New Jersey Church Records UPDATE

Added today to OliveTreeGenealogy New Jersey Church Records section are the following Records of the Reformed Dutch Churches of Hackensack and Schraalenburgh, New Jersey

Membership Lists Hackensack 1695-1769
Membership Lists Schraalenburgh 1797-1801
Marriages Hackensack 1696 - 1801
Baptisms Hackensack 1696-1783
Consistory Records Hackensack 1701 - 1780

New Jersey Church Records
© Lorine McGinnis Schulze

Northern New Jersey was settled by the Dutch who set up trading posts in the 1620s. Swedish and Finnish settlements followed, with settlement along the Delaware River in the 1630s. During the colonial era, New Jersey was ruled by England. People moved into and out of New Jersey constantly. Church, court, and land records were kept from the time an area was settled.

The first churches in New Jersey were the Dutch Reformed, Congregational (Puritan), Society of Friends (Quaker), and Lutheran.By 1775 the largest denominations in New Jersey were the Presbyterian, Society of Friends, Dutch Reformed, Baptist, and Anglican (Episcopal) churches.

In the mid-1800s, the Methodist church was the largest, followed by the Presbyterian, Baptist, Reformed, Friends, and Episcopal churches.Except for the Dutch Reformed and Lutheran churches in northern New Jersey, few of the earliest church records have survived.

The Olive Tree Genealogy New Jersey Section at http://olivetreegenealogy.com/usa/nj/hack_settlers.shtml provides a list of the early settlers in the upper part of Bergen Co., New Jersey before 1700. This list was compiled from the Church membership, and the Marriage Record, of the Hackensack congregation. Wives' names are inlcuded.

Marriages in Hackensack before 1700 can also be found at http://olivetreegenealogy.com/usa/nj/hack_marr.shtml

The church organization at this time occupied the field between Bergen and Tappan, in an area of about 10 miles around Hackensack. These three congregations are believed to be the only ones existing at that period in the vicinity of New Amsterdam (New York City) on the Jersey side.

Some church records for New Jersey for the period before 1750 are:

* Lutheran Church in New York and New Jersey, 1722-1760 : Lutheran records in the ministerial archives of the Staatsarchiv, Hamburg, Germany.translated by Simon Hart and Harry J. Kreider (not on microfilm)
* New Jersey marriage records, 1665-1800. edited by William Nelson (not on microfilm)

This article may be reproduced provided all indentifying names and URLs remain intact.

Records Of The Reformed Dutch Church Of Albany, New York 1683-1809, an Explanation

According to the introduction in Records Of The Reformed Dutch Church Of Albany, New York 1683-1809 the first records preserved from the Albany Reformed Dutch Church are from 1683 when the Rev. Goddefridus Dellius arrived. He wrote a note in the introduction of these earliest records to say that records had not previously been kept. This is even though the first reverend was appointed in 1642. That reverend was "financed entirely by the patroon Kilian Van Rensselaer".

It is very important for researchers to note that in the early years (1683-1691) the name of the mother of the child is not recorded. In fact, until Baptism #484 (in the Holland Society publication) in 1691, the mother's name was not listed. But what confuses many genealogists is that a woman's name is recorded in the spot where one would expect to find the mother's name. It is in fact the name of the woman (or man) who presented the child for baptism. This was often a grandparent.

Thus for all baptisms from 1683 to 1690 inclusive, you will not find the name of the mother of the child being baptised. It is a very unique way of recording baptisms and one that has confused many researchers, leading them to assume (incorrectly) that the presenter of the child for baptism was the mother.

In the online version of Records Of The Reformed Dutch Church Of Albany, New York 1683-1809 you will see that the webmaster and transcriber, Dave Pane-Joyce, has chosen to rearrange the order of the names from the original, and add "by" to the name of the person presenting the child for baptism. While this does not remain faithful to the original, it helps genealogists tremendously so that confusion is cleared up.

Search for ancestors in more Church records for New Netherland and New York

Reformed Church at Machackemeck (Deerpark), Orange Co. New York Baptisms online

Olive Tree Genealogy added almost 10 more years of baptisms in the Reformed Church at Machackemeck (Deerpark),Orange County New York for the following years: Feb 1752-
June 1754 | July 1754-Nov 1756 | Nov 1756-Jan 1759 | Jan 1759-Apr 1760

This adds to the current church records online for 1716 - 1750

You can click on links for this set of free church records at the What's New for June page

More years will be added as volunteers complete the transcripts. We will be stopping at 1827.

Search for ancestors at genealogy records for New York and New Netherland