Cape May County, New JerseyEdit This Page
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United States 
New Jersey Cape May County
Cape May County, New Jersey genealogy and family history 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.
| Cape May County, New Jersey | |
| Map | |
 Location in the state of New Jersey | |
 Location of New Jersey in the U.S. | |
| Facts | |
| Founded | , 1685 |
|---|---|
| County Seat | Cape May Court House |
| Courthouse | |
| Address | Cape May County Court House 4 Moore Road Cape May Court House, NJ 08210 Phone: (609) 465-1010 Cape May County Website |
Cape May County, New Jersey Historical Facts
Parent County
- 12 Nov 1692 from Cumberland County. [1]
Boundary Changes
- 1685, court set up
- 1692, county given boundaries in West Jersey
- 1694, boundaries changed to transfer Great Egg Harbor area to Gloucester County
- 1710, boundary changed
- 1822, boundary with Cumberland County clarified
- 1844, part of Cumberland County added
- 1845, the 1844 part of Cumberland County returned
- 1846, coastal boundary established
- 1878, part of Maurice River twp., Cumberland County, added to Upper twp.
- 1891, part of Maurice River twp., Cumberland County, added to Dennis twp.
- 1906, coastal boundary established.
Record Loss
Cape May, New Jersey Genealogical Resources
Bible
Cemeteries
Census
Church Records
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 Ohio denominations, view the New Jersey Church Records wiki page.
- 1708-1985 - Pennsylvania, Church and Town Records, 1708-1985 at Historical Society of Pennsylvania – $, free to members of the society; Also available at Ancestry.com – $; 7,542,774 entries. This database is incomplete for all counties.
- Contains the church records of:
- Ocean View: Calvary Baptist Church
- Contains the church records of:
Court Records
Emigration and Immigration
Ethnic, Political, or Religious Groups
Gazetteers
Genealogy
History
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
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.
Maps
Migration
Military
Naturalization and Citizenship
Newspapers
Additional newspapers abstracts can sometimes be found using search phrases such as Cape May County, New Jersey newspapers in online catalogs like:
- May+county+New+Jersey+Newspapers&qt=results_page WorldCat (For instructions see WorldCat Online Catalog).
- Do a Cape May County, New Jersey Place-name search for these and other records in the Family History Library Catalog (For instructions see FHL Catalog Place-name Search).
Occupations
Periodicals
Poorhouse, Alsmhouse
Probate Records
Probate records created after 1852 are held by the Cape May County, New Jersey 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 Cape May County, New Jersey 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
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
Repositories
Archives
Courthouse
Cape May County Courthouse
4 Moore Road
Cape May Court House, NJ 08210
Phone: (609) 465-1010
County Clerk has military records 1795-1878, land records from 1692, Court Records 1793-1948, Military are cords from 1919 and naturalization records 1900-1960. County Surrogate has probate records from 1783. [1]
Family History Centers
Libraries
Museums
Societies
- Cape County Historical Museum and Genealogical Society
- Cape May County Library
- Greater Cape May Historical Society
Schools
Taxation
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
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.
Cape May County, New Jersey Web Sites
- The Cape May County NYGenWeb Project, a member of The NJGenWeb Project, an affiliate of The USGenWeb Project.
- The USGenWeb Archives Project for Cape May County.
- The USGenWeb Archives Project for Cape May County. (Backup site)
- FamilySearch.org Family History Library Catalog for Cape May County.
Cape May County, New Jersey Neighboring Counties
Cape May County, New Jersey Genealogy References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Handybook for Genealogists: United States of America, 10th ed. (Draper, Utah: Everton Pub., 2002), 181. [FHL book 973 D27e 2002].
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- This page was last modified on 15 May 2013, at 21:29.
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