Book Description

"In 1674, New Jersey was split into East Jersey and West Jersey by a boundary line extending straight north through the country from Little Egg Harbor to the 'utmost branch of the Delaware River.' By an Act of the Assembly of East Jersey in 1682, the province was divided into the four counties of Bergen, Essex, Middlesex and Monmouth." The recording of deeds began in the county seat, which was the village of Hackensack, in 1715 but the records did include some deeds from as far back as 1689. The author has written abstracts from the information contained in the Bergen County, New Jersey, Deed Books A through N, comprising records from 1689 to 1801. The original deed books have suffered extensive damage and the index of names has been lost thereby increasing the genealogical value of this particular work. While the handwritten deeds often run several pages, they usually repeat the vital information over and over again. Mr. Davis has consolidated the pertinent information into an informative and comprehensive abstract. Each entry contains, in order: the date of the transaction, the name of the grantor(s), the place of residence of the grantor(s), the name of the grantee(s), the place of residence of the grantee(s), price, the area of land involved, the location of the land, neighbors, chain of deed, other landmarks, signature of the grantor(s), signatures of the witnesses, and the signatures of others. The author has also included an every-name index for the ease of researching names.