Gloucester County

Identifier
NJS-PLC-00099
Place Type
County or Parish
Description
Gloucester County is located in Southern New Jersey on the Delaware River. The county seat is Woodbury. Gloucester County was one of the original counties created in New Jersey during the colonial era, and it was originally much larger than it is today. A portion of Gloucester County was separated to form Atlantic County in 1837, and another portion was separated to form Camden County in 1844. Due to this history, documents related to slavery in present-day Camden and Atlantic Counties can be found among Gloucester County records.

County demographics from the 1800 U.S. census, when slavery in New Jersey reached its peak:

In 1800, Gloucester was distinguished as the only New Jersey county where more than 9 out of 10 Black residents had attained freedom (this at a moment in time when the enslaved population of the state was peaking and 3 out of 4 Black New Jerseyans were living in slavery). Overall, 91.4% of Black Gloucester county residents were free, and 8.6% were enslaved. There were 707 Black residents in the county (ranking 9th in the state for total Black population), representing 4.4% of the total county population. Gloucester had 646 free Black residents, ranking 2nd for the number of free Black residents in the state, behind the more populous neighboring Burlington County; these free Black residents represented 4% of the county's total population. Gloucester had the smallest number of enslaved residents in the state, numbering 61 or 0.4% of the county population.
County (Modern)
Gloucester County
State or Province
New Jersey
Country
United States of America
Latitude
39.838203
Longitude
-75.153162
Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gloucester_County,_New_Jersey
Record Contributor
Jesse Bayker
Linked Places

Places located in Gloucester County:

Places that were historically in Gloucester County, but are now associated with a different county:

Places formed from a portion of Gloucester County or formerly associated with this place:
Linked Persons

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Note that only persons whose town or village is uncertain will show up on this list for the county. Check the place records for specific communities within the county to find out who lived there.

Persons of African descent linked to Gloucester County:

White persons linked to Gloucester County:
Linked Events

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Resource class
Location