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Passaic County History and Information |
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Passaic County was created on 7 February 1837 and was formed from Acquackanonk (Clifton) and Paterson Twps. from Essex County; Manchester (Haledon), Pompton (Bloomingdale/Ringwood/Wanaque/Pompton Lakes) and West Milford Twps. from Bergen County ( Consult the Bergen and Essex pages for pre-1837 records.). The County was named for Passajeek, a Native American word meaning valley. The County Seat is Paterson. See also County History for more historical details.
Counties adjacent to Passaic County are Orange County, New York (north), Rockland County, New York (northeast), Bergen County (east), Essex County (south), Morris County (southwest), Sussex County (west).
Passaic County Boroughs Include Bloomingdale, Haledon, Hawthorne, North Haledon, Pompton Lakes, Prospect Park, Ringwood, Totowa, Wanaque, West Paterson. Cities Include Clifton, Passaic, Paterson. Townships Include Little Falls, Wayne, West Milford. CDPs and Communities Include Haskell, Hewitt, Macopin, Newfoundland, Oak Ridge, Pines Lake, Packanack Lake, Preakness.
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See Also New Jersey Land Records, Marriage Records, Court & Probate Records
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PLEASE READ!! Please call the clerk's department to confirm hours, mailing address, fees and other specifics before visiting or requesting information because of sometimes changing contact information. County General Information - (973) 881-4000. Consult the Bergen and Essex for pre-1837 records. |
All Departments below are in the Passaic County Court House, 77 Hamilton Street, Paterson, NJ 07505-2017; (973) 247-8000, unless otherwise noted below. The Official County website is located at http://www.passaiccountynj.org/. NOTE: The record dates below are from the earliest date to present time.
Passaic County Clerk has Land Records & Marriage Records from 1837 and is located at the address above.
Registry Division- ,
(973) 881-4777;
Vault -
(973) 881-4777; Administration Building,
401 Grand Street,
Paterson NJ 07505;
(973) 225-3632 Fax: (973) 754-1920
New Jersey county clerks are responsible for land records, including deeds and mortgages, naturalizations, marriages (usually 1795-1840s), and various county court records. A few original county justice of the peace dockets are at the New Jersey State Archives. Estate matters are handled in the surrogate's and orphans' courts.
Passaic County Surrogate Court / Orphan's Court has Probate Records from 1837 and is located at the courthouse. Phone Number:
(973) 881-4771 Fax: (973) 523-3449
By virtue of laws enacted since 1844, the responsibilities of the County Surrogate have been expanded. The County Surrogate now has two major functions:
- As Judge and Clerk of the County Surrogate's Court, the Surrogate is responsible for settling the estate of every county resident who dies individually owning any assets in New Jersey--whether or not that resident dies leaving a will. Therefore, the Surrogate reviews and probates wills and appoints Executors, Administrators and guardians of minors. In addition, the Surrogate administers and invests monies (now more than $30 million in Bergen County) primarily for minor children who receive judgments in the courts in Bergen County; and
- As Deputy Clerk of the Superior Court, Chancery Division, Probate Part, the Surrogate dockets, reviews and schedules all actions pertaining to will contests, estate matters, accountings, mental incompetencies, guardianships of incompetents and all adoptions occurring in Bergen County. In addition, all documents involved in all County Surrogate Court matters are recorded, stored and maintained by the County Surrogate's Court.
Below is a list of online resources for Passaic County Court Records. Email us with websites containing Passaic County Court Records by clicking the link below:
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See Also Vital Records in New Jersey
New Jersey State Department of Health and Senior Services, State Registrar Search Unit, PO Box 370, Trenton, NJ 08625-0370; (609) 292-4087, Fax: (609) 392-4292. It can take up to 4 months to get a vital record from New Jersey. Some documents are just too important to wait 4 months for. With VitalChek Express Certificate Service you won’t have to. Birth, Marriage, Divorce & Death Certificates Signed. Sealed. Delivered. Often in as few as three business days!
Vital records from May 1848 - May 1878 may be obtained from the State Archives. The Archives also holds microfilm copies of births from 1878-1923, marriages from 1879-1940 and deaths from 1878-1940. These materials are available for in-person use only.
- Birth, Marriage & Death Certificates:
- Cost: Initial search and one certified copy or certification of the record or No Record Statement is $25.00 per certificate.
Additional copies of the same record ordered at the same time are $2 are per copy
Additional years searched (genealogy records only) are $1 per year.
Make Check or Money Order payable to Treasurer, State of New Jersey. If no record is found or no copy is made, state law requires that we keep $25.00 for a searching fee. Please do not send cash in the mail.
- Dates: from 1878 to the present
- Processing Time: 14-16 weeks when ordered by MAIL or 2-5 Days when you order ELECTRONICALLY
- Click Here to Search the Social Security Death Index for FREE
- Divorce Certificates: Divorce records for 1900-1989 are kept by the Records Information Center of the State Superior Court. For records after 1989 contact the NJ County Court that issued the divorce decree.New Jersey divorce decrees are available through the Superior Court of New Jersey Records Center. For more information on obtaining a certified copy of a divorce decree, call the Records Center at: 609-777-0092
- Cost: Include a fee of $10.00 per 10 year search per last name with request. Make check or money order payable to Clerk of the Superior Court.
Superior Court of NJ, Public Information Ctr, 171 Jersey Street, CN 967, Trenton, NJ 08625-0967
Below is a list of online resources for Passaic County Vital Records. Email us with websites containing Passaic County Vital Records by clicking the link below:
- Search the Social Security Death Index for FREE
- New Jersey Marriages, 1684-1895: This database update adds marriage records for Salem County, in addition to records for Warren County, Atlantic, Bergen, Cape May, Cumberland, Gloucester, Sussex, Hunterdon, and Somerset counties.
- New Jersey Marriages, Colonial Era, 1665-1800: In addition to the 45,000 names in this database, included is an historical introduction on the early marriage laws of New Jersey ,and the precedents on which they were founded.
- Passaic County, New Jersey Birth, Marriage & Death Books at Amazon.com
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See Also Research In Census Records
Countywide Records: Federal Population Schedules that exist for Passaic County, New Jersey are 1840, 1850, 1860, 1870, 1880, 1900, 1910, 1920 and 1930. Other Federal Schedules to look at when researching your Family Tree in Passaic County, New Jersey are Industry and Agriculture Schedules availible for the years 1850, 1860, 1870 and 1880. The Mortality Schedules for the years 1850, 1860, 1870 and 1880. There are free downloadable and printable Census forms to help with your research. These include U.S. Census Extraction Forms and U.K. Census Extraction Forms.
See Also Statewide Records that exist for New Jersey
Below is a list of online resources for Passaic County Census Records. Email us with websites containing Passaic County Census Records by clicking the link below:
- New Jersey Census, 1772-1890: This collection contains the following indexes: 1772-1822 Tax Lists Index; 1800 Cumberland County Federal Census Index; 1824-1832 Bergen County - Paterson City; 1830 Federal Census Index; 1840 Federal Census Index; 1840 Pensioners List; 1850 Federal Census Index; 1850 Slave Schedule; 1860 Federal Census Index; 1870 Federal Census Index; 1890 Veterans Schedule; Early Census Index.
- Passaic County, New Jersey Census Books at Amazon.com
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Genealogy Atlas has images of old American atlases during the years 1795, 1814, 1822, 1823, 1836, 1838, 1845, 1856, 1866, 1879 and 1897 for Ohio and other states.
You can view rotating animated maps for New Jersey showing all the county boundaries for each census year overlayed with past and present maps so you can see the changes in county boundaries. You can view a list of maps for other states at Census Maps
You can view rotating animated maps for New Jersey showing all the county boundary changes for each year overlayed with past and present maps so you can see the changes in county boundaries.
Below is a list of online resources for Passaic County Maps. Email us with websites containing Passaic County Maps by clicking the link below:
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See Also Military Records in New Jersey
The uses and value of military records in genealogical research for ancestors who were veterans are obvious, but military records can also be important to re-searchers whose direct ancestors were not soldiers in any war. The fathers, grandfathers, brothers, and other close relatives of an ancestor may have served in a war, and their service or pension records could contain information that will assist in further identifying the family of primary interest. Due to the amount of genealogical information contained in some military pension files, they should never be overlooked during the research process. Those records not containing specific genealogical information are of historic value and should be included in any overall research design.
Below is a list of online resources for Passaic County Military Records. Email us with websites containing Passaic County Military Records by clicking the link below:
- New Jersey Pensioners, 1835: This database identifies thousands of New Jersey soldiers who were covered under various pension acts in the early 1800s.
- Civil War Rosters NEW JERSEY LINKS
- NJGenWeb Archives Military Records
- New Jersey Society of Daughters of the American Revolution
- National Society of Daughters of the American Revolution,
- New Jersey Society of Sons of the American Revolution,
- National Society of Sons of the American Revolution, 1000 South Fourth Street, Louisville, Kentucky 40203; (502) 589-1776
- Revolutionary War Rolls, 1775-1783 from the State of New Jersey (The National Archives): View, Print Copy & Save Original Documents in NARA publication M246 include muster rolls, payrolls, strength returns, and other miscellaneous personnel, pay, and supply records of American Army units, 1775-83.
- Compiled Service Records of Soldiers Who Served in the American Army During the Revolutionary War (The National Archives): View, Print Copy & Save Original Documents in NARA publication M246 include muster rolls, payrolls, strength returns, and other miscellaneous personnel, pay, and supply records of American Army units, 1775-83.
- Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty-Land Warrant Application Files from the State of New Jersey (The National Archives): View, Print Copy & Save Original Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty-Land Warrant Application Files, from NARA publication M804.
- Southern Claims Commission from the State of New Jersey (The National Archives): View, Print Copy & Save Original Documents In the 1870s, southerners claimed compensation from the U.S. government for items used by the Union Army, ranging from corn and horses, to trees and church buildings.
- Organization Index to Pension Files of Veterans Who Served Between 1861 and 1900 from the State of New Jersey (The National Archives): View, Print Copy & Save Original Pension applications for service in the U.S. Army between 1861 and 1917, grouped according to the units in which the veterans served.
- Passaic County, New Jersey Military Books at Amazon.com
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See Also Research In Tax Records
Because New Jersey's pre-1830 federal censuses have not survived, tax records are quite an important substitute for placing persons and families prior to that time. Tax lists arranged by township are available for 1773-1822. The originals, at the New Jersey State Archives, show heads of households, landowners, and single adult males, with information about their property that was taxable, including land, horses, cattle, slaves, and mills. Only about half of the 1773-4 lists are extant, and for some places, such as Sussex County, coverage is very slight. Microfilms of these records are at the state archives, the New Jersey Historical Society, Rutgers University, and the New York Genealogical and Biographical Society. The 1784 tax lists for thirty-eight municipalities (predominantly in southern New Jersey) are the only ones to indicate the size of a household, with a column for number of whites and a column for number of slaves.
Later tax records are found in the counties starting about 1869-70. Tax lists for some extinct New Jersey municipalities are at the state archives.
Below is a list of online resources for Passaic County Tax Records. Email us with websites containing Passaic County Tax Records by clicking the link below:
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See Also Other New Jersey Genealogical Addresses
The Repositories
in this section are Archives, Libraries, Museums, Genealogical
and Historical Societies. Many County Historical and Genealogical
Societies publish magazines and/or news letters on a monthly,
quarterly, bi-annual or annual basis. Contacting the local societies
should not be over looked. State Archives and Societies are
usually much larger and better organized with much larger archived
materials than their smaller county cousins but they can be
more generalized and over look the smaller details that local
societies tend to have. Libraries can also be a good place to
look for local information. Some libraries have a genealogy
section and may have some resources that are not located at
archives or societies. Also, take a special look at any museums
in the area. They sometimes have photos and items from years
gone by as well as information of a genealogical interest. All
these places are vitally important to the family genealogist
and must not be passed over.
Below is a list of online resources for Passaic County Genealogical Addresses. Email us with websites containing Passaic County Genealogical Addresses by clicking the link below:
- Passaic Historian, Lambert Castle, Garret Mountain Reservation,
Paterson, NJ 07503;
Tel: (973) 881-3192
- Passaic County Historical Society,
Valley Road,
Paterson, NJ 07509;
Ph: (973)881-2761 Fax: (973)357-1070
- Local New Jersey Researchers, Find a local researcher or become a local researcher.
- Department of State Division of Archives and Records Management
Bureau of Archives and Records Preservation State Library Bldg, 185 West State Street, CN-307, Trenton, NJ 08625-0307
The New Jersey State Archives has many of the basic research materials for the state, such as federal and state census records; probate, land, and court records; newspapers; and vital records.
- New Jersey State Library, State Library Building, 185 West State Street, CN-520, Trenton, NJ 08625-0520
- Genealogical Society of New Jersey,
PO Box 1476, Trenton NJ 08607-1476
The Genealogical Society of New Jersey has published The Genealogical Magazine of New Jersey since 1925. The society houses its collection of genealogical materials, including cemetery transcriptions, family Bibles (over 4,800), military records, notes of genealogists, and so forth, in the A. S. Alexander Library at Rutgers University.
- The New Jersey Historical Society, 52 Park Pl., Newark, NJ 07102; 973-596-8500 ext 248 or 249
- New Jersey Newspapers & Periodicals Records - Newspapers and periodicals are the diaries of local communities. They are excellent sources of family history details - often recorded nowhere else. Look for obituaries, marriages, legal notices, and more found in our Historical Newspaper Archives.
- New Jersey Genealogical Society Books at Amazon.com
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See Also Church & Cemetery Records in New Jersey
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Click Here to Search New Jersey Obituary Records! - This database is a compilation of obituaries published in U.S. newspapers, collected from various online sources. Obituaries can vary in the amount of information they contain, but many of them are genealogical goldmines, including information such as names, dates, places of birth and death, marriage information, and family relationships. |
There are many churches and cemeteries in Passaic County. Some transcriptions are online. A great site is the Passaic County Tombstone Transcription Project.
Many New Jersey church records have been published in state historical and genealogical journals, such as The Genealogical Magazine of New Jersey. Original and transcribed material is to be found at the New Jersey Historical Society (including the DAR collection), Rutgers, the Glouster County Historical Society, and elsewhere, and in New York, Delaware, and Pennsylvania sources and libraries, particularly in the Collections of the Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania.
The important work of grave marker transcribing has been the goal of the Genealogical Society of New Jersey, which was originally formed by "Tombstone Hounds." Their core collection is at Rutgers University, where there is a card index by county and name of the cemetery as well as a "master index" arranged alphabetically by surname but only for selected cemeteries. Many of the society's transcriptions have been published in their journal, The Genealogical Magazine of New Jersey. Another large collection of cemetery records is that gathered by the New Jersey DAR chapters, with copies deposited at the New Jersey State Library and the New Jersey Historical Society. Both these places have other cemetery records, as do the Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania and the New York Public Library. Some individual books of cemetery inscriptions have been published, and some are found in The New York Genealogical and Biographical Record.
Below is a list of online resources for Passaic County Cemetery & Church Records. Email us with websites containing Passaic County Cemetery & Church Records by clicking the link below:
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When view family trees online or not, be sure to only take the info at face value and always follow up with your own sources or verify the ones they provide. Below is a list of online resources for Passaic County Family Trees, web forums and other family type information. Email us with websites containing Passaic County Family Trees, web forums and other family type information by clicking the link below:
- Search 60 Years Of Everton Data: For the first time ever you can get access to more than 150,000 pedigree files and family group sheets from Evertons. Learn More
- Search the Family Tree DNA Project- Use DNA testing to break through your genealogical barriers!
- Sites on USGenweb: [ Passaic County ] [ New Jersey ] [ Main Page ]
- Passaic County NJGenWeb Archives
- [GenForum Message Boards] [Rootsweb Message Boards]
- Genealogy Encyclopedia: General Abbreviations, Early Illnesses, Nickname Meanings, Worldwide Epidemics, Early Occupations, Common Terms, Censuses Explained, Free Genealogical Forms
- Nichols and Related Families of Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Florida, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virgina.
- The New Jersey Family Group Sheet Project
- Meet your ancestors. Learn their stories. Start your FREE family tree.
- New Jersey Family & Local History Records - The Family & Local Histories Collection lets you read journals, memoirs, and other first-hand historical narratives right on your computer. Gathered from some of the world's finest libraries, these materials may provide hard-to-find town, county, and state information; tax records and wills; military, church, and court records; as well as photographs, stories, and maps.
- Genealogical Document Search and Retrieval Service
- Passaic County, New Jersey Family Books at Amazon.com
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