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From: Janice Brown <>
Subject: Searches for ancestors in Gloucester County New Jersey
Date: Fri, 25 Feb 2005 14:30:23 -0500 (GMT-05:00)


This is just a general reminder (or perhaps a new thought) for the readers of the Gloucester Co NJ email list.

When researching your ancestors, you should keep in mind that "Gloucester County" can refer to the OLD Gloucester county and not the current one.

Old Gloucester County was formed on May 26, 1686 from the third and fourth tenths of the province of West Jersey. Greenwich Township became the first township. Incorporated on March 1, 1694.

The original townships formed at that time were Gloucester, Deptford, Greenwich, Waterford, Newton and Egg Harbor.

It included present-day Atlantic County and Camden County. Atlantic County set off in 1837. Camden County set off in 1844.

So, for example, you might see a listing in old tax lists:
JAMES JR. OLIVER NJ Gloucester County Gloucester Township 1795
JAMES SR. OLIVER NJ Gloucester County Gloucester Township 1795

Gloucester Township is NOW part of CAMDEN County, not Gloucester County, and historical societies in THAT county along with the Gloucester County Historical Society may be able to help you with your research.

Also place names in Gloucester County changed (primarily for two reasons).
1. When post offices were officially set up, MANY towns that had duplicate names throughout the state were required to change their names. One example of this, is Mount Royal (a village in current East Greenwich NJ). It was originally Sandtown, then renamed Berkeley. When the post office was set up, in order not to be confused with another town of the same name, the village changed its name to Mount Royal.
2. The second reason was when the railroads were built in the late 1800's. Here's an example.. A village in East Greenwich was called "Upper Greenwich". The railroad forced the issue since there was another "Greenwich" nearby, so the village name was changed to "Mickleton."

If you want to see all of the current (and past) names of PLACES in the current Gloucester County New Jersey, I have a web page up at http://www.jwbrown-home.com/Gloucesterco/munis.htm

There is also a state search link in the left column of the same page, where you can search on a town's name in any county in New Jersey to see where it is now located :)

Happy researching folks.
Janice Brown
NJGLOUCE List Moderator


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