Two year and three months…

It truly has been a while since I have written a blog post. There has been so much news and I am not sure where to start.

First, I would like to say that New Jersey genealogy is alive and well. From the posts I see in online groups to Society activities around the state, I don’t think there has been a better time to be doing genealogical research on New Jersey families than now!

Next, I want to share that the resources which are available today are numerous. While I know we would all love to have the post-May 1878 certificates for births, marriages and deaths digitally available, the new Ancestry collection—New Jersey, U.S., Birth, Marriage and Death Records, 1711-1878—offers researchers access to clear, readable versions of the registers of Return of Births, Marriages and Deaths for the 1 May 1878–1 June 1878 reporting period. We are no longer restricted to viewing these at a local FamilySearch Center or an FamilySearch affiliate library or make the trek to Trenton to spend a day researching. This is great news!

Note: No there are no records from 1711 in this database. There a serious typo for Daniel Sanford and Margaret Buckelew’s 1879 marriage which was indexed as 1779. This places the birth year for the 68-year-old Daniel at ca1711, instead of the correct time frame of ca1811.¹

In total, there are eleven (11) databases on Ancestry relating to the holdings of the New Jersey State Archives.

• New Jersey, U.S., Abstract of Wills, 1670-1817
• New Jersey, U.S., Birth Index, 1848-1878, 1901-1903
• New Jersey, U.S., Birth, Marriage and Death Records, 1711-1878
• New Jersey, U.S., Births and Christenings Index, 1660-1931
• New Jersey, U.S., Death Index, 1848-1878, 1901-2017
• New Jersey, U.S., Deaths and Burials Index, 1798-1971
• New Jersey, U.S., Marriage Index, 1901-2016
• New Jersey, U.S., Marriage Records, 1683-1802
• New Jersey, U.S., Published Archives Series, 1631-1782
• New Jersey, U.S., State Census, 1895
• New Jersey, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1739-1991

In the upcoming weeks, we’ll take a closer look at some of the collections and share research tips and guidance similar to the 2015 posts:  Using the Online Collections – Ancestry vs. FamilySearch: Part A and Using the Online Collections – Ancestry vs. FamilySearch: Part B.

Happy Searching!!

Michelle

Source: Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/62483/ : accessed February 2023) > New Jersey, U.S., Birth, Marriage and Death Records, 1711-1878 > Marriages > 1878 > Hunterdon-Warren > Marriages Hunterdon-Warren v. BU 1878 > image 112 of 361, marriage for Daniel Sandford and Margaret Buckelew, 2 November 1879, page 97.