Index to Estate Records for Essex County, NJ
The FamilySearch collection "New Jersey Probate Records 1678-1980" includes many images from microfilm rolls of Essex County "Estates 1783-1900." At the beginning of each microfilm roll, there is an image of a hand-printed note that says "These Papers are indexed in the Index to Surrogates Dockets. Find the name desired in the index and obtain the estate number. Go to the roll of film containing that number." I can't find the Index to Surrogates Dockets -- does anyone know if it exists on the FamilySearch website or anywhere else? It would be HUGELY helpful in figuring out where to look for people I'm researching. Thanks.
Best Answer
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@JonathanCox96 Referring to the Collection, New Jersey Probate Records 1678-1980; and within the Collection, for Essex County, the Estates 1783-1900 - you have asked how to find the Index to Surrogate's Dockets.
I see that @Áine Ni Donnghaile has provided a link to these indexes. The are found in the Catalog entry for, Probate records, 1794-1902 [Essex County, New Jersey]. If, on that Catalog page, you scroll down to the Film/Digital Notes section, you will see a list of Surrogate's dockets index records, such as Surrogate's dockets index v. A-Be 1700-1972. I provide @Áine Ni Donnghaile's link here for your convenience: https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/334458
For example, let's say that I am looking for the Estate of Emma Baldwin, who died sometime around (or before) February 1859 in Essex county.
I begin by going to the the Catalog entry that I've identified, and looking for the Surrogate's docket index that contains Emma's surname - Baldwin. Finding that in the first index in the list, I click on the associated camera icon and search for the surname, which I find at image 300 (to see this, click HERE). The Docket Number is 8559.
Now, going back to the Collection, New Jersey Probate Records 1678-1980, and selecting the county, Essex; I find (and click on) Estates 1783-1900 no 8552-8694. I find docket # 8559 at image 59 (click HERE). the associated estate papers then follow.
We hope that this helps.
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Many thanks, @Áine Ni Donnghaile and Mike357, for your help with this! I haven't tried following your instructions yet, but I plan to do so soon. I understand the steps, though. Now I jus
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NJ Probate dockets are one of my favorite collections @JonathanCox96. Have fun!
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My next question about NJ Probate records has to do with Hunterdon County. The microfilm collection available on the FamilySearch website includes 4 rolls/volumes labeled "Estate index 1804-1870," with each roll/volume covering different letters of the alphabet. I looked up some names using these indexes and found entries for some people that I wanted to check. In several cases, the index listed a volume and page under the heading "Inventories," but none of the microfilm titles includes Inventories (just Wills, Letters of Administration, etc.). I am wondering if the inventories were never microfilmed, perhaps because they no longer exist? Anyone know?
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See the Hunterdon County list on the New Jersey Archives site: https://www.nj.gov/state/archives/catchnsurro.html
and on FamilySearch https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/214363
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