Listed record inventories
Selected holdings and indexes for Ocean County, checked against the repository descriptions linked below. Date spans may contain gaps; an index is not a complete set of original records.
Census records
Deeds and land
- Clerk's Office · Deeds, 1850 - 1901 and Indexes, 1850 - 1930 · COCCL0021850 - 1930
- Clerk's Office · Mortgages, 1850 - 1885 and Indexes, 1850 - 1930 · COCCL0041850 - 1930
- Clerk's Office · Ancient Deeds, 1874 - 1960 · COCCL0051874 - 1960
- Court of Common Pleas · Partitions of Land, 1852-1909 · COCCP0041852 - 1909
- Surrogate's Office · Real Estate Records, 1850 - 1915 · COCSU0081850 - 1915
Marriages, births and deaths
County government
Court records
- Court of Common Pleas · Applications for Tavern Licenses, 1850 - 1895 · COCCP0011850 - 1895
- Court of Common Pleas · Certificates of Lunacy/Non - Criminal Commitments, 1854 - 1923 · COCCP0031854 - 1923
- Court of Quarter Sessions of the Peace · Orders for the Destruction of Slot Machines, 1927 - 1940 · COCQU0011927 - 1940
Naturalization records
Wills and estates
- Surrogate's Office · Applications for Administration, 1878 - 1927 · COCSU0011878 - 1927
- Surrogate's Office · Miscellaneous Bonds, 1861 - 1924 · COCSU0021861 - 1924
- Surrogate's Office · Applications for Probate of Wills, 1885 - 1925 · COCSU0031885 - 1925
- Surrogate's Office · Register of Wills and Inventories, 1850 - 1942 · COCSU0041850 - 1942
- Surrogate's Office · Orphans Court Inventories, 1850 - 1926 · COCSU0051850 - 1926
- Surrogate's Office · Orphans Court Minutes, 1851 · COCSU0061851 - 1923
- Surrogate's Office · Receipts and Discharges, 1852 - 1925 · COCSU0071852 - 1925
- Surrogate's Office · Docket and Index, 1850 - 1955 · COCSU0091850 - 1955
- Surrogate's Office · Will Books, 1843 - 1923 · COCSU0101843 - 1923
- Surrogate's Office · Guardians' Inventories, 1856 - 1919 · COCSU0111856 - 1919
- Surrogate's Office · Applications for Guardianship, 1857 - 1917 · COCSU0121857 - 1917
- Surrogate's Office · Administrations and Guardianships, 1850 - 1918 · COCSU0131850 - 1918
- Surrogate's Office · Administrations, 1850 - 1917 · COCSU0141850 - 1917
- Surrogate's Office · Guardianships, 1851 - 1918 · COCSU0151851 - 1918
- Surrogate's Office · Unrecorded Estate Papers, 1850-1900 · COCSU0161850 - 1900
See the repository's descriptions and search options
Repository access note: Selected county-created series from the New Jersey State Archives current searchable catalog. Dates, series identifiers and creating offices are retained. Statewide records appearing in county searches were excluded. A catalog entry may describe paper or microfilm held on site; consult its format, restrictions and detailed contents before requesting access.
Sources: the catalogs and repository descriptions linked on the entries above. Selected inventories do not establish complete coverage of every record type or online access to original documents. Read the repository access note for source dates and limitations.
Where to find the records
- Ocean County official website
Hours, addresses and phone numbers for the county clerk and the surrogate, and any online record search the county offers.
- The county clerk
Deeds, mortgages and other land records, and naturalizations.
- The surrogate
Wills and estates.
- The New Jersey State Archives
In Trenton: state birth, marriage and death records from 1848, and the original wills and estate papers proved before 1901.
- New Jersey State Archivesfree
The state archives in Trenton, with state vital records from 1848, colonial and state wills, court records and state censuses.
- FamilySearch Catalogfree
Search by place for "New Jersey, Ocean" to find filmed and digitized records, many viewable free online with a FamilySearch account.
Offices change their hours and access rules; call before you visit.
Boundaries and parent counties
Formed from: Monmouth County
Check the parent county for earlier records: Monmouth County
Records stay with the county that created them. If your ancestor lived here before 1850, search the parent county. The Atlas of Historical County Boundaries shows each boundary change.
Research tip
New Jersey began statewide registration in 1848, earlier than most states. The State Archives holds those records for the early years and also the wills proved before 1901.