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Essex County - Surrogate's Office


Essex County was formed 7 March 1683 as an original county in the Province of East Jersey. Portions of old Essex County became Passaic (1837) and Union (1857) counties.

Recording of wills and estate inventories at the county level began in 1804. Orphans Courts were established in 1785. Consult the Secretary of State page linked below for original estate records for the 1660s-1900 period.

The State Archives' holdings vary from county to county. Consult the Collecting Policy for additional information about our accessioning guidelines.


See also: Secretary of State - Genealogical and Colonial Records (including state censuses)

Series:
Essex County
Surrogate's Office
Surrogate's Dockets, 1793-1907 and Indexes, 1793-1972
Control #:
CESSU001
Format:
18 reels (35-mm)
Arrangement:
Chronological
Notes:
Indexes provide file numbers used in both dockets and unrecorded estate papers; dockets provide citations to other recordings.
Finding Aid:
Click here!

Series:
Essex County
Surrogate's Office
Unrecorded Estate Papers, 1793-1900
Control #:
CESSU002
Format:
325 reels (35-mm)
Arrangement:
Numnerical (roughly chronological)
Notes:
Consult Surrogate's Dockets and Indexes first for file number. Not all numbers assigned have an estate papers file.
Finding Aid:
Click here!

Series:
Essex County
Surrogate's Office
Divisions of Land, 1793-1873
Control #:
CESSU003
Format:
2 reels (35-mm)
Arrangement:
By docket number
Notes:
Arranged by docket number found in surrogate's index.
Finding Aid:
Click here!

Series:
Essex County
Surrogate's Office
Orphans Court Minutes, 1793-1902
Control #:
CESSU004
Format:
18 reels (35-mm)
Arrangement:
Chronological
Notes:
Consult the surrogate's dockets for a volume and page citation.
Finding Aid:
Click here!

Series:
Essex County
Surrogate's Office
Will Books, 1803-1903
Control #:
CESSU005
Format:
42 reels (35-mm)
Arrangement:
Roughly chronological
Notes:
Consult the surrogate's dockets to get a volume and page citation.
There is overlap between dates in each volume.
Finding Aid:
Click here!

Series:
Essex County
Surrogate's Office
Administrations and Guardianships, 1804-1901
Control #:
CESSU006
Format:
1.5 reels (35-mm)
Arrangement:
Chronological by filing date
Notes:
Consult the surrogate's dockets to get a citation. In 1871 administrations and guardianships began to be filed seperately.
See seperate series for later administrations and guardianships.
Finding Aid:
Click here!

Series:
Essex County
Surrogate's Office
Administrations, 1871-1901
Control #:
CESSU007
Format:
2.5 reels (35-mm)
Arrangement:
Chronologically
Notes:
Consult the surrogate's dockets to get a volume and page citation.
Prior to 1871 administrations and guardianships were inter-filed.
Finding Aid:
Click here!

Series:
Essex County
Surrogate's Office
Guardianships, 1871-1900
Control #:
CESSU008
Format:
2 reels (35-mm)
Arrangement:
Chrono. by filing date (generally)
Notes:
Consult the surrogate's dockets to get a volume and page citation.
Prior to 1871 guardianships and administrations were inter-filed.
Finding Aid:
Click here!

Series:
Essex County
Surrogate's Office
Releases, 1816-1900
Control #:
CESSU009
Format:
18 reels (35-mm)
Arrangement:
Chronological by filing date
Notes:
Consult the surrogate's dockets to get a volume and page citation.
Each volume also includes its own index.
Finding Aid:
Click here!

Series:
Essex County
Surrogate's Office
Special Bonds, 1861-1894
Control #:
CESSU010
Format:
1 reel (35-mm)
Arrangement:
Chrono. by filing date (generally)
Notes:
Consult the surrogate's dockets to get a volume and page citation.
Finding Aid:
Click here!

Series:
Essex County
Surrogate's Office
Guardians' Bonds, 1861-1904
Control #:
CESSU011
Format:
3 reels (35-mm)
Arrangement:
Chronological by filing date
Notes:
Consult the surrogate's dockets to get a volume and page citation.
Finding Aid:
Click here!

Series:
Essex County
Surrogate's Office
Administration Bonds, 1861-1901
Control #:
CESSU012
Format:
8 reels (35-mm)
Arrangement:
Chronological by filing date
Notes:
Consult the surrogate's dockets to get a volume and page citation.
Finding Aid:
Click here!

Series:
Essex County
Surrogate's Office
Renunciations and Requests, 1871-1902
Control #:
CESSU013
Format:
3 reels (35-mm)
Arrangement:
Chronological by filing date
Notes:
Consult the surrogate's dockets to get a volume and page citation.
Finding Aid:
Click here!

Series:
Essex County
Surrogate's Office
Applications for Probate of Wills, 1878-1901
Control #:
CESSU014
Format:
7 reels (35-mm)
Arrangement:
Chronological by filing date
Notes:
Consult the surrogate's dockets to get a volume and page citation.
Finding Aid:
Click here!

Series:
Essex County
Surrogate's Office
Applications for Letters of Administration, 1878-1901
Control #:
CESSU015
Format:
6 reels (35-mm)
Arrangement:
Chronological by filing date
Notes:
Consult the surrogate's dockets to get a volume and page citation.
Finding Aid:
Click here!

Series:
Essex County
Surrogate's Office
Adoptions, 1880-1903
Control #:
CESSU016
Format:
1 reel (35-mm)
Arrangement:
Chronological by filing date
Finding Aid:
Click here!


~ The collections listed on this page represent 458 reels of microfilm ~

To contact the New Jersey State Archives about research, reference services, records transfers or donations, please email us at njarchives@sos.nj.gov

For additional and/or more recent records relating to this topic, contact:

Essex County Surrogate's Office, 465 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., Newark, NJ 07102, tel. 973-621-4900, website: http://www.essex-countynj.org/index.php?section=surrogate


This page last updated 04/22/2013