In addition to the basic sources for Hunterdon County history and genealogy, there are many sources on New Jersey history that are relevant to research for Hunterdon County. Some might find this list a little peculiar. It is a personal list of favorites, not meant to be definitive. I will be adding to this list as time goes on.

Maxine Lurie published an excellent bibliography titled New Jersey History: An Annotated and Selected Introductory Bibliography, published by the New Jersey Historical Commission, 1991, rev. 1995. Good New Jersey libraries should have a copy.

Another compendium of New Jersey sources was written by Nelson R. Burr, A Narrative and Descriptive Bibliography of New Jersey. New Jersey Historical Series, Vol. 21. Princeton: D. Van Nostrand Co., Inc., 1964. In fact, the whole New Jersey Historical Series is valuable.

John W. Barber & Henry Howe, Historical Collections of the State of New Jersey. NY: B.S. Tuttle, 1845, reprint 1990, Bowie, MD: Heritage Books, Inc.

Donald William Becker, Indian Place Names in New Jersey, Cedar Grove, NJ 1964.

Julian Parks Boyd, ed., The Fundamental Laws & Constitutions of New Jersey, 1664-1964, Princeton: Van Nostrand, 1964.

John T. Cunningham, New Jersey: America’s Main Road, Garden City, NY: Doubleday & Co., Inc., DATE?

Federal Writer’s Project, WPA, New Jersey, A Guide to its Present and Past, NY: Hastings House, 1939.

Federal Writers’ Project of the WPA, The Origin of New Jersey Place Names, Trenton, 1945.

Thomas Fleming, New Jersey: A History. NY: W. W. Norton; Nashville: the A.A.S.L.H., 1984.

Thomas F. Gordon, The History of New Jersey from its Discovery by Europeans to the Adoption of the Federal Constitution, Trenton, NJ: 1834.

Thomas F. Gordon, A Gazeteer of the State of New Jersey Comprehending a General View of its Physical and Moral Conditions . . . Trenton and Philadelphia: Daniel Fenton, 1834. Baltimore, MD: Genealogical Publishing Co., 2001 (paper) for Clearfield Co., Inc.

Wheaton J. Lane, From Indian Trail to Iron Horse, 1620-1860, Princeton, NJ: Princeton Univ. Press, 1939.

Francis Bazley Lee, New Jersey as Colony and as a State, one of the original thirteen. NY: The Publishing Society of New Jersey, 1902. 4 Volumes.

Richard P. McCormick, New Jersey, from Colony to State, 1609-1789. Newark: N.J. Historical Society, 1981.

William Starr Myers, ed., The Story of New Jersey. NY: Lewis Historical Publishing Co., 1945, 5 vol. The last of the multi-volume state histories. Vol. 1 is the most important.

Hubert G. Schmidt, Agriculture in New Jersey: A 300-Year History. Rutgers University Press, 1973.

Samuel Smith, The History of the Colony of Nova-Caesaria or New Jersey. Spartanburg, SC: The Reprint Co., 1975 (1765).

John Parr Snyder, The Story of New Jersey’s Civil Boundaries 1606-1968. Trenton, NJ: Bureau of Geology & Topography, Bulletin 67, 1969.

Charles A. Stansfield, New Jersey, A Geography. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1983.

Paul A. Stellhorn and Michael Birkner, The Governors of New Jersey 1664-1974: Biographical Essays. Trenton, The New Jersey Historical Commission,1982.

Miriam V. Studley, Historic New Jersey Through Visitors’ Eyes. Princeton, 1964.

Kemble Widmer, The Geology and Geography of New Jersey. Princeton, 1964.

Harold F. Wilson, et als, Outline History of New Jersey. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 1950.

William C. Wright and Paul A. Stellhorn, Directory of New Jersey Newspapers, 1765-1970. Trenton, NJ: New Jersey Historical Commission, 1977.

More Sources for New Jersey History

Books Pertaining to the Early European Settlement of West New Jersey

Paul G. E. Clemens and Peter O. Wacker, Land Use in Early New Jersey: A Historical Geography. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1995.

John P. Garber, The Settlements on the Delaware Prior to the Coming of William Penn. Philadelphia: The City History Society of Phila., 1909. Read at the Society meeting of Nov. 1907

Charles T. Gehring, ed. & trans., New York Historical Manuscripts: Dutch, Vol. XX-XXI, Delaware Papers, English Period, 1664-1682. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1977. Published under auspices of the Holland Society of NY. Charles T. Gehring works at the New York State Library at Albany and is an expert on the Dutch in the Delaware River area.

Albert Cook Myers, ed., Narratives of Early Pennsylvania, West New Jersey and Delaware, 1630-1707. Original Narratives of Early American History, J. Franklin Jameson, gen. ed. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1912; reprinted NY: Barnes & Noble, 1967.

Peter O. Wacker, Land and People: A Cultural Geography of Preindustrial New Jersey: Origins and Settlement Patterns. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1975.

Books & Articles Pertaining to the Indians of New Jersey

Many of the books in the previous section also concern the Lenape.

Marshall J. Becker, “Lenape Population at the Time of European Contact: Estimating Native Numbers in the Lower Delaware Valley.” Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society, 133, no. 2. Symposium on the Demographic History of the Philadelphia Region, 1600-1860, pp. 112-122.

Marshall J. Becker, “Lenopi: Or, What’s in a Name”; Interpreting the Evidence for Cultures and Cultural Boundaries in the Lower Delaware Valley.” Bulletin of the Archaeological Society of New Jersey, 63 (2008), pp. 11-31.

Gregory Evans Dowd, The Indians of New Jersey. New Jersey History Series 3. New Brunswick, NJ: New Jersey Historical Commission, 1992.

Robert S. Grumet, The Munsee Indians, A History. The Civilization of the American Indian. Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press, 2009.

Herbert C. Kraft, The Lenape; Archeology, History and Ethnography. Newark: N.J. Historical Society, 1986. Definitive work.

Kraft, Herbert C., The Dutch, The Indians, And The Quest For Copper: Pahaquarry and the Old Mine Road. South Orange, NJ: 1996. Finally settles the question of when the Old Mine Road was built (much later than claimed).

William Nelson, The Indians of New Jersey: their origin and development; manner and customs; language, religion and government. With notices of some Indian place names. Paterson, NJ: The Press Printing Co., 1894.

William Nelson, Personal Names of Indians of New Jersey: Being a list of 650 names, gleaned mostly from Indian deeds of the 17th century. Paterson, NJ: The Paterson History Club, 1904.

Max Schrabisch, Archaeology of Warren and Hunterdon Counties. Trenton, NJ: MacCrellish & Quigley Co., 1917.

Books Pertaining to the Colonial and Revolutionary Eras in New Jersey

Charles S. Boyer, Old Inns and Taverns in West Jersey, Camden, NJ: Camden Co. Historical Society, 1962.

Moore Furman (1728-1808), The Letters of Moore Furman, Deputy Quarter-Master General of New Jersey in the Revolution. NY: F.H. Hitchcock, 1912. ed. for publication by the NJ Society, Colonial Dames of America.

Kalm, Peter, Travels into North America. 2 vols. London. (Reprint edition, NY: Dover Publications, 1966).

Kemmerer, Donald L., Path to Freedom, the Struggle for Self-Government in Colonial New Jersey, 1703-1776. Princeton, 1940; Cos Cobb, CT: J.E. Edwards, 1968.

Koehler, Albert F., The Huguenots or The Early French in New Jersey. (1955). Baltimore, MD: Genealogical Publishing Co., 2003 (paper), reprinted for Clearfield Co., Inc.

Leaming, Aaron and Jacob Spicer, The Grants, Concessions & Original Constitution of the Province of New Jersey, The Acts Passed During the Proprietary Governments, and other Material Transactions before the Surrender . . . to Queen Anne. Somerville, NJ: Honeyman & Co., 1881 [1752]. Authorized by the Legislature in 1750. Leaming and Spicer were members of the legislative committee that authorized the work.

Mitnick, Barbara J., ed., New Jersey in the American Revolution, New Brunswick, NJ: Rivergate Books, 2005.

Thomas L, Purvis, Proprietors, Patronage and Paper Money: legislative politics in New Jersey, 1703-1776. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1986.

Henry Clay Reed, ed. & George J. Miller, ed., The Burlington Court Book: A Record of Quaker Jurisprudence in West Jersey, 1680-1709, Washington, DC: The American Historical Asso., 1944.

Dorothy A. Stratford & Thomas B. Wilson, Certificates And Receipts of Revolutionary New Jersey, Records of New Jersey. Vol.II, Lambertville, NJ: Hunterdon House, 1996.

Maps Relating to Hunterdon County

The map used as a background for the home page of this website is the 1851 Cornell Map of Hunterdon County. There may be some copies dated 1850. It is the earliest map showing names and locations of residents and property owners (with one exception). It does not show all the names of residents of small towns. It is a one-page map, about 24 by 36 inches. The map can be seen at the Hunterdon County Library and the Historical Society. Copies of the map used to be available for purchase. I will try to find out whether they still are.

The wonderful Hammond Maps are essential research tools. D. Stanton Hammond completed them in 1963, showing the original proprietary tracts for of Hunterdon County. Hammond managed to fit it all together while relying on ancient deeds and surveys with unreliable metes and bounds.

The Beers Atlas of 1873 is a book rather than a set of poster-sized maps. Each page or double-page shows a township in Hunterdon County, with landowners located and identified. Comparing the 1873 map with the 1851 map is an interesting exercise. The Historical Society used to have copies of this book of maps for sale; I’m not sure if they still do. The maps can be seen there as well as at the county library.

There is also the 1860 Philadelphia Map which has not been reproduced for sale. Although its focus is Philadelphia and surroundings, it does include most if not all of Hunterdon County. It is one of those huge wall maps, almost as big as a mural. You’ll have to find people who own copies of this map–there are many in private hands–or go to the Historical Society which has a rather dingy copy. Bring a flashlight and a magnifying glass.

There are some maps available at the County Clerk’s office. I believe Raritan and Clinton Townships had maps done in the 19th century. There may be others.

The Reading Howell map of 1785 is definitely the earliest map to show residents of Hunterdon County, but it only focuses on properties along the Delaware River. When I wrote about the map in one of my posts, I used someone else’s photocopy of that map. The original is held by the State Archives. In fact, if you want old maps, Archives is a good place to go.

But if you want to stay home and check out old maps for all of New Jersey, be sure to visit the Historical Maps of NJ website, sponsored by Rutgers University.

New Jersey’s Natural History:

David P. Harper. Roadside Geology of New Jersey. Missoula, MT: Mountain Press Publishing Co., 2013, paper, 345 pages.