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Morris County, New Jersey Genealogy

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Morris County, New Jersey ancestry, family history, and genealogy 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.


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Morris County, New Jersey
Map
Map of New Jersey highlighting Morris County
Location in the state of New Jersey
Map of the U.S. highlighting New Jersey
Location of New Jersey in the U.S.
Facts
Founded March 15, 1739
County Seat Morristown
Courthouse
Address Morris County Courthouse
Hall of Rec Admin Bldg

Court St, PO Box 315
Morristown, NJ 07963
Phone: (973) 285.6120
Morris County Website


County Information[edit | edit source]

Description[edit | edit source]

Morris County is located in the north central region of the state. It was created on March 15, 1739 . Morristown is the county seat. The county was named for Colonel Lewis Morris (1671–1746), colonial governor of New Jersey at the time of the county's formation.[1]

Morris County, New Jersey Record Dates[edit | edit source]

Known Beginning Dates for Major County Records[2]
Birth* Marriage Death* Court Land Probate Census
1901 1795 1901 1739 1765 1785 1830
Statewide registration for births and deaths started in 1840. General compliance by 1920.

County Courthouse[edit | edit source]

Morris County Courthouse
Hall of Rec Admin Bldg;
Court St; PO Box 315
Morristown, NJ 07963
Phone: 973.285.6120

County Clerk has marriage records 1795-1881,
court records 1739-1978, land records from 1785,
slave records 1804-1820, naturalization records
from 1816 and military discharge records from 1945.
County Surrogate Court has probate records. These provide death date, executor's name and probate file number: click on link to search records by name [accessed March 7, 2014]
Clerk Superior Court has divorce records. [3]

http://www.judiciary.state.nj.us/morris/index.htm
Washington & Court Sts.
Morristown, NJ 07960-0910
973-656-4000

Morris County, New Jersey Historical Facts[edit | edit source]

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.


  • Morris County was first settled by the white man in the early 1700s.
  • Named after Lewis Morris, who was then the Governor of the Province of New Jersey
  • Beginning in 1740 Morris County had 3 Municipal Subdivisions (Hanover Twp., Morris Twp., and Pequannock Twp.)
  • Beginning of the 19th century (1800) Morris County had 7 Municipal Subdivisions (Hanover, Morris, Pequannock, Chester, Mendham, Roxbury and Washington Townships).
  • Beginning of the 20th century (1900) Morris County had 25 Municipal Subdivisions.
  • Beginning of the 21st century (2000) Morris County is composed of 39 Municipal Subdivisions.

Morris County Library has a more detailed Genealogy geography - to view, click here. [accessed March 7, 2014]

Parent County[edit | edit source]

  • 15 March 1739: Morris County was created by an Act of the State Legislature separating it from Hunterdon County. (Worldcat)

Boundary Changes[edit | edit source]

For animated maps illustrating New Jersey county boundary changes, visit "Rotating Formation New Jersey County Boundary Maps" (1683-1928) may be viewed for free at the MapofUS.org website.

Record Loss[edit | edit source]

There is no known history of courthouse disasters in this county.

Morris County, New Jersey Genealogical Resources[edit | edit source]

Bible[edit | edit source]

Cemeteries[edit | edit source]

Tombstone Transcriptions Online Tombstone Transcriptions in Print List of Cemeteries in the county
Findagrave.com Family History Library Findagrave.com
NJGenWeb WorldCat Billion Graves
NJGenWeb Archives
NJTombstone Project
NJInterment
EPodunk
Billion Graves
See New Jersey Cemeteries for more information.

Census[edit | edit source]

State Census Records

Federal Census Records

Church Records[edit | edit source]

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 denominations, view the New Jersey Church Records wiki page.


Court Records[edit | edit source]

Emigration and Immigration[edit | edit source]

Ethnic, Political, or Religious Groups[edit | edit source]

Gazetteers[edit | edit source]

Genealogy[edit | edit source]

History[edit | edit source]

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[edit | edit source]

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[edit | edit source]

Sussex CountyPassaic CountyEssex CountyUnion CountySomerset CountyHunterdon CountyWarren CountyNJ MORRIS.PNG
Click a neighboring county
for more resources



Migration[edit | edit source]

Military[edit | edit source]

Naturalization and Citizenship[edit | edit source]

Newspapers[edit | edit source]

Additional newspapers abstracts can sometimes be found using search phrases such as Morris County, New Jersey Genealogy newspapers in online catalogs like:


Occupations[edit | edit source]

Periodicals[edit | edit source]

Poorhouse, Almshouse[edit | edit source]

Probate Records[edit | edit source]

Probate records created after 1852 are held by the Morris County, New Jersey Genealogy 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 Morris County, New Jersey Genealogy 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[edit | edit source]

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 

A wiki article describing an online collection is found at:
New Jersey, Middlesex County Probate Records - FamilySearch Historical Records

  • Many Probate Records for Morris County have been microfilmed or abstracted. Some of those copies are available at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City. For a listing of their holdings, see the topic details.

Online Probate Records

Repositories[edit | edit source]

Archives[edit | edit source]
Courthouse[edit | edit source]

Morris County Courthouse
Hall of Rec Admin Bldg;
Court St; PO Box 315
Morristown, NJ 07963
Phone: 973.285.6120

County Clerk has marriage records 1795-1881,
court records 1739-1978, land records from 1785,
slave records 1804-1820, naturalization records
from 1816 and military discharge records from 1945.
County Surrogate Court has probate records. These provide death date, executor's name and probate file number: click on link to search records by name [accessed March 7, 2014]
Clerk Superior Court has divorce records. [3]

http://www.judiciary.state.nj.us/morris/index.htm
Washington & Court Sts.
Morristown, NJ 07960-0910
973-656-4000

Family History Centers[edit | edit source]

Family History Centers provide one-on-one assistance and free access to premium genealogical websites. In addition, many centers have free how-to genealogy classes.

Libraries[edit | edit source]
Museums[edit | edit source]
Societies[edit | edit source]

Morris Area Genealogy Society
Mailing address P.O. BOX 105
Covent Station, NJ 07961-0105
Currently meeting at Morris County Library
30 East Hanover Ave.
Whippany, NJ
Website

Morris County Historical Society
68 Morris Avenue
Morristown 07960
Telephone: 973-267-3465
Website

Historical Society of Boonton Township
591 Powerville Road
PO Box 362
Boonton Township New Jersey 07005
Website

Chatham Historical Society
24 Southern Boulevard
Chatham 07928-0262
Website

Chester Historical Society
PO Box 376
Chester NJ 07930
Telephone: 908-866-6717
E-mail:historicchesternj@gmail.com
Website

Cornish Heritage Society
East 197 Wykertown Rd
Branchville, New Jersey 07885

Denville Historical Society
Diamond Spring Rd
Denville, NJ 07834
Telephone: 973-627-6894

Harding Township Historical Society
16 Village Road
New Vernon, NJ 07826-4431
Telephone: 973-292-3661
E-mail:varker@optonline.net

Lake Hopatcong Historical Society
PO Box 668
Landing, NJ 07850
Telephone: 973-398-2616
Website


Historical Society Of Rockaways
Mount Hope Rd
Rockaway, NJ 07866‎
Telephone: 973-366-6730



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Wikipedia
 Wikipedia has more about this subject: Hudson County,  New Jersey

Schools[edit | edit source]

  • Schools of Morris County, New Jersey

Taxation[edit | edit source]

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.


  • Many Taxation Records for Morris County have been microfilmed or abstracted. Some of those copies are available at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City. For a listing of their holdings, see the topic details.

Vital Records[edit | edit source]

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.


Birth[edit | edit source]
Marriage[edit | edit source]

Online Marriage Indexes and Records

1606-1981 - New Jersey, United States Marriages at FindMyPast — index $

Death[edit | edit source]

Morris County, New Jersey Websites[edit | edit source]

Morris County, New Jersey Municipalities[edit | edit source]

Morris County, New Jersey Neighboring Counties[edit | edit source]

Morris County

Morris County, New Jersey Genealogy References[edit | edit source]

  1. ↑ Wikipedia contributors, "Morris County, New Jersey" in Wikipedia : the Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morris_County,_New_Jersey accessed 23 September 2018.
  2. ↑ Handybook for Genealogists: United States of America, 10th ed. (Draper, Utah: Everton Pub., 2002), Morris County, New Jersey . Page 464-465 At various libraries (WorldCat); FHL Book 973 D27e 2002; Alice Eichholz, ed. Ancestry’s Red Book: American State, County, and Town Sources, Third ed. (Provo, Utah: Ancestry, 2004), 460.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Handybook for Genealogists: United States of America, 10th ed. (Draper, Utah: Everton Pub., 2002), Morris County, New Jersey page 465, At various libraries (WorldCat); FHL Book 973 D27e 2002.
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