Proprietary and Colonial New Jersey Research - Genealogy Club

Presented by Melissa Johnson, professional genealogist
Co-hosted by the Historical Society of Plainfield / Drake House Museum and Plainfield Public Library

Researching families who lived in New Jersey during the Proprietary period (1664-1703) and the Colonial period presents unique challenges. Beginning in 1664, the East and West Jersey proprietors governed New Jersey’s inhabitants. Their records, deposited at the New Jersey State Archives, are complex and require an understanding of the time period and its practices. The Colonial period offers additional record groups to consider, such as church records, land records, court records, probate records, and local records. Attendees will learn strategies useful for specific areas of New Jersey, and discover record groups specific to these time periods. This lecture uses several case studies to illustrate how these records work together to make connections between generations.