Plainfield Reference
Publications, Records Indexes & Transcription Projects
See Our Digitized Plainfield Reference Collection
Church records are listed below, followed by other records. Please contact the Local History Department. for more information. You can download a free Adobe Reader to view and search the indexes. Once a file is open, click CTRL+F to search.
Church Records Index & Transcription
The transcription of Plainfield records is an important part of the preservation of the city's history. Many of the items are part of the Local History Collection. Others are on loan to us for this special project. The First Park Baptist Church was first to lend its late-19th century membership lists and deceased parishioner files. Crescent Avenue Presbyterian Church has loaned an 1844 leather-bound volume of church records. The transcriptions will be made publicly available as they are completed. Many of the indexes were completed by our dedicated volunteers.
Crescent Avenue Presbyterian Church
 The Plainfield Presbyterian Church Records 1844 is the earliest record of the church now known as the Crescent Avenue Presbyterian Church. Entries date from 1844 to 1899.
Membership Ledger Part 1
Membership Ledger Part 2
Membership Ledger - Marriages
Membership Ledger - Baptisms
Church Yearbook, 1894
First Park Baptist Church
The Church began in 1822 and was all-white and quite exclusive. The first records that we have are in the Membership Book. It then split up between two groups and two churches - losing some of its original members to Shiloh and Hope. Finally, two other churches joined together as First Park Baptist in another building losing most of the original members. 
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Church Register, 1818-1900
This church register contains member records arranged chronologically by date received.
Entries include when and how a member was received by the Church, from which church they came, when and how they were dismissed, and to which church, and other remarks.
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Deceased Files, 1762-2000
The deceased files contain member records arranged alphabetically by family surname. Entries may include full name and address of parishioner, birth and death dates, baptism and marriage dates together with children’s names. This list is not a complete list of the families of the parish
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Dismissed Files, 1877-1988
The dismissed files contain the information found on index cards in the church's archive. Entries are sorted alphabetically by surname, and include full name; maiden name; address; dates of birth, baptism. voting, right hand, marriage, and inactivity; parents names; spouse names; children; member type; transfer churches; church remarks; and indexer notes.
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Evergreen Cemetery Records, 1901-1919
Chronological or Alphabetical
The cemetery records include information from the two receipt books kept for each burial in the First Park Baptist section of the cemetery. These records include name and age, day and place of death, day and location of burial, cause of death, and cost of plot.
- Evergreen First Methodist Episcopal Cemetery Map
Names Index View Map
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First Baptist Cemetery Map - Names Index
- Membership Records, 1826-1891
The membership records were taken from chronological listing and include the full names of the original parishioners with their birth and death dates.
First Methodist Episcopal Church
The first Methodist service was said to have happened at a prayer meeting held in the Guion residence around 1823. In 1826, an unsuccessful attempt was made to erect a church on Barn Street (later known as Second Street), while services were held at John Briant’s carriage shop. The First M. E. Church was eventually erected in 1832 – a plain, unpainted wooden structure. In 1847, a new brick building was constructed on the site. The church was burned in an 1869 fire, but immediately rebuilt and enlarged. In 1894, the parsonage was sold. In 1954, the second fire badly damaged the church. A new one was built on the Rosenbaum property at 621-641 East Front Street, and the new First Methodist Church was dedicated on November 3, 1963.
Directory of the members and officers of the First Methodist Episcopal Church of Plainfield, New Jersey, 1903
First Presbyterian Church
The First Presbyterian Church was organized on July 10, 1825, and was the fourth church to be established in Plainfield. The cornerstone of the first church building was laid later that year, and the building completed in 1827. By 1855, the structure was too small, so it was divided and moved, and a new brick church was built. Photographs of the 1855 structure are very rare, and the Library does not have one in our collection. In 1888, a new church was erected. Years later, in 1952, the church sold the property and made plans to finance the building of a new structure, on East Front Street, on what was known as the Meade Estate. It was completed in 1955. The Grant Avenue Presbyterian Church was originally the Crescent Avenue Presbyterian Church, which organized Hope Chapel in 1888 in a small building on West Fourth Street.The records are held by the First Presbyterian Church.
First Presbyterian Church Marriages, 1892 to 1908
Grant Avenue Presbyterian Church Records Ledger, 1890 to 1948 This ledger contains Pastors, Elders, Communicants, Marriages, Baptisms, and Deaths.
Grace Episcopal Church
The Episcopal Church in Plainfield was established in 1852, and the first service was held on January 11th in the village schoolhouse. Two years later, the cornerstone of the first Church building was laid on East Front Street. In July 1876, the structure was moved to East Sixth Street and Cleveland Avenue. Finally, on May 6, 1891, the cornerstone of the present building was laid, and on Easter Sunday, April 17, 1892, the first service was held in the new edifice. In 1877, parish leaders founded Muhlenberg Hospital, which was named for the Reverend William Augustus Muhlenberg, an Episcopal priest and social activist. In 1903, the Grace Church mission was organized; it is now St. Mark’s Church.
Grace Church Year Books, 1899 to 1909 Index
Saint Stephen's Episcopal Church
St. Stephen’s parish was the outcome of a Union chapel that was instituted at Netherwood in 1880. In 1886, chapel trustees offered the building for use by Grace Church, which they did until 1888. In December 1888, a choir and sanctuary were built and an altar was erected. In September 1894, the St. Stephen’s parish was officially formed and approved by the bishop and Diocese of New Jersey.
Year book of the Saint Stephen's Church, 1913
Seventh Day Baptist Church
Semi-centennial History, 1888
Trinity Reformed Church
Yearbooks, 1913-1918 (index)
Memorial Funeral Home Records
The Memorial Funeral Home records date from 1906 to 1996 and include files from the A. M. Runyon Funeral Home. Records were maintained by hand in ledgers and file folders, later files are typed. File data varies, but will usually contains funeral and burial information, cause of death, next of kin, and often other family details. Private personal information, such as Social Security Numbers, will not be released under any circumstances. If you are not able to locate a record, please contact the Local History Dept. for assistance. We are happy to help you.
A. M. Runyon Files,1903 to 1987
Memorial Funeral Home Files, 1927-1998
Memorial Funeral Home, Register Ledgers:
Other Records: Business, Education, Military, People, Publications
Biographies of Plainfielders
Dime Savings Institution (Bank)
This bank was incorporated in April 1868 and later became the Plainfield Savings Bank in 1883. It was the second bank established in Plainfield, and was located at 14 East Front Street.
Signature Book, 1904-1906
Federal Census Records for Plainfield
(Plainfield) Fire Department, of Plainfield, N.J.
History of the Plainfield Fire Department, of Plainfield, N.J.
Issued under the Auspices of the Fireman's Relief Association, Plainfield, N.J. Compiled by Eugene Peltier and G. B. Elmhurst, 1901
Vertical File: Fire Department History
Vertical File: Netherwood Fire House
Historic Tour of Plainfield (booklet)
Historic Tour of Plainfield (City Planning Dept) circa 1970s.
Plainfield 300 Years, 1987 Publication index
Plainfield Civil War Participants Listing
Plainfield Civil War Participants
Plainfield Daily Press, Historical & Trade Supplement Index November 14, 1913. See the digital copy of this issue here.
Plainfield High School Yearbooks, Underclass Listings (includes first-, second-, and third-year sudents)
1924 - 1929 (sorted by last name) There is no underclass listing for the 1925 yearbook.
1930 to 1939 (sorted by last name) There is no underclass listing for the 1933 yearbook.
1941 to 1949 (sorted by last name) There is no 1940.
Plainfield High School Yearbooks, Underclass Listings (includes first-, second-, and third-year sudents)
1950 to 1959 (sorted by last name)
1960 to 1969 (sorted by last name)
1970 to 1979 (sorted by last name) The 1974 and 1975 yearbooks do not list the underclasses, only Seniors.
Plainfield Schools, Graduates, 1870-1947
Includes Plainfield High School, Emerson and Evergreen schools. There was no PHS Class of 1871.
Sorted by Last Name
Sorted by Graduation Year
Plainfield's Honor Roll 1918 (Military Service)
From Plainfield Record, May 3, 1918
The Revolutionary Camp Ground at Plainfield, New Jersey
The Revolutionary Camp Ground at Plainfield, New Jersey. An address delivered before Continental Chapter D.A.R. January 9, 1923, by Cornelius C. Vermeule
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