit source]

Cemeteries[edit | edit source]

Tombstone Transcriptions Online Tombstone Transcriptions in Print List of Cemeteries in the county
Findagrave.com Family History Library Findagrave.com
NJGenWeb WorldCat Billion Graves
NJGenWeb Archives
NJTombstone Project
NJInterment
EPodunk
Billion Graves
See New Jersey Cemeteries for more information.

Census[edit | edit source]

Church Records[edit | edit source]

Church records and the information they provide vary significantly depending on the denomination and the record keeper. They may contain information about members of the congregation, such as age, date of baptism, christening, or birth; marriage information and maiden names; and death date. For general information about denominations, view the New Jersey Church Records wiki page.


Lutheran[edit | edit source]
  • Records of Our Savior's Lutheran Church, Perth Amboy, in Evangelical Lutheran Church in America database at Archives.com ($).
Methodist[edit | edit source]
Contains the church records of:
  • Monroe: Methodist Church
Quakers[edit | edit source]
  • 1687-1825 - Vail, Hugh D. "Records of Rahway and Plainfield (N.J.) Monthly Meeting of Friends (Formerly Held at Amboy and Woodbridge) from 1687 to 1825," The New York Genealogical and Biographical Record, Vol. 8, No. 4 (Oct. 1877):176-181; Vol. 9, No. 1 (Jan. 1878):28-37; Vol. 9, No. 2 (Apr. 1878):64-71; Vol. 9, No. 4 (Oct. 1878):174-180; Vol. 10, No. 1 (Jan. 1879):20-23; Vol. 10, No. 3 (Jul. 1879):139-143; Vol. 11, No. 1 (Jan. 1880):42-46. Digital version at New York Family History ($); FHL Book 974.7 B2n v. 8-11. Internet Archives has digitized Vols. 8-9, Vol. 10, and Vol. 11 - free.[6] Includes births, marriages.
  • 1826-1889 - Haviland, Frank. "Records of Rahway and Plainfield (N.J.) Monthly Meetings of Friends (Formerly Held at Amboy and Woodbridge)," The New York Genealogical and Biographical Record, Vol. 114, no. 1 (Jan. 1983):23-36. Digital version at New York Family History ($); FHL Book 974.7 B2n v. 114.
Ward and Branch Records of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints[edit | edit source]
  • New Brunswick

Court Records[edit | edit source]

Emigration and Immigration[edit | edit source]

Ethnic, Political, or Religious Groups[edit | edit source]

Gazetteers[edit | edit source]

Genealogy[edit | edit source]

History[edit | edit source]

Local histories are available for New Jersey counties. County histories may include biographies, church, school and government history, and military information. For more information about local histories see the wiki page section New Jersey Local Histories.


Land and Property[edit | edit source]

Land and property records can place an ancestor in a particular location, provide economic information, and reveal family relationships. Land records include: deeds, abstracts and indexes, mortgages, leases, grants and land patents.

See New Jersey Land and Property for information about New Jersey Proprietary land records. After land was transferred to private ownership, subsequent transactions were usually recorded at the county courthouse and where records are currently housed.


Middlesex County Land Records Search website
Middlesex County land records are freely searchable online back to January 1950. Watermarked copies are free to print; printing clean copies is a paid service. Cookies must be enabled for the site to function properly and be sure to read the User Guide.

Maps[edit | edit source]

Union CountySomerset CountyMercer CountyMonmouth CountyStaten Island Borough (previously Richmond County)Manhattan Borough (previously New York County)NJ MIDDLESEX.PNG
Click a neighboring county
for more resources


The Sanborn Map Company is the oldest mapping company in the United States. Founded in 1866, the company created detailed building maps of cities and towns all across the country, primarily for use by insurance companies. These maps also have been used extensively by local government agencies for over a century in conducting their daily operations efficiently. Genealogists, local history buffs, city planners, architects, and countless others have been drawn to the quality of detail found in them. Digital archive provided by Princeton University.

Migration[edit | edit source]

Early migration routes to and from Middlesex County, New Jersey Genealogy for settlers included:[7]

Military[edit | edit source]

Naturalization and Citizenship[edit | edit source]

Newspapers[edit | edit source]

Additional newspapers abstracts can sometimes be found using search phrases such as Middlesex County, New Jersey Genealogy newspapers in online catalogs like:


  • Woodbridge Township Newspapers digitized archive freely available via the Woodbridge Township Public Library
  • Carteret Press (1925 -1965)
  • Fords Beacon (1936 - 1961)
  • Independent Leader (1940 -1965)
  • Leader Press (1967 - 1970)
  • The Independent Hour (1876 - 1877)
  • The Weekly Register (1898 - 1902)
  • The Woodbridge Leader (1927 - 1928)
  • The Woodbridge News (1899 - 1902)
  • Woodbridge Independent (1919 - 1938)
  • Woodbridge Leader (1926 -1939)


Occupations
[edit | edit source]

Periodicals[edit | edit source]

Poorhouse, Almshouse[edit | edit source]

Probate Records[edit | edit source]

Probate records created after 1852 are held by the Middlesex County, New Jersey Genealogy Probate Court. From 1797 or the creation of the county, probate records were held by the Court of Common Pleas. Most counties transferred all records to the Probate Court, but in some circumstances, Court of Common Pleas records should be searched for records prior to 1852. Most records are housed at the Middlesex County, New Jersey Genealogy Courthouse. Some records are on microfilm at the Ohio Genealogical Society and the Family History Library. For more complete information about the location of county probate records see:

See the wiki page New Jersey Probate Records for information about how to use probate records.

Content: Probate Records may give the decedent's date of death, names of his or her spouse, children, parents, siblings, in-laws, neighbors, associates, relatives, and their place of residence.

Record types: Wills, estates, guardianships, naturalizations, marriage, adoption, and birth and death records (1867-1908 only).

Obtaining Copies of County Probate Records[edit | edit source]

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. (Family History Library book 973 D27rb 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

Online Probate Records

Repositories[edit | edit source]

Archives[edit | edit source]
Courthouses[edit | edit source]

Middlesex County Courthouse
Old Bridge; 235 Ticetown Road;
New Brunswick, NJ 08857
Phone: (732) 745-3005

County Clerk has marriage, divorce, court and land records. County Surrogate has probate records.[8]

Family History Centers[edit | edit source]

Family History Centers provide one-on-one assistance and free access to premium genealogical websites. In addition, many centers have free how-to genealogy classes.

Libraries[edit | edit source]
Museums[edit | edit source]
Societies[edit | edit source]

Middlesex County Cultural and Heritage Commission
Middlesex County Annex
841 Georges Rd.
North Brunswick, NJ 08902
Telephone: 732-745-4489

Plainsboro Historical Society
641 Plainsboro Rd Ste A
Plainsboro, NJ 08536
Telephone: 609-799-9040

Metuchen/edison Historical Society
PO Box 61
Metuchen NJ
Website

South River Historical and Preservation Society
PO Box 446
South River 08882
Website


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Wikipedia
 Wikipedia has more about this subject: Hudson County,  New Jersey

Schools[edit | edit source]

Taxation[edit | edit source]

New Jersey tax records complement land records and can be used in place of censuses before 1820 or to supplement the years between censuses. Because only persons who owned taxable property were listed, many residents were not included in tax lists. There may also be gaps of several years in the tax records of some counties. For more information see the wiki page New Jersey Taxation.


Vital Records[edit | edit source]

Vital Records consist of births, adoptions, marriages, divorces, and deaths recorded on registers, certificates, and documents. United States Vital Records has additional research guidance on researching and using vital records. A copy or an extract of most original records can be purchased from the New Jersey Vital Records State Department of Health or the County Clerk's office of the county where the event occurred. Original marriage records are usually held at the county Bureau of Vital Statistics.


Birth[edit | edit source]
Marriage[edit | edit source]

Online Marriage Indexes and Records

1606-1981 - New Jersey, United States Marriages at FindMyPast — index $

Death[edit | edit source]

Middlesex County, New Jersey Websites[edit | edit source]

Middlesex County, New Jersey Places[edit | edit source]

Middlesex County

Middlesex County, New Jersey Genealogy References[edit | edit source]

  1. ↑ Wikipedia contributors, "Middlesex County, New Jersey" in Wikipedia : the Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middlesex_County,_New_Jersey accessed 29 August 2018.
  2. ↑ Handybook for Genealogists: United States of America, 10th ed. (Draper, Utah: Everton Pub., 2002), Middlesex County, New Jersey . Page 464-465 At various libraries (WorldCat); FHL Book 973 D27e 2002; Alice Eichholz, ed. Ancestry’s Red Book: American State, County, and Town Sources, Third ed. (Provo, Utah: Ancestry, 2004), 460.
  3. ↑ Handybook for Genealogists: United States of America, 10th ed. (Draper, Utah: Everton Pub., 2002), 464. At various libraries (WorldCat); FHL Book 973 D27e 2002.
  4. ↑ Handybook for Genealogists: United States of America, 10th ed. (Draper, Utah: Everton Pub., 2002), 181. [FHL book 973 D27e 2002].
  5. ↑ Handybook for Genealogists: United States of America, 10th ed. (Draper, Utah: Everton Pub., 2002), 181. [FHL book 973 D27e 2002].
  6. ↑ WeRelate contributors, "Source:New York Genealogical and Biographical Record (New York Genealogical and Biographical Society)," in WeRelate, http://www.werelate.org/wiki/Source:New_York_Genealogical_and_Biographical_Record_%28New_York_Genealogical_and_Biographical_Society%29, accessed 17 February 2012.
  7. ↑ Handybook, 847-61.
  8. ↑ Handybook for Genealogists: United States of America, 10th ed. (Draper, Utah: Everton Pub., 2002), Middlesex County, New Jersey page 464, At various libraries (WorldCat); FHL Book 973 D27e 2002.
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