This afternoon, my boss at the TV station placed two books on my table to add to my library.  New Jersey Marriage Records 1665-1800 and New Jersey Patents and Deeds 1664-1703 are both edited by William Nelson and published by Genealogical Publishing Company Inc, Baltimore MD, 1982.

‘Patents And Deeds And Other Early Records Of New Jersey, 1664-1703’ was originally published in 1899 under the title ‘Documents relating to the colonial history of the State of New Jersey, Volume XXI. Calendar of records in the office of the Secretary of State.  1664-1703’.  I find it interesting that the table of contents lists not only what the chapter covers, but the description of the work itself.

Salem Deeds, Liber B:  [pg] 565
A small thin folio of 175 pages, containing patents from Fenwick, and deeds for the same, 1672-1702^[1]Nelson, William. Patents And Deeds And Other Early Records Of New Jersey, 1664-1703. Baltimore: Genealogical Pub. Co., 1982. Print.

The book on marriage records was originally published in 1900 in the same series as the Deeds book as Volume XXII – Marriage Records, 1665-1800.  An interesting addition to this volume begins in the first part entitled, ‘The Early Marriage Laws of New Jersey, and the Influences Bearing upon their Formation’ – or a history of the marriage laws of New Jersey and how they were built upon the Romans, Dutch, Swedes, etc. It can be very important at times to understand the culture of the time period you are researching especially if you are running into a problem, and this offers a unique history lesson indeed.

It also happens that just last night I was trying to research some records from 1887 – so a bit outside this time frame for these two books.  My first go to place when I am looking for something new – the Family Search Wiki.  It can be your source to learn everything about an area, where to look, what to look for, etc.

In looking at the Wiki last night [Link], New Jersey Vital records seem to be mostly index only online through Family Search and Ancestry.  Hard copies however can be ordered relatively easy through the state for genealogical purposes.

Genealogical Records (family history research) are: ^[2]From the New Jersey Department of Health Website [LINK]

• Birth, death and marriage records for people who are deceasedAND where
• the birth occurred more than 80 years ago
• the marriage occurred more than 50 years ago
• the death occurred more than 40 years ago

Your request cannot be processed as a genealogical request if the person named on the record is still living or the event was more recent than listed above.

I have not ordered any records from the State of NJ yet but I will and be sure to let everyone know how it goes.