History in the digital age: County archives online ALYSSA PASSEGGIO, Senior Staff Writer, The Courier, July 17 Posted:07/19/08
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Monmouth County is celebrating its 325-year anniversary, but the real details of the county’s history can be found underground.
The Monmouth County Clerk’s archives, ranging from name changes to debtors prison, are stored in the lower level of the county’s library headquarters in Manalapan.
The facility houses about 20,000 cubic feet of archives, according to Archivist Gary Saretzky.
“Working here is really exciting,” Saretzky said. “I especially like reading about what other archives in the area are doing.”
The county archive room was initiated by former Monmouth County Clerk Jane Clayton in 1980, he said. The facility was moved into its current location on Simms Road, Manalapan, in 1987, he added.
However, Saretzky said the vast array of records only became open to the public in 1994, when he started working for the county.
The archives currently have six databases of records from the late 1700s to the early 1900s easily searchable online: Naturalizations, marriages, coroner inquests, insolvent debtors, illegitimate children and overseers of the poor.
Monmouth County Clerk M. Claire French said the records were commonly used for people who are searching genealogy.
“When people do research they want to know the good and the bad,” she explained.
Saretzky said some of the records were authorized for destruction, but he felt they held historical value. For example, records of freed slaves and indentured servants are available, he added.
“It is important to have an archivist so things do not fall through the cracks. Sometimes there are historical or legal reasons to hold on to records,” French said.
Saretzky emphasized the importance of name change records for identification purposes, specifically since regulations for licenses have become more stringent and people need more records for proof of identification.
French noted how the improvements in technology have allowed more records to be put online for public access.
“There are an enormous amount of people looking for deeds and mortgages [and the information] is now easily available because of the digital imaging,” French explained.
The county archives posted its first major body of records, the 1875 census, last month on its Open Public Record System page.
Next the county is looking to make its oldest deeds available online as well, Saretzky said. Deed books from the 1660s are currently being digitized and will hopefully be on the Web in six months, he said.
French said the archives staff are also starting to work with the municipalities in the county for historical information.
The archives office would allow 10 cubic feet of space for historical municipal records to be stored in the facility for free, she said.
“There is no cost to the municipality, but we would want the right to digitize and make the information available to the public,” French said.
The towns would still own the documents and could retain them again if necessary, French said.
So far, Marlboro, Manasquan, Freehold Borough, Atlantic Highlands and Rumson have submitted information, Saretzky said. Further, 12 other towns are working toward providing the documents, he added.
