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The hunt for Native American ancestry in New Jersey has two major record blocks. Most of the New Jersey census records were lost for the years of 1790, 1800, 1810, and 1820, only the numerical data survived at the national level. This numerical data can be found in the book, Century of Population Growth.
The second block to finding Native American families in New Jersey is the change in racial labeling that occurred in 1820. The first three census records contained two categories, WHITE and ALL OTHER FREE. In 1820 the racial categories were changed to WHITE and FAMILIES OF COLOR.
Starting with the family names first available in the New Jersey Census of 1830 all non-white families were in the FAMILIY OF COLOR section. Over time the label FAMILIY OF COLOR changed to "B" or "M".
I found one "I" for Indian in NJ in 1860. Any other Native American families were labeled Colored since 1830, and later to be found in the B or M category. Intermarriage could place people in new racial categories, the census taker deciding which label to apply.
The few clues to Native American ancestry in New Jersey may be found in family stories and similar surnames on Governement Indian Rolls, tax records, deeds, and mortgages that listed race, old newspaper articles, and state papers (1801 Treaty.) One map (ca. 1812) of the Navasink River, NJ, labels one landowner but not another one in the next town whose family is labeled Mulatto in later deeds.
Some early New York families moved between these categories through time, from ALL OTHER FREE to WHITE, perhaps as Native Americans or persons of mixed background.
