State Archives Online - New Jersey to Pennsylvania



archivesNew Jersey –The New Jersey Division of Archives and Records Management has a major section on the site titled ‘Searchable Databases’. The topics in the database include death records from 1878 to 1885, Index of marriages for 1848 to 1878, Supreme Court Files from 1704 to 1844, Marriage records from 1665 to 1799, Atlantic City & Passaic County 1885 census, Land records from 1670 to 1720, Legal name changes for 1847 to 1947, Damages Paid during the American Revolutionary War, New Jersey men in the Civil War and the voucher payments made to New Jersey soldiers from the Civil War. Then there is the ‘Imaged Collections’ with some 7,000 images, some photographs and manuscripts. The topics in ‘Imaged Collections’ include military, buildings, cultural and historical records, family documents, county and city records. Comment: Very easy to access and use by using surnames, or names of locations (county or town) and by military units.

New York –On the New York State Archives site it opens up on a great photo slide show of children in New York from about 1890 to 1910. The various family history research topics in their Archives’ Digital Collections include military service records, naturalization records, vital records, prisons and probate court documents. One of the biggest databases is the New York State Civil War Soldier Database with thousands of names with information on the soldiers. The Archives Exhibits online have many historical photos and documents covering the Civil War. Comment: An excellent online state collection of databases. It is easy to search through and well organized.

North Dakota –The State Historical Society of North Dakota and Digital Horizons (http://digitalhorizonsonline.org/) have online the death Index from 1881 to 2000, Naturalization records index from 1873 to 1952, Dakota Territory census for 1885, oral histories covering personal histories from 1890 to 1940, Veteran’s history and a Biography Index. The North Dakota Archives also have quite a bit of information on the history of the state’s agriculture, education, Native Indians, pioneers, transportation and government. Comment: Some good images and document, but more state vital records could be added to the online collections.

Oklahoma –The Oklahoma State Archives has a section called ‘Oklahoma Crossroads’ (http://www.crossroads.odl.state.ok.us/) with postcards, photographs, documents, reports, posters, maps and newspapers going back to the late 1800s in Oklahoma. Comment: The Oklahoma postcard collection is excellent. The site does need to add digital copies of vital records (births-marriages-deaths).

Pennsylvania –The Pennsylvania State Archives has the Archives Records Information Access System making it easy to examine online military records from the American Revolutionary War to World War One. Overall, there are some 1.5 million records online with the Pennsylvania site. Comment: The military indexes and records from 1775 to 1919 are excellent. The PA State Archives do lack online databases of other important records such as births, marriages and deaths.

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