New Jersey Death Index at Ancestry.com

Ancestry.com has published online indexes for deaths in New Jersey 1798-1971 and births/christenings 1660-1931.  The information is based on the indexes available (for free) at Familysearch.org.  These indexes are fantastic for genealogical research in New Jersey.  The New Jersey Division of Archives and Records Management (NJDARM) has free online indexes for marriages for 1655-1799 and 1848-1878, as well as deaths from 1878-1887.  Familysearch.org also has an index for New Jersey marriages from 1678-1985, which is not exhaustive.

I have successfully used these indexes to locate pertinent records.  But I must offer some guidance as you use these indexes.  First, all indexes can contain errors or omissions because they were made by humans.  Merely because something is appearing on your computer screen does not mean that the computer checked the information for accuracy.  Plus, how your family now spells your last name may not be how it was spelled 200 years ago, or how it looked to the person deciphering the handwriting to produce a neatly typed version.

Second, and this is very important, the indexes for deaths can be off by one year.  This is because deaths in certain time periods were organized not from January through December of one particular year, but rather from July of one year through June of the following year.  You need to follow through on an index entry by finding the original record to verify the name and date of death (and possibly learn names of parents and burial location).

Below is an example of the error in year.  Eliakim Marsh died in Elizabeth, Union County, New Jersey on 15 January 1881.  Here is his death certificate copied in Trenton at the NJDARM.  (Remember that only the indexes are online.  The actual records are housed in Trenton.  You need to request a copy by mail or go in person.)

The index at the NJDARM has his correct year of death as 1881.

New Jersey Division of Archives and Records Management

Yet the indexes at Familysearch.org and now Ancestry.com have the year of death as 1880, off by one year.

Familysearch.org

Ancestry.com

Tombstone Tuesday

Rosedale Cemetery, Montclair, Essex County, New Jersey
1938

Rosedale Cemetery
2011

New Jersey Death Certificates available through 1955

The New Jersey State Archives has added death certificates through 1955 to its collection, expanding on the recent addition of years 1941-1946.

The certificates for some years are in alphabetical order, while others are organized by an assigned file number.  An index exists to discover the number.  The index contains the month, but not day, of death.  The place of residence and place of death are also listed by code.

Index for Deaths in New Jersey in 1955
Durham through Dvorak
Copied from microfilm at the New Jersey State Archives in Trenton

As with any index, watch for errors.

Index entry for Ellen Duryea, nee Byard, misspelled DURYRA.
She died 5 February 1955 in Jersey City.

The addition of these years is most welcome for two reasons.  First, searching for a record yourself can be faster and more accurate.  Second, New Jersey has a pesky "habit" of blocking the cause of death in official copies.  There are supposed exceptions to this rule, but I can attest from my ordering history that this rule is not consistently followed.  For those of you who feel the need to know what ailments caused the demise of your ancestors, blocking the cause of death thwarts your efforts to know your family's medical history.  For others, the blocked area makes for an unappealing copy.

Death certificate for Clara Lutter, nee Uhl, died 5 April 1955 in Newark.
Obtained through the Department of Health and Senior Services.
The cause of death is blocked, even though I am a direct descendant with the same last name.

Same death certificate obtained at the Archives, enabling the cause of death to be known.
She died of a kidney failure, which is not unusual in a ninety year old.
More intriguing is why the family had her autopsied.