Webinar: Researching New Jersey Land Records Online

Deeds can be surprising genealogical goldmines

If you haven’t looked at Land Records you might be missing out on some great family history! I recently taught a class on using New Jersey Land Records where I discussed the importance of these transactions and how to navigate two important collections.

Gifted or inherited land creates family history records

The two land records collections we reviewed, the Early Land Records Database and County Deeds digitized on FamilySearch, span from the 17^th to the 20^th Centuries.  Deeds are the most likely document to contain genealogical information.  The deed will explain what gives the grantor the right to sell the present property.  The deed will publish relevant excerpts of wills or other deeds which are relevant to the current land purchase.  Deeds may particularly assist in narrowing down a marriage or death date.

Genealogical information might include:

Early Land Records Database

This collection contains deeds filed with the New Jersey Secretary of State’s Office, as well as records from the East and West Jersey Proprietors.  Some records come from county resources.  You can search records by name, book, ethnicity or county.  If you are searching by surname, you should use several different spelling variations, as there is not an indexing key used like in the later County Deeds.  Use an asterisk anywhere in a word for a wildcard search.

When to use Early Land Records

If you are researching relatives who owned land in New Jersey in the 17^th or 18^th centuries.  (Records do go up into the 20^th century.  Non-deed records can assist you in confirming where an ancestor lived.  Records can include spouse names without further genealogical information.

Using the Records of the East and West Jersey Proprietors

The East and West Jersey Proprietors were land corporations that governed the colonies of East and West Jersey in the 17^th Century.  In 1702, the Proprietors surrendered the government to the British Crown, which then combined the two colonies into a single colony under a Royal Governor.  Although the Proprietors surrendered governance, they continued to exist, own land, and conduct land transactions.  West Jersey Proprietors is still an active corporation.  The document provides a history of the land use in East and West Jersey.  In addition, there are two glossaries: one contains key terms and document types and the other contains unfamiliar terms used in old deeds.  I highly recommend using this document in tandem with the Early Land Records Database, especially if you are doing extensive research.

More than just land records

Some records are digitized

Click the “View PDF” link to see the full text document.  You can download and save the pdf file as well.  Items that are not digitized can be order from the Early Land Records Database or viewed on microfilm at the New Jersey State Archives.

County Clerks’ Deeds on FamilySearch.org

These are digitized rolls of microfilm, part of the Images Collection.  The deeds are browsable, not searchable by name like the Early Land Records Database.  There are index volumes that can be searched for a citation.  You will then need to find the deed volume and go to the page to see the full text deeds.

How do I find the deeds?

Grouping surnames with Index Keys

Many indexes designed in the 20^th century group similarly spelled surnames together.  This ensures that more spelling variations of a surname can be found in one place. FamilySearch has a useful guide to different keys available on the FamilySearch Wiki.

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Remember, you’re looking at microfilm reels.

Microfilm reels may contain more than one volume.  If you have a citation from the index, and you don’t find your deed on the correct page, make sure you are in the correct volume within the digitized microfilm.

In Conclusion

We are lucky to have two such continuous resources for land records here in New Jersey.  There are some useful tips and tricks to know when using these tools, and hopefully these assist with finding genealogical goldmines!

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