New Jersey Genealogy

Special Collections and Archives is the repository for the records of a number of churches and religious bodies. These are described in:

A Guide to Original and Copied Records of Religious Organizations, Largely New Jersey Churches, in the Special Collections and University Archives of Rutgers University. Donald A. Sinclair. New Brunswick, N.J. : Genealogical Society of New Jersey, 1999. Available?

Directory of churches in New Jersey.

21 volumes. Newark : The Historical Records Survey, 1940-41.

Contents: 1. Atlantic county.--2. Bergen county.--3. Burlington county.--4. Camden county.--5. Cape May county.--6. Cumberland county.--7. Essex county.--8. Gloucester county.--9. Hudson county.--10. Hunterdon county.--11. Mercer county.--12. Middlesex county.--13. Monmouth county.--14. Morris county.--15. Ocean county.--16. Passaic county.--17. Salem county.--18. Somerset county.--19. Sussex county.--20. Union county.--21. Warren county. Available?

Also available online from the Hathi Trust.

Inventory of the Church Archives of New Jersey.

Newark, N.J. : Historical Records Survey. 1938-1941.

Baha'i Assemblies Available?

Baptists, Seventh-Day Baptists Available?

Congregational Christian Churches Available?

Evangelical Church Available?

Presbyterians, Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A., United Presbyterian Church of North America Available?

Protestant Episcopal, Diocese of New Jersey, Diocese of Newark Available?

The Salvation Army, Jersey City. Available?

Unitarian Church Available?

Guide to Local Church Records in the Archives of the Reformed Church in America and to Genealogical Resources in the Gardner Sage Library, New Brunswick Theological Seminary.

Russell L. Gasero. New Brunswick, N.J. : Local Church Archive Group, 1979. Available?

Guide to Local Church Records in the Archives of the Reformed Church in America and Other Repositories.

Compiled by Russell L. Gasero and Erica McLaughlin.

The Archives, housed in the Gardner Sage Library of the New Brunswick Theological Seminary, is the repository for the records of more than 300 Reformed congregations, the majority of which are from New Jersey or New York. [Please note that while the campuses are adjacent, the New Brunswick Theological Seminary is NOT part of Rutgers University.]

Year book of the Holland Society of New York.

New York, 1912, pp. 1-51.

Lists the New Jersey Dutch Reformed and Lutheran records at the Holland Society Library. Available?

Drew University Methodist Library Church File Collection

Arranged by state and municipality.

New Jersey Catholic Baptismal Records from 1759 to 1781.

Janet Drumm Dirnberger. Seabrook, Tex. : Brambles, 1981.

Index to 285 baptismal records. Available?

The Archdiocese of Newark Collection

Part of the Special Collections Center at Walsh Library of Seton Hall University, it includes archival records of churches in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Newark, which currently includes the Catholic churches in Bergen, Essex, Hudson, and Union counties. The collection includes microfilmed copies of parish registers from 1832 to 1914, as well as individual parish histories, parish census data, church and school building histories, and oral histories. They also house the sacramental records for the closed parishes in the Archdiocese of Newark.

• Archdiocese of Newark Parish Collections. Finding Aids.

There is a list of Catholic Churches of Essex County which indicates which churches have deposited their records at Seton Hall.

New Jersey Churchscape

A database and photographic inventory of the 18th & 19th century churches in New Jersey.

The New Jersey Historical Society has church/religious body records in it's collections.

Records Listed by Denomination
Records Listed by Location

The Jewish Historical Society houses the records of a number of synagogues in the MetroWest area (Essex, Morris, Sussex, and portions of northern Union counties). Click on "Archives" and then "Finding Aids" to see lists of available collections.

Synagogue Records and Related Materials
Arranged by county.