A few years ago I came to the realization that online
research, however wonderful in its accessibility and scope, did and does have
its limitations. In slow and sometimes
small steps I began to make trips to historical societies and most recently, Monmouth
County Archives. I also looked for local
genealogical societies. Recently I
joined the Genealogical Society of the West Fields in New Jersey. They have great speakers! At a meeting the
other day, the guest speaker was Joanne Rajoppi, Union County Clerk. She talked about Land Records maintained by
her office, https://clerk.ucnj.org/UCPA/DocIndex. Many records are searchable online from 1985
to the present and records prior to January 1986 are in the process of being
imaged.
It was a great talk and very enlightening. Ms. Rajoppi is approachable and seems to be researcher
friendly. She explained about Deeds,
Mortgages, Assignments and liens as well as showing samples of some of the
documents. The most interesting one was
the Chattel Mortgage. Chattel Mortgages
listed the collateral given and examples included personal property such
as a steam boiler and furniture. I saw a listing for table and chairs on one of
the mortgages.
I got a new perspective on research in Union County. There aren’t any records in the inventory of
the Records Room prior to 1857 because that was when Union County was created
from Essex County. Earlier records are
Essex County records. I had not known
that. If I read it before, it did not
click until now.
One of the very recent lessons for the NGS course dealt with
courthouse records and marriage records.
I had a bit of a challenge when looking for a local repository because
Union County does not keep marriage records; the local municipalities do. Earlier records are at the New Jersey State
Archives in Trenton. I wasn’t clear on
what records were at the Union County Clerk, but after today I have a much better handle on it.
At the time, figuring out where the records were was pretty
confusing. I guess that’s the point of
taking a class. You learn things like
that. It took a little while to sort it out, at least for New Jersey, and now,
land records in Union County.
I look forward to the next speaker!
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