Sources Pertaining to Hunterdon County

What follows is a list of the more commonly used sources for Hunterdon history and genealogy. This is in addition to archival material to be found in the Hunterdon County Clerk’s Office and the Hunterdon Surrogate’s Court.

Many of these books and pamphlets are out of print and can only be found in libraries. You might find some of them on Google Books, but so far very few have gone online. Some of the Hunterdon sources can be purchased from the Hunterdon County Historical Society. The Hunterdon County Library has a very good list of sources. Use the link to the Library.

I am making this list alphabetical by title, since many people do not know the authors’ names. This is a preliminary list of titles. I hope to add to it in the future, probably as new subjects come up to write about. Let me know if you have titles appropriate for these lists. I have tried to give correct citations to these sources, but in some cases, I am in doubt, especially the volumes known as NewJersey Archives.

Books

As Ye Sow: The Story of an American Rural Community by Louis V. Kovi. Flemington, NJ: The Hunterdon Co. Board of Agriculture, 1981. Although this is a history of the Board of Agriculture, it contains much interesting information about the county in general, especially after 1915.

Atlas of Hunterdon County, New Jersey. NY: Beers, Comstock & Cline, 1872. Reprinted by the Hunterdon County Historical Society, 1977. Beautiful book with maps of each town showing locations of homes and businesses.

Farm and Business Directory of Hunterdon and Somerset Counties. Philadelphia: Wilmer Atkinson Co., 1914. This wonderful book includes RFD addresses and telephone numbers.

Genealogy of Early Settlers in Trenton and Ewing, “Old Hunterdon County,” by Eli F. Cooley.  Trenton, NJ: W. Sharp Printing Co., 1883. Loaded with genealogical information, but frustrating in its sketchiness and lack of sources.

Historical Collections of the State of New Jersey by John W. Barber and Henry Howe. NY: B. S. Tuttle, 1845. Descriptions of NJ towns in mid-19th-century, with some nice illustrations.

History of Hunterdon and Somerset Counties, New Jersey, by James P. Snell. Philadelphia, 1881. This is the basic county history, similar to county histories published all over the country in response to the celebration of the Centennial of 1876.  It really is the starting point for all Hunterdon researchers. However, the book relied on contributions from local historians who were often writing from what they knew personally about local families, or stories they were told by their neighbors. Which means, the information should be taken with a grain of salt. There are definitely mistakes here, so any information you decide to use should be corroborated wherever possible.

Hunterdon County Place Names, by Phyllis B. D’Autrechy. Hunterdon County Cultural and Heritage Committee, Flemington, NJ, 1992. An expansion of a pamphlet by Hubert G. Schmidt named “Some Hunterdon Place Names” published in 1959.

Hunterdon County Fisheries, 1819-1829, by Phyllis B. D’Autrechy. Flemington, NJ: Hunterdon County Historical Society, 1993, 44 pg., indexed. Gives a history of fisheries generally, then describes known fisheries along the Delaware River, by township.

In the Beacon Light, Lambertville, New Jersey, 1860 to 1900 by Sharon Bisaha, 2012. Lambertville in the Victorian age, when it was expanding from a modest town to an industrial one.

Marriage Records of Hunterdon County, New Jersey, 1795-1875, vol. 1, by Hiram E. Deats. Lambertville, NJ: Hunterdon House, 1996. The book expands on Deats’ original publication to include marriages that he missed.

More Records of Old Hunterdon County, vol. 1, Phyllis B. D’Autrechy, comp. and Roxanne K. Carkhuff, ed. Flemington, NJ: Hunterdon County Historical Society, 1998.  Miscellaneous records from the Surrogate’s Court and the County Clerk’s Office, and Pennington Presbyterian Church Records, 1822-1850 (until 1838, Pennington was part of Hunterdon County).

More Records of Old Hunterdon County, vol. 2, Phyllis B. D’Autrechy, comp. and Roxanne K. Carkhuff, ed. Flemington, NJ: Hunterdon County Historical Society, 2000. Wills, Inventories and Letters of Administration from the Surrogate’s Court, 1818-1825. Bastardy Cases, 1761-1890. The account book of Moses Baldwin, tanner & cordwainer, 1755-1763. The abstracts of estate records continues the work of the New Jersey Archives which ended with 1817.

Henry Race, M.D., West Jersey Society’s Great Tract in Hunterdon County, published in “The Jerseyman,” vol 3, no.1, April 1895.

Rural Hunterdon: An Agricultural History, by Hubert G. Schmidt. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 1946. This is an invaluable history of the county from the perspective of people’s ways of making a living, which was almost entirely agricultural well into the 20th century. Schmidt was an excellent researcher and writer.

Some Records of Old Hunterdon County, New Jersey, by Phyllis B. D’Autrechy. Trenton, NJ, 1979. This is the first of Phyllis’ valuable books on records found in the Hunterdon County archives. The index to this volume is somewhat flawed.

Somerset County Historical Quarterly, 8 vol. A. Van Doren Honeyman, ed., Raritan, J: Somerset Historical Publications Reprint Publishers, 1977. Even though this series is focused on Somerset County, many families from Somerset took up residence in Hunterdon County.

The Exterior and Interior Bounds of Hunterdon County, New Jersey, by Oscar M. Voorhees, LL.D.  Flemington, NJ, 1929. pamphlet.

The First 275 Years of Hunterdon County, 1714-1989.  Flemington, NJ: Hunterdon County Cultural & Heritage Commission, 1989. Essays on various aspects of Hunterdon history, updated from its original publication as “First Century of Hunterdon County,” ed. by E. S. Mott in 1967.

The Heritage of the Hunterdon County Bar Association, by Keneth V. Myers. Flemington, NJ: Hunterdon County Bar Association, c.1985, 42 pp, not indexed.

The Musconetcong Valley of New Jersey: a historical geography, by Peter O. Wacker. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 1968.

Traditions of Hunterdon: Early History and Legends of Hunterdon County, New Jersey. Articles written anonymously by John Lequear, collected by D. H. Moreau, publisher of the Hunterdon County Democrat. Flemington, NJ: D. H. Moreau, 1957.  This book is valuable for the stories written by a dedicated 19th century county historian who had access to many people with long memories. Unfortunately, many of those stories cannot be verified.

Other Sources for Hunterdon History

Hunterdon Historical Newsletter, published quarterly by the Hunterdon County Historical Society.

The Hunterdon County Gazette, 1825-1866. Transcribed by William Hartman, et al. Available on CD from the Hunterdon County Historical Society.

Sources of General Genealogical Value for Hunterdon History

For this list, I am reverting to the more traditional mode of alphabetizing by author’s name rather than title. Some of these titles could just as well fit into categories like New Jersey History, and may indeed show up in other lists.

William C. Armstrong, Pioneer Families of Northwestern New Jersey. Lambertville, NJ: Hunterdon House, 1979.

East Amwell Bicentennial Committee, A History of East Amwell 1700-1800. Flemington, NJ: Hunterdon County Historical Society, 1976.

Joseph G. Bilby, Three Rousing Cheers: A History of the Fifteenth New Jersey from Flemington to Appomattox. Hightstwon, NJ: Longstreet House, 1993.

June D. Brown. Abstracts of Bucks County, Pennsylvania Land Records, 1711-1749. Heritage Books, 2008, paper, 224 pages, index.

Dan and Marty Campanelli. A Sampling of Hunterdon County Needlework; the motifs, the makers and their stories. Flemington, NJ: Hunterdon Co. Historical Society, 2014. Contains a considerable amount of Hunterdon genealogy.

Theodore F. Chambers, The Early Germans of New Jersey. Genealogical Publishing, 1982, reprint of 1895 edition.

Edward Cohen. Lambertville’s Legacy; The Coryells, Ashbel Welsh and Fred Lewis. Lambertville, NJ, 1999, paper, 217 pages, index. Available for $20 from the Hunterdon Co. Cultural & Heritage Commission.

Hiram E. Deats, comp., The Hunterdon County New Jersey Militia, 1792. Flemington, NJ: Hiram E. Deats, 1936, 37 pp. Includes townships that were removed from Hunterdon in 1838.

The Genealogical Society of New Jersey. Genealogies of New Jersey Families. vol. 1-4. These large volumes can be found at the Hunterdon County Historical Society and the Hunterdon County Library.

“Genealogical Magazine of New Jersey” [GMNJ], published quarterly by the Genealogical Society of New Jersey.

William Wade Hindshaw, Encyclopedia of American Quaker Genealogy, vol. 2, Records of the Salem, Burlington, Philadelphia and Falls Monthly Meetings. Baltimore, MD: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 1994 (originally published 1938). Some of these families removed to Hunterdon County, or left Hunterdon for Pennsylvania.

Henry Z. Jones, More Palatine Families. Universal City, CA: 1991.  An amazing number of Hunterdon families migrated here from Germany. Jones has tracked down early records from German parishes and other sources. This book is invaluable.

James W. Moore, comp., Records of the Kingwood Monthly Meeting of Friends. Flemington, 1900 (pamphlet). Bless the Quakers for being such wonderful record keepers.

William Nelson et al, eds., Calendar of New Jersey Wills, vol. 1, 1680-1730, et seq. through vol 13, 1817. Archives of the State of New Jersey, 1st ser., Documents Relating to the Colonial History of the State of New Jersey, vol. 23 (1670-1730, vol. 30 (1731-1750), vol. 32-42 (1715-1817). Newark, Trenton and Paterson, NJ: The New Jersey Historical Society, 1880-1949.

William Nelson et al, eds., Extracts from American Newspapers Relating to New Jersey. Archives of the State of New Jersey, 1st ser., 1704-1780. Documents Relating to the Colonial History of the State of New Jersey, vol. 11-12 (1704-1750), vol. 19-20 (1751-1761), vol. 24-30 (1762-1775); 2nd ser., vol. 14 (1776-1780). Various publishers.

William Nelson, New Jersey Biographical & Genealogical Notes, Archives of the State of New Jersey. Geneaogical Publishing Co., Inc., 1973.

William Nelson, ed., Marriage Records, 1665-1800, Archives of the State of New Jersey, 1st ser., Documents Relating to the Colonial History of the State of New Jersey, vol. 22. Paterson, NJ: The Press Printing Co., 1900.

Henry Race, M.D., comp., “Rev. William Frazer’s Thre Parishes (St. Thomas, St. Andrew, Musconetcong),” The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography (1888), vol. 12.

John Reading, “Journal of John Reading,” Proceedings of the New Jersey Historical Society, 3rd ser., vol. 10 (103): 34-46, 90-110, 128-133.

I. Daniel Rupp, A Collection of Upwards of Thirty Thousand Names of German, Swiss, Dutch, French and other Immigrants in Pennsylvania from 1727 to 1776.  Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc. 2000, reprint of 1876 edition, with 1931 index.

Donald A. Sinclair, A New Jersey Biographical Index, Covering some 100,000 Biographies and Associated Portraits in 237 New Jersey Cyclopedias, Histories, Yearbooks, Periodicals and other Collective Biographical Sources . . . to about 1980. Baltimore, 1993.

Henry Stevens, comp., An Analytical Index to the Colonial Documents of New Jersey in the State Paper Offices of England; edited with Notes and References to Printed Works & Manuscripts in other Depositories, by Wm. A. Whitehead. NY: D. Appleton & Co., 1858.

Kenn. Stryker-Rodda, New Jersey Index of Wills, Inventories, etc. The New York Genealogical and Biographical Record, 1970. 3 vol., reprinted 1994.  These books index by county the estate abstracted in the New Jersey Archives, 1680-1817, but also list 19th century estates in the N. J. State Archives.

James P. Snell, History of Sussex and Warren Counties, New Jersey, with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches of its Prominent Men and Pioneers. Sussex, NJ, 1971 (1881).  Many Hunterdon residents migrated to Warren and Sussex Counties.

Thomas B. Wilson, Notices From New Jersey Newspapers, 1781-1790; Records of New Jersey, vol. 1. Lambertville, NJ: Hunterdon House, 1988. A Continuation of newspaper extracts published in the New Jersey Archives.

Thomas B. Wilson and Dorothy Agans Stratford, Notices From New Jersey Newspapers, 1791-1795; Records of New Jersey, vol. 3. Lambertville, NJ: Hunterdon House, 2002.

Thomas B. Wilson and Dorothy Agans Stratford, Certificates and Receipts of Revolutionary New Jersey; Records of New Jersey, vol. 2. Lambertville, NJ: Hunterdon House, 1996.

Stephen Zdepski, Baptists in Kingwood, New Jersey; A History of the Kingwood Baptist Church at Baptistown and Locktown and the Present Baptistown Baptist Church. Phillipsburg, NJ: Harmony Printing Co., 1974.