CENSUS
Federal and State census records can provide important information about our ancestors and their lives. Information collected varied by census, but you can frequently get the names and ages of household members, job titles, where they immigrated from and what year. As siblings would immigrate and stay with family members, you can sometimes get a woman's maiden name as well as where they immigrated from just looking at the siblings information.
Existing federal censuses for the state of New Jersey, Essex County, are currently available through 1940 (excepting 1790, 1800, 1810, 1820, and the mostly destroyed 1890 census).
-
FamilySearch.org - Create a free account and search for free online census records.
-
Archive.org – Older censuses are available here, just search for Census NJ Essex County and page through until you find it.