Essex County NJ Genealogy

USA (1,379,301) > New Jersey (19,659) > Essex County (2,046)

If you're not sure which records would be helpful, you can try our Ancestor Source Finder tool. Essex Records by Type Birth Records (28) Cemetery Records (142) Census Records (55) Church Records (358) City Directories (639) Court Records (3) Death Records (19) Histories and Genealogies (158) Immigration Records (11) Land Records (16) Map Records (96) Marriage Records (30) Military Records (17) Minority Records (18) Miscellaneous Records (8) Newspapers and Obituaries (189) Probate Records (8) School Records (242) Tax Records (9)

Overview of Essex County Records

• Essex County was created in 1683 from East Jersey.
• Birth records for 1848 to 1920, marriage records for 1848 to 1930, and death records for 1848 to 1930 can be obtained from the New Jersey State Archives. Birth records for 1921 and later, marriage records for 1931 and later, and death records for 1931 and later can be obtained from the New Jersey Department of Health.
• The Essex County Clerk has marriage records from 1795 to 1879, divorce and court records starting in 1783, and naturalization records from 1779 to 1929.
• The Essex County City Clerks has birth and death records starting in 1901.
• The Essex County Surrogate has probate records starting in 1697.
• The Essex County Registrar of Deeds has land records starting in 1783.
• Online indexes and images of some of the above records can be found by using the links on this site.