New Jersey Research Tips and Strategies
| New Jersey Wiki Topics |
|
| Beginning Research |
| Record Types |
|
| New Jersey Background |
| Cultural Groups |
| Local Research Resources |
|
Purpose of Research Tips and Strategies Wiki Page |
New Jersey Research Strategies
Below are links to different research strategy pages to help you locate your ancestors in New Jersey:
- Finding New Jersey Births, Marriages, and Deaths using Guided Research
- New Jersey Record Finder
- New Jersey Online Genealogy Records
- Step-by-Step New Jersey Research, 1880-Present
- Step-by-Step New Jersey Research, 1850-1910
- New Jersey Descendancy Research
- How to Find Birth Records
- How to Find Marriage Records
- How to Find Death Records
New Jersey Research Tips
These tips will help you as you research your ancestors in New Jersey:
- Birth information: The first laws requiring town clerks to register vital records were made in 1675 and 1682, but few clerks complied. In 1848 New Jersey became the second state (after Massachusetts) to require statewide registration, but the early registration was not compete. At least 100,000 births in the period before 1920 were not recorded. A helpful substitute record to find birth information is a death record. However, date and place of birth on a death record is considered secondary information, as it was not recorded at the time of the birth event. The birth information should be corroborated with other substitute records to improve accuracy.
- Finding Parents: Statewide registration of deaths began in 1848. They often will list the parents of the deceased and their birth information. Search New Jersey death records
- Look in all censuses: Always look for your ancestor in every possible census. There are clues regarding immigration, naturalization, and occupation that can lead to other records. Sometimes parents can be found living with their children later in life. Search U.S. Censuses.
Further New Jersey Research
- NJGenWeb
- Cyndi's List - New Jersey genealogy sites on the internet
- New Jersey Genealogy Trails - collection of transcribed data for the state of New Jersey
- Access Genealogy – Genealogy guide for New Jersey
- Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness - Guide to Ancestry and Family Tree Records for New Jersey
- New Jersey Research Outline – Original FamilySearch Library research outline; contains many out of date links