New Brunswick, First and Second Presbyterian Churches
According to the Works Progress Administration survey, the First Presbyterian Church, New Brunswick, New Jersey, was organized in 1726. The church building was erected in 1727 and was located on George and Patterson Streets in New Brunswick. A second, larger building was erected on the same site in 1784 and a third in 1836. The congregation was part of the Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. (Old School) from 1838 through 1869. Second Presbyterian Church (New Brunswick, N.J.) organized as an Old School congregation in 1840. Second Presbyterian merged into First Presbyterian in 1907.
The Presbyterian Historical Society holds the following official church records for First and Second Presbyterian Churches, New Brunswick, New Jersey, which are of interest to genealogists (Call number: 07 0525):
- v. 1: Session minutes, 1790-Jan. 1840; and Church register including baptisms, 1788-1839, and marriages, 1787-1793
- v. 2: Session minutes, Feb. 1839-April 1880
- v. 3: Session minutes, May 1880-April 7, 1908
- v. 4: Session minutes, April 7, 1908-April 2, 1924
- v. 5: Session minutes, April 17, 1924-Sept. 1943
- v. 6: Session minutes, Oct. 1943-Jan. 1954
- v. 7: Session minutes, Feb. 1954-Feb. 1961
- v. 8: Session minutes, March 1961-Sept. 1971
- v. 9: Session minutes, Oct. 1971-Jan. 15, 1975
- v. 10: Session minutes, Jan. 21, 1975-Sept. 1981
- v. 11: Session minutes, Oct. 1981-Jan. 1992
- v. 12: Session minutes, Feb. 1992-July 1998
- v. 13: Session minutes, Sept. 1998-June 2003
- v. 14: Church register, 1790-1867, including baptisms and marriages, 1797-1869
- v. 15: Church register, 1800-1864, including baptisms, 1825-1864, and marriages, 1842
- v. 16: Membership roll, 1802-1875
- v. 17: Pastoral register of Rev. Robert Davidson, 1843-1859, including lists of members, baptisms, marriages [Marriages, 1851-1859, include age and occupation]
- v. 18: Membership roll, 1862
- v. 19: Church register, 1864-1867, including baptisms, 1864-1867, and marriages, 1863-1867
- v. 20: Church register, 1881-1918, including baptisms, 1875-1919, and marriages, 1875-1918
- v. 21: Church register, 1879-1925, including baptisms, 1918-1934, and marriages, 1918-1932
- v. 22: Church register, 1870-1959, including baptisms and marriages, 1934-1959
- v. 31: Grave-site list--graves transferred to Van Liew Cemetery, n.d.
- v. 36: Second Presbyterian Church: Session minutes, 1851-1873, including historical sketch, 1840-1851, and list of members
Please note that it is the policy of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) to restrict access to all official records on deposit at the Presbyterian Historical Society that are less than 50 years old. This restriction applies at the national, mid council, and congregation level. We administer this restriction in order to protect the rights and privacy of the records’ creators/owners and the privacy rights of the individuals mentioned in the records. If researchers want to access official records less than 50 years old, we require that they secure written permission from the records’ owners.
The above records are also available on microfilm (Call number: MFPOS 1438, reels 1-10). See MFPOS 1438 catalog record in Calvin for reel contents.
If you are interested in borrowing the microfilm, please have the interlibrary loan (ILL) librarian at your local public or academic library contact us directly to submit the request on your behalf. We accept ILL requests by letter, email and fax. We loan a maximum of three reels per request for a four-week loan period. We charge a fee of $20.00 per reel, plus $5.00 for shipping. This material will be held on reserve for you and may only be used within the borrowing library. Please provide your ILL librarian with the catalog information and reel number(s) when making your request. Please tell the ILL librarian that requests cannot come from OCLC (Online Computer Library Center, Inc.) because we are not listed as a borrowing institution.
(We also hold trustees records, congregation meeting minutes, Sabbath school records, pictures, and so on.)
Sources:
New Jersey Historical Records Survey Project. Inventory of the Church Archives of New Jersey: Presbyterians. Newark, NJ: The Historical Records Survey. Works Progress Administration, 1940 (Call number: Ref CD 3380 .H54 P65).
