Historical & Genealogical Website Links
Members search the internet for ancestorsListed below are some links to historical societies, records repositories, historic maps, genealogy websites, research helps, and anything else that may help you in your search for your family history! Please let us know if any of the links do not work or if you have suggestions of sites to add to the list. If you are a member, feel free to post on the discussion forum in Website Suggestions, or contact us by email. We hope these links help you make more connections in your family tree!
 
 
 
 
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Listings: 1 to 40 of 40
This map is available for free at the Library of Congress website. It labels the landholders' names, allowing researchers to pinpoint where their ancestors lived.
[Located in Category: Historic Maps]
This FREE website has a vast collection of census records, vital records, and family trees. It is a good place to start rather than beginning with Ancestry, because it is free. It is best to focus on primary documents and not the public family trees. Remember that any family trees online have been submitted by other genealogists and may or may not be accurate or include source information. However, the primary documents available on this site are a wonderful resource.
[Located in Category: Genealogy Websites]
The Salem County Clerk's Office contains the official archives of Salem County, including indexes for marriage records, naturalization records, veterans, newspapers, and deeds. Check out their new website for a complete list of their holdings. The Clerk's Office has recently moved to the Fifth Street complex, located at 110 Fifth St., Suite 200, Salem, NJ 08079. Phone: 856-935-7510 x8394 Hours: Monday-Friday 8:30am to 4:30pm
[Located in Category: Historical Societies]
Find A Grave is a wonderful FREE resource for cemetery records from all over the United States. It can be searched by last and first name or browsed by cemetery. Sign up to enter new data from cemeteries near you to help add to the collection.
[Located in Category: Genealogy Websites]
The Salem County Historical Society is one of the best places to start your genealogical research. Besides its museum holdings, the Society has a extensive library and archives, ideal for searching for ancestors. Address: 83 Market Street, Salem, NJ 08079 Phone: 856-935-5004 Hours: Tuesday-Saturday 12pm-4pm.
[Located in Category: Historical Societies]
This is a "free online archive of genealogy records and scanned images of historical documents from a wide variety of sources, such as newspaper obituaries, city directories, census records, ship lists, school yearbooks, military records, and more."
[Located in Category: Genealogy Websites]
Reproductions of this atlas, which includes the landholders' names, are also available for sale from the Cumberland County Historical Society in Greenwich.
[Located in Category: Historic Maps]
Located in historic Greenwich, the Cumberland County Historical Society includes the Warren and Reba Lummis Genealogical & Historical Research Library, which is a wonderful resource of Cumberland County documents and genealogy. Location: 981 Ye Greate Street, Greenwich, NJ 08323 Phone: 856-455-8580 Hours: Wednesday 10am-4pm; Saturday & Sunday 1pm-4pm.
[Located in Category: Historical Societies]
This vast collection of digitized records includes FREE archives from almost every state. There is no guideline to what might be included on this site; some states have a lot of information, while others have very little. The information can include cemetery records, birth records, marriage records, land records, veterans records, census records, and basically any type of resource imaginable. It is a great way to search data across the United States.
[Located in Category: Genealogy Websites]
This FREE archive contains extracted genealogical data from throughout the United States, organized by state. It is a wonderful resource with a variety of materials available. This is one way to access data from distant locations.
[Located in Category: Genealogy Websites]
This government website provides links to guides to genealogy research in each state. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to have a working link to information on New Jersey research.
[Located in Category: Genealogy Websites]
Ellis Island is the most famous immigrant processing site in the United States. This website provides FREE searching of the ship manifests. The image of the manifest can be viewed for free online; however, there is a fee to order a print of the manifest. This is an excellent resource for finding ancestors who came to the United States between 1892-1924.
[Located in Category: Genealogy Websites]
This excellent resource includes maps of each township with the landholders' names labelled. The atlas is also available to browse at the Salem County Historical Society and many other historical societies.
[Located in Category: Historic Maps]
The website of America's first official immigration center, Castle Garden, which was used from 1855-1890. Search ship's records for free!
[Located in Category: Genealogy Websites]
The Gloucester County Historical Society Library has an extensive collection of material pertaining to Salem County as well as Gloucester County. A few highlights are their family files, published genealogies, newspapers, and many books for sale. This is definitely a primary place to do research. Location: 17 Hunter Street, Woodbury, NJ 08096 Phone: 856-845-4771 Hours: Tuesday 6pm-9:30pm; Wednesday, Thursday, Friday 10am-4pm; First Saturday of each month (Oct.-May) 10am-4pm; Last Sunday of each month 2-5pm.
[Located in Category: Historical Societies]
If you have ancestors who were New Sweden colonists along the Delaware River in the 1600s, be sure to look at the Swedish Colonial Society website. It includes biographical information about many of the original colonists, as well as books for sale of the original Swedish records translated to English.
[Located in Category: Genealogy Websites]
This website provides FREE access to searchable historical newspapers from New York state. It is a wonderful source for name searching. There may be some communities other than New York also.
[Located in Category: Genealogy Websites]
The Alloway History Museum is a new collection located on the second floor of the Alloway Municipal Building in historic Alloway. Location: 49 South Greenwich Street, Alloway, NJ 08001 Phone: 856-769-2632 Hours: First Saturday of each month 9am-12pm
[Located in Category: Historical Societies]
The most well-known genealogy website, Ancestry.com contains a vast collection of data. However, because of the cost of this website and the amount of free information available online outside of Ancestry, I would recommend exhausting other sites before paying the big bucks for Ancestry. A few highlights of Ancestry include all the census records; Civil War, World War I, and World War II draft registration cards; some death records; the Social Security Death Index; and other primary records. It is also a great way to network with distant cousins researching the same ancestors.
[Located in Category: Genealogy Websites]
This map pairs with the 1913 Farm Directory, which is available for free online at www.distantcousin.com/Directories/NJ/SalemCounty/1913/. Essentially the same as a telephone directory, this lists the heads of households, names of spouses, number of children, occupation, location of home (when matched to the numbers on the map), etc. An excellent resource.
[Located in Category: Historic Maps]
Fold 3 contains the best collection of military records online. It does cost to subscribe, but the records are a wonderful resource.
[Located in Category: Genealogy Websites]
The Greater Elmer Area Historical Society, Serving Elmer Borough, Pittsgrove Township, and Upper Pittsgrove Township, now has a museum and research library. The meetings are held at 6:30pm on the Third Thursday of each month, with an open house at the museum from 10am-2pm on the Second Saturday of each month. Location: 117 Broad Street, Elmer NJ. For more information, email greaterelmerareahistory@gmail.com or call 856-358-6171. Hours: Second Saturday of each month 10am-2pm.
[Located in Category: Historical Societies]
Genealogy Bank has a large collection of newspaper archives, great for searching for marriages, obituaries, and those little stories of the everyday lives of our ancestors. It does cost to subscribe, but it also allows access to other documents and books of genealogical data.
[Located in Category: Genealogy Websites]
The Hancock House in Hancocks Bridge is an official New Jersey State Historic Site. The site of a Revolutionary War massacre, this museum contains many Lower Alloways Creek artifacts and a small amount of genealogical data. The annual massacre reenactment and the Cornelia Hancock Civil War weekend are memorable events to show what life was like in Salem County during previous centuries. Location: 3 Front Street, Hancocks Bridge, NJ 08038 Phone: 856-935-4373 Hours: Wednesday-Saturday 10am-4pm; Sunday 1pm-pm. (For more Lower Alloways Creek resources, visit the nearby municipal building or the Log Cabin on Smick Road.)
[Located in Category: Historical Societies]
The Lower Alloways Creek Historic Log Cabin Museum contains local artifacts and a small amount of genealogical information. Location: 736 Smick Road, Canton, NJ 08001 Phone: 856-935-1549 Hours: Third Sunday of the spring and fall months 1pm-4pm. (For more Lower Alloways Creek records, visit the Hancock House or the LAC Municipal Building in Hancocks Bridge.)
[Located in Category: Historical Societies]
My Heritage offers a large amount of genealogical services, and allows for either a FREE basic subscription or a paid advanced subscription. It also offers a free download of their Family Tree Builder genealogy software.
[Located in Category: Genealogy Websites]
The Historical Society of Penns Grove, Carneys Point, and Oldmans specializes in the history of the Upper Penns Neck region of Salem County. The Society includes a museum and local history archives. Location: 48 W. Main Street, Penns Grove, NJ 08069 Phone: 856-299-1556 Hours: Sunday 1pm-3pm
[Located in Category: Historical Societies]
The Pennsville Township Historical Society is located at the Church Landing Farm along the Delaware River. The museum includes an old farmhouse, a floating cabin, relics of Riverview Beach Park, and other antique items. There is also a library for genealogical research. Location: 86 Church Landing Road, Pennsville, NJ 08070 Phone: 856-678-4453 Hours: Wednesday and Sunday 1pm-3pm
[Located in Category: Historical Societies]
The Pilesgrove-Woodstown Historical Society is located in a historic house in Woodstown, which includes both a museum and a research library. The archives of the Genealogical Society of Salem County are stored at this location. Location: 42 North Main Street, Woodstown, NJ 08098 Phone: 856-769-4588 Hours: Saturday 10am-1pm
[Located in Category: Historical Societies]
The Vineland Historical and Antiquarian Society was founded in 1864, making it the oldest local historical society in New Jersey. It has a vast collection, including items from throughout Cumberland County and neighboring counties like Salem County. Location: 108 South Seventh Street, Vineland, New Jersey 08362 Phone: 856-691-1111 Hours: Saturday 1pm-4pm (to research in the library, call the office Tuesday-Saturday 1pm-4pm one week in advance).
[Located in Category: Historical Societies]
Dozens of maps of New Jersey, particularly South Jersey, are available for free on this website.
[Located in Category: Historic Maps]
The Oak Tree Chapter of the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution is based in Salem County, New Jersey. If you are descended from a Revolutionary War veteran, contact the DAR to learn how you can join!
[Located in Category: Historical Societies]
This amazing resource allows the researcher to view New Jersey landscapes from aerial photographs taken decades ago! It is similar to a Google satellite image, but from as far back as 1930 and other decades. Use the slider option to compare the changes in a location from one decade to another.
[Located in Category: Historic Maps]
The Greenwich Tea Burning Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution is based in Bridgeton, New Jersey for Revolutionary War descendants who live in Cumberland County. Visit the website to learn how to join!
[Located in Category: Historical Societies]
The maps available on the Library of Congress website are all available for free viewing. There are maps from all over the country.
[Located in Category: Historic Maps]
This site includes images of many maps from both New Jersey and throughout the world. Many of them include the names of landholders, thus helping identify where ancestors may have lived. However, this website does charge to download or order a print of a map.
[Located in Category: Historic Maps]
This Excel index sheet provides links to the Sanborn Insurance maps of towns in New Jersey organized by county.
[Located in Category: Historic Maps]
The best day trip for a New Jersey genealogist is a visit to the New Jersey State Archives! This is the easiest place to find vital records like birth and death certificates, since the municipalities often don't provide easy access to the local records. The staff is very helpful and collection is superb. Enjoy your trip! Location: 225 West State Street, Trenton, NJ 08625 Phone: 609-292-6260 Hours: Monday-Friday 8:30am-4:15pm.
[Located in Category: Historical Societies]
For a truly adventurous day trip, visit the National Archives in Washington, D.C., only a few hours from Salem County, New Jersey. Or visit the archives' locations in Philadelphia or New York City. You never know what treasures you may find!
[Located in Category: Historical Societies]
Cyndi's List is a comprehensive list of links to genealogical research websites. You can find thousands of other sources through this resource!
[Located in Category: Genealogy Websites]