New Jersey Obituaries

New Jersey papers have recorded deaths since the Revolution. The New Jersey State Library keeps a county-by-county directory of every digitized historic New Jersey newspaper, which is the best place to start.

Recent New Jersey obituaries (2000 to today)

Most obituaries published since about 2000 are online. Daily papers post paid death notices and family-written obituaries in an Obituaries section, usually hosted by Legacy.com, and keep them online with a guest book. The largest daily papers in New Jersey are:

• The Star-Ledger / NJ.com
• The Record (Bergen County)
• Asbury Park Press
• Courier-Post (Cherry Hill)
• Press of Atlantic City
• The Times of Trenton

Legacy.com’s New Jersey page searches the obituaries of most of these papers and many smaller ones at once. Funeral homes also post obituaries on their own websites, often before the newspaper does and sometimes instead of it: search the person’s name with the town and “obituary” or “funeral home.” For obituaries no longer online, ask your public or state library: many offer NewsBank or ProQuest databases with the full text of recent newspapers, free with a library card.

New Jersey obituaries in historic newspapers

The New-Jersey Gazette, first printed in Burlington in 1777, reported on the war as well as local deaths. Through the 1800s most county seats supported one or more weekly papers, and those weeklies are often the only printed record of a rural death, since statewide death registration began in 1848 and was incomplete for decades.

Newark, Jersey City, Paterson, Trenton and Camden had large daily papers by the late 1800s, along with German, Italian, Polish and other foreign-language papers for immigrant communities. Families who lived near the state line often appear in New York or Philadelphia papers too.

Rutgers University leads the New Jersey Digital Newspaper Project, which has digitized more than 112,000 pages from microfilm held by the New Jersey State Archives for Chronicling America. Other titles are free on county and local library sites, and some are available only on library computers through commercial databases.

Where to find older New Jersey obituaries

Digitized New Jersey newspapers

• New Jersey Digitized Historic Newspapers, New Jersey State Library — Directory of every known digitized New Jersey newspaper, by county, with free titles marked.
• New Jersey Digital Newspaper Project, Rutgers — The state’s contribution to Chronicling America and news of newly added titles.

Obituary and death indexes

• Genealogical collections, New Jersey State Archives — The State Archives' genealogical collections, including New Jersey death records and free searchable indexes, in Trenton.

Archives and libraries

• New Jersey Newspapers, FamilySearch Research Wiki — Volunteer-maintained guide to New Jersey newspaper archives, indexes and microfilm, with local links.

Also search the nationwide archives: Chronicling America, FamilySearch, Find a Grave, Newspapers.com. See all nationwide obituary resources.

New Jersey death records

New Jersey death certificates are restricted to family and others with a legal interest, ordered from NJ DOH or the local registrar. Death records more than 40 years old are at the New Jersey State Archives, which has searchable indexes.

• NJ Department of Health, Vital Records — the office that issues New Jersey death certificates, with ordering instructions and fees.
• Where to Write for Vital Records: New Jersey — the CDC’s summary of where to order, current fees and which years the office holds.
• New Jersey Vital Records, FamilySearch Research Wiki — free death indexes and certificate collections, with the years each covers.

Tips for finding an obituary in New Jersey

• Check New York and Philadelphia papers. North Jersey families appear in New York papers and South Jersey families in Philadelphia papers.
• Use the 40-year rule. Older New Jersey death records are at the State Archives, where anyone can research them.
• Use the State Library's directory. It lists every known digitized New Jersey paper by county.
• Look beyond the word “obituary.” Older papers reported deaths under headings like “Died,” “Deaths,” local news and personals columns, funeral notices and cards of thanks, and often listed married women under the husband’s name (“Mrs. John Smith”). See death notices vs. obituaries.

Common questions