Sussex County

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See the Sussex County Research Guide for information about related records.
Identifier
NJS-PLC-00051
Place Type
County or Parish
Description
Sussex County is located in the northwestern section of New Jersey, bordering New York to the north and the Delaware River (with Pennsylvania across it) to the west. The county was formed in 1753 and was originally about twice as large as it is today for the first 71 years of its history. In 1824, the southern half of the county was split off to form Warren County. Thus, many slavery era documents related to the area of present-day Warren County can be found among Sussex County records.

County demographics from the 1800 U.S. census, when slavery in New Jersey reached its peak (and note that this description applies to the combined area of Sussex and Warren counties):

In 1800, Sussex County's demographics stood out among New Jersey's 13 counties for its large and overwhelmingly white population, and it was particularly different from other populous counties, most of which relied heavily on slavery and boasted a much higher Black population. Sussex was the most populous county in the state with a total of 22,534 residents. Yet at the same time, it had the lowest proportion of Black population in the state, with only 2.7% of the residents being Black. The county had a total of 616 Black residents, ranking 11th in the state by Black population totals (with only the state's least populous counties of Cape May and Cumberland counting fewer Black residents). The vast majority of the county's Black residents were enslaved, with 83.4% living in slavery, while 16.6% of Black residents were free. Enslaved persons in the county numbered 514 and represented 2.3% of the county's total population. Sussex had 102 free Black residents, meaning that free Black people represented about 0.5% of the total county population (the smallest percentage in the state).
County (Modern)
Sussex County
State or Province
New Jersey
Country
United States of America
Latitude
41.058204
Longitude
-74.753132
Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sussex_County,_New_Jersey
Related Resource
Research Guide: Sussex County Slavery Records
Record Contributor
Jesse Bayker
Linked Places

Sussex County was formed in 1753 from a portion of Morris County.

Places located in Sussex County:

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

Places formed from a portion of Sussex 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 Sussex County:

White persons linked to Sussex County:
Linked Events

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Resource class
Location