WELCOME

TO

MONMOUTH COUNTY

A part of The American Local History Network.

Monmouth County
Hall of Records
Main St.
Freehold, NJ 07728
908-431-7387

This is a genealogical volunteer effort and we invite you to participate by
sharing information you have and by asking questions for information you want.

These first services form the backbone of our project.

QUERIES - Finding missing ancestors is made a lot easier with the help of friends at GenForum.
LOOKUP - These volunteers will look up information for you in books and places available to them.
THE ARCHIVES - See who may have already inquired about your ancestor. Enter NJMONMOU for the Name of List, .

The remaining links are important areas that help to enrich our information and understanding of the County.

SOCIETIES - Here is a list of some of the major Historical Societies and Libraries in Monmouth County.
CEMETERIES - A list of 39 cemeteries in our County together with their coordinate locations.
TOWNS - This is a list of all the towns and their ZIP codes.
FAMILIES - Some of the families of the County with links to their email so you can compare notes.
MONMOUTH COUNTY LINKS - These links take you to other sources of information in the county.
MOLLY PITCHER - We all know of Molly Pitcher, one of the great women of the Revolution. Here is more about her and the Battle of Monmouth.
GNIS - The GNIS (Government Name Identification Service) is an excellent resource for finding places around our State and throughout the Nation.
MAP - This interactive Map helps you to find your way around.
DATE LINE - Hopefully this gives an idea of what was going on in the County during the time your ancestors were here.
MORE - These links will take you to many interesting places, well beyond the bounds of Monmouth County.

Monmouth County Resources and Lookup Volunteers

If you have any books or CDs on Monmouth County or have access to cemeteries, churches, court houses, etc., and are willing to volunteer to do lookups, I would be delighted to hear from you. Please see The American Local History Network FAQ page on Copyrights. Thanks

Guidelines when requesting a look-up:

Click on the title of the book and it will give you the appropriate mail form.
Put MONMOUTH LOOKUP in caps as subject of message. This will ensure that your request is not accidentally overlooked or deleted. There's so much mail on the Internet, sometimes important things get lost.
Put the name of book or place where you are requesting the lookup in the first line of the message. Many volunteers help with more than one and need to know what you are looking for in order to help you successsfully.
Limit your request to 1 or 2 specific names. Asking for ALL the marriages on a surname of Brown, Jones or Smith will probably be ignored or request denied.
Remember - the Resource person is a volunteer, and is doing you a favor.

List of resources available for look-ups:

Atlantic Cemetery: 1865-1986, by Elizabeth Makin Thompson. Atlantic Cemetery is in Colts Neck, Monmouth County, NJ.
Biographical and Portrait Cyclopedia of the Third Congressional District of New Jersey, Comprising Middlesex, Monmouth and Somerset Counties together with An Historical Sketch of Each County. Edited by Samuel T. Wiley, 1896
Colts Neck - Old Homes and Families, by Elizabeth Makin Thompson
Descendants of Cornelius Tomson/Thomson/Thompson of Manalapan Township, Monmouth County, NJ, by Elizabeth Makin Thompson
Genealogy of the Family of Longstreet by Edward Mayes. Details what life was like in the early Dutch settlements.
Historical & Genealogical Miscellany by John E. Stillwell, (5 volumes-Early Monmouth County genealogies & records), Originally pub. 1914, Reprinted by Higginson Book Co.
History of Monmouth County, New Jersey, by Franklin Ellis, 1885
The Huguenots or The Early French in New Jersey, by Albert F. Koehler
A Longstreet Family History, by R.J. Longstreet
New Jersey Marriage Records 1665-1800, by William Nelson, 1900
Official Register of the Officers and Men of New Jersey in the Revolutionary War, by William S. Stryker
Old Times in Old Monmouth by Salter & Beekman, originally pub. in the "Monmouth Democrat," Freehold, NJ, reprinted by Gen. Pub. Co. 1994.
Salter's History of Ocean and Monmouth Counties, N.J. by Edwin Salter, 1890. Embracing a Genealogical Record of earliest settlers, the Indians, the Revolutionary War, names of officers and men, etc.
The Story of Middletown by Ernest Mandeville, Pub. by Christ Church, Middletown, NJ.
This Old Monmouth of Ours by William S. Hornor, Org. pub. Moreau Brothers of Freehold, 1932, Reprinted by Higginson Book Co.
Fifty Years Ago: A Brief History of the 29th Regiment New Jersey Volunteers in the Civil War, by T.C. Morford. It includes a roster of the entire regiment--nine companies from Monmouth and one from Ocean--including rank, also discharges (gives reason for discharge), deceased, and deserters.

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Monmouth County Links

Asbury Park	Asbury Park Press	Belmar
Colts Neck	Eatontown	Freehold Township
Longstreet Farm	Matawan	Monmouth County Archives
Monmouth Community Web	County Profile	Ocean Township
Red Bank	Historic Sites	Google

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Historical Societies & Libraries in Monmouth County

If you are a member of one of these groups that is not underlined,
and are willing to serve as a volunteer link (or just are curious), please send a note.
Thanks

Atlantic Highlands Historical Society 27 Prospect Ave. Atlantic Highlands, NJ 07716 908-291-1861	Eatontown Historical Museum 75 Broad St. Eatontown, NJ 07724-1528 908-542-4026	Historical Society of Ocean Grove 53 Central Avenue Ocean Grove, NJ 07756 908-774-1869
Howell Historical Society 427 Lakewood Farmingdale Rd. Howell, NJ 07731 908-938-2212	Keyport Historical Society American Legion Dr. & Broad Keyport, NJ 07735 908-739-6390	Long Branch Historical Museum 1260 Ocean Ave. Long Branch, NJ 07740-4550 908-222-9879
Matawan Historical Society 94 Main St. Matawan, NJ 07747-2630 908-566-5605	Middletown Township Historical Society Leonardville Rd. Leonardo, NJ 07737 908-291-8739	Monmouth County Genealogical Club 70 Court Street Freehold, NJ 07728 908-462-1466
Monmouth County Historical Association 70 Court Street Freehold, NJ 07728 908-462-1466	Monmouth County Library 125 Symmes Drive Manalapan, NJ 07728 908-431-7220	Morris Genealogical Library 228 Elberon Avenue Allenhurst, NJ 07711
Neptune Township Historical Society 25 Neptune Blvd. Neptune, NJ 07753 908-775-8241	Ocean Township Historical Museum 163 Monmouth Road Oakhurst, NJ 07755 908-531-2136	Old Wall Historical Society 1701 New Bedford Road Wall, NJ 07719 908-974-1430
Shrewsbury Historical Society 419 Sycamore Ave. Shrewsbury, NJ 07702-4204 908-530-7974	Spring Lake Historical Society 5th & Warren Avenue Spring Lake, NJ 07762 908-449-0772	Squan Village Historical Society Main St. Manasquan, NJ 08736 908-223-6770

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DATE LINE

These dates are particular to Monmouth County. When considering what was going on during your ancestors' time,
include general area or world affairs such as wars, depressions, prosperity, etc.

Early - The area belonged to the Iroquois Confederacy

1609 - Hendrick Hudson, for the States General, discovered what's now Newark Bay
1613 - The Dutch built two small trading fort on the Hudson River
1614 - Dutch settlers began to arrive in five vessels and settled along "Lange Eylandt"
1624 - Peter Minuit bought Manhattan from the Indians for about $24
1632 - New Netherlands extended from Connecticut to Pennsylvania
1645 - Peitrus Stuyvesant, Director, ruled with great ability for 19 years
1664 - New Netherlands was invaded by the British
1673 - The Dutch drove out the British
1674 - The Treaty of Westminister gave the province to the British
1674 - The area was divided into the Provinces of East Jersey and West Jersey
1683 - Monmouth County came into being from the Province of East Jersey
1778 - The Battle of Monmouth: Molly Pitcher, Washington and Steuben defeated the British
1787 - New Jersey became the third of the original 13 united States
For a more detailed account, see your encyclopedia.

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MAP

The US Census Bureau provides an interesting interactive map. You can enter any town or ZIP code and it will find it for you. Click Census Map and enter the place you want. If unsure, enter FREEHOLD which is the County Seat (and of course, NJ) then click on MAP just below that.
Take time to play with it. You can add all kind of detail, resize it, move it around. A job well done.

For an outline map of New Jersey, showing the different counties, click here.

When finished, to get back here, click on BACK, or the left arrow, at the top of your browser.

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PLACES

This is a list of 237 populated places in Monmouth County, as listed by GNIS.
This copy is not interactive so in order to locate them on a map, go to the GNIS website.

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CEMETERIES

This is one of the links that will take you away so if you haven't done so, put a bookmark here so you can come back easily.
When finished, press CEMETERIES and away you go.

MOLLY PITCHER

The Battle of Monmouth was part of the American Revolution. It was fought near Monmouth Courthouse (Freehold) on June 28, 1778.

General George Washington chose Monmouth to confront the British while they were fleeing from Philadelphia toward New York. He ordered Gen. Charles Lee to launch the attack but instead, General Lee retreated. The British, under Sir Henry Clinton, immediately counter attacked and it was only the arrival of Generals Washington and Steuben that prevented disaster. The British forces escaped, losses were about equal on both sides and the battle is considered a draw. General Lee was court-marshalled for disobeying orders.

The legend of Molly Pitcher is associated with this event. When her husband was killed, Molly "manned" the cannon that day and helped to route the British.

For those who insist on the bright glare of reality, her real name was Mary Ludwig Heis (or Hays), who got her nickname from bringing cool water to the weary troops. And it was probably Margaret Corbin on cannon. But that was another day, another battle and another place. Anyway, Molly was at Monmouth.

Molly's home county also claims her. (If you link over, look for 1778, then click BACK in order to return.)

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WELCOME

TO

MONMOUTH COUNTY

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Monmouth County Resources and Lookup Volunteers

Monmouth County Links

Historical Societies & Libraries in Monmouth County

Copyright 1996