Finding New Jersey birth records?
I am researching my wife's family history. The paternal grandfather supposedly came from Poland; but so far I've not been able to find any sources that corroborate this family story. His A File on NARA list Lithuania as country of birth but very little else that is useful in searching. Still working on this part; but we know they settled in New Jersey and of course; the last name was changed somewhere along the line. So in the 1920 census; we find them at the address expected; with the changed last name. At this point the couple has 5 children and I am trying to track down the birth records (and there is not a lot of personal paper records that we've been able to find in any of the families).
Reading through the Birth Index and Delayed Birth Index (from Reclaim the Records) I can't find any of the 5 (and I don't trust that search function so I have looked through all the pages for the birth years). I have 2 records that may be the 2 oldest children, but the others don't seem to be there. There were 2 more births after that census - I find the youngest boys record in the index; but that is it. The birth years are from 1910 to 1922.
So; 2 questions:
- Does anybody have a recommendation for a researcher that I can use to go the the state archives to get records I've identified? I would appreciate any suggestions; as I don't get up there very often.
- Has anyone had any luck finding birth records at the county level at the local clerks office; that may not be in the state index? They lived in the Somerset County area.
Thanks
Best Answer
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@Frank3985
Good morning and welcome to the wonderful world of New Jersey research! Yes, I can recommend an excellent researcher who visits the Trenton Archives and retrieves records for those of us who are not local. We can't promote paid services here in the Community. If you will send me a private message (click on my username and select Message), I'll be happy to give you her details.
Births through 1925 are currently available at the Archives. For 1926 forward, the records are still in the hands of New Jersey Health. 1926 is expected to be available at the Archives soon.
As an aside - my father was born in New Jersey in 1921, but my grandparents failed to register his birth. I have his Roman Catholic baptism record, but there is no birth record for him. My grandfather's 1893 birth was registered, as was the 1897 birth of his brother, but their parents did not register the births of their daughters.
Hope this helps.This blog post is a few months old, but it may be useful to your research:
Both 1925 births and 1952 marriages have been transitioned to the Archives since the post was written last year.1
