JUNE 2015

Two New Jersey Authors Receive the American Society of Genealogists’ 2015 Donald Lines Jacobus Award

2015 was a banner year for New Jersey genealogy! The American Society of Genealogists (ASG) awarded the prestigious 2015 Donald Lines Jacobus Award to two New Jersey authors: Joseph R. Klett for “Understanding New Jersey’s Geography in the Proprietary Period” and Donald G. Armstrong for his New Jersey Pioneers.


Joseph R. Klett, “Understanding New Jersey’s Geography in the Proprietary Period”

Joseph R. Klett

Joseph R. Klett

“Understanding New Jersey’s Geography in the Proprietary Period” was published in December 2014 by GSNJ as a special issue of the Genealogical Magazine of New Jersey, Volume 89, Number 4, December 2014.

The issue was prepared  to celebrate New Jersey’s 350th “birthday” in 2014. The issue helps researchers understand the various geographic disputes and changes that shaped the state. The issue is richly illustrated with maps prepared by NJSA Archivist, Veronica L. Calder and the staff at NJSA, images from the NJSA Collections, and was edited by GMNJ Editor, Jane Fletcher Fiske, FASG. The publication is an excellent guide for those researching early New Jersey history and trying to locate family in early records.

Klett is the Executive Director of the New Jersey State Archives, a researcher, author, and a longtime trustee of GSNJ. He is a current GSNJ Vice President. He serves on numerous boards including the boards of The Hopewell Museum, the John More Association, the Highland Cemetery Association, and the New Jersey Cultural Alliance for Response, among others. He is a compiler of numerous genealogical and historical articles and guides and a former Editor of GMNJ. Klett is also an avid contributor to Find A Grave, where he manages more than 8,500 memorials under his own account and under several organizations’ accounts, including GSNJ’s.


Donald G. Armstrong, New Jersey Pioneers

New Jersey Pioneers: Twenty-Four Families with New Jersey Immigrants 1676–1705, Their New England Immigrant Ancestors 1630–1662 and Ohio Descendants 1803–1822 (Penobscot Press, 2014) was authored by Donald G. Armstrong. He traces numerous family lines through the New Jersey, highlighting those pioneers and early settlers of the state.

Armstrong, a GSNJ member, is author of the Bradfield Genealogy, Descendants of John and Jane (Harmer) Bradfield of Bucks County, Pennsylvania, with Notes on Zachariah Bradfield of Prince William County, Virginia, and Other Miscellaneous Bradfields (Newbury Street Press, 2000) and Ancestry of William Walter Armstrong of Columbiana County, Ohio (Penobscot Press, 2010), and several other publications.


Both publications (copies are limited) may be purchased at GSNJ’s online store at www.njgenealogy.com

gmnj-special-issue-00-small“Understanding New Jersey’s Geography in the Proprietary Period” Genealogical Magazine of New Jersey, Volume 89, Number 4, December 2014.

A limited number of copies of this issue (first printing) are available from the GSNJ Bookstore for $15.00 (cost includes domestic US shipping). Copies may be ordered through the GSNJ’s Bookstore at www.njgenealogy.com or by downloading the attached PDF order form.