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Delaware Public Records
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To Search Public and Vital Records -
Vital records are records of life events important enough that
some level of government acquires, organizes, and preserves
them. While the term "vital records" is often applied
to a wide variety of life events... Read
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Delaware Vital Records
Though the Bureau of Vital Statistics was
created in 1913, many records have been transferred to the State Archives
in recent years. Records of the bureau after 1913 are restricted,
and copies are only available to those with "a direct interest"
or a need to establish personal or property rights. The city of Wilmington
has had a registrar of vital statistics since 1881. For birth records
after 1920 and death and marriage records from 1953, write:
Office of Vital Statistics
Division of Public Health
P.O. Box 637
Dover, DE 19903-0637
For earlier records, contact:
Delaware State Archives
Hall of Records
Bureau of Archives and Records Management
Duke of York St. & Legislative Ave.
Dover, DE 19901
Tel: 302-674-5680
302-739-5318
Fax: 302-739-6710
http://www.state.de.us/archives/archives.htm
Delaware Land Records
Delaware is a state-land state. Most lands were acquired from original
proprietors, the state, or from other individuals. From 1680 the
original deed and mortgage volumes, microfilms of them, or both
are at the Delaware State Archives, with corresponding indexes.
The state archive also has a card index of original land patents,
warrants, and surveys, arranged by county, as well as a list of
some of the Maryland grants now located in Delaware. Warrants and
surveys made during the proprietorship of the Penn family, 1682–1776,
are at the state archives; those for 1759–61 are included in
Warrants and Surveys of the Province of Pennsylvania including the
Three Lower Counties 1759, compiled by Allen Weinberg and Thomas
E. Slattery (1965; reprint; Knightstown, Ind: Bookmark, 1975).
Other published land records include Original Land
Titles in Delaware Commonly Known as The Duke of York Records...1646–1679
(1899; reprint; Westminster, Md.: Family Line Publications, 1989)
and A. R. Dunlap, "Dutch and Swedish Land Records Relating
to Delaware: Some New Documents and A Checklist," Delaware
History 6 (1954): 25–52. The state archive has acquired microfilm
of official grants of land in present-day Delaware from New York
and Pennsylvania sources as well, and these are listed in Edward
E. Heite, Delaware's Fugitive Records (Dover: Delaware Division
of Historical and Cultural Affairs, 1980).
Concerning lands between individuals, the county
recorder of deeds was responsible for land records. In most instance,
deeds and mortgages were kept separately. Only the most recent deeds
remain in the office of the recorder, however. Most have now been
transferred to the state archive, creating just one repository for
research of most land records.
Delaware Court Records
Court records include probate records (which include wills), guardianship,
naturalization, and a wide variety of other sources, ranging from
criminal trials to simple road orders. All contain information about
individuals within the area. It should be remembered that there
are different levels of jurisdiction for courts in the United States,
all of which should be considered for research under various circumstances.
Court of Common Pleas, Orphan's Court, Probate Court, District Court,
Superior Court, Supreme Court, and other titles are among those
encountered. To study more about court records in general, see "Research
in Court Records" by Arlene H. Eakle, found in Loretto Dennis
Szucs and Sandra Hargreaves Luebking, eds., The Source: A Guidebook
of American Genealogy, rev. ed. (Salt Lake City: Ancestry, 1997).
Delaware Military Records
For the earliest military records of Delaware, consult The Delaware
Archives, 5 vols. (1911–16; reprint; New York: A.M.S. Press,
1974), which contains military rolls, pensions, and other records
for colonial soldiers of 1744 through militia lists of 1815. An
important Revolutionary War source for Delaware is William Gustavus
Whiteley's "The Revolutionary Soldiers of Delaware," Papers
of the Historical Society of Delaware 14 (Wilmington: Historical
Society of Delaware, 1896).
For a list of Delaware Civil War soldiers, see the
appendix in vol. 1 of J. Thomas Scharf's History of Delaware (cited
below in "Additional Sources"). The National Archives-Mid
Atlantic Region also has a microfilm index of names of Delaware
Civil War soldiers. Lists of Confederate prisoners at Fort Delaware
are in the Delaware State Archives, as are several card indexes
of those called or who volunteered for federal service in the Civil
War, the Spanish-American War, and the Mexican Border Campaign,
1916–17.
. The state archive also possesses a card file of
World War I service medical applications giving service information
and often date of death and place of burial. Delaware's Role in
World War II, 1940–1946, by William H. Conner and Leon de Valinger,
Jr. (Dover, Del.: Public Archives Commission, 1955), does not list
all military personnel, although thousands of names are mentioned.
De Valinger's collection of World War II photographs, letters, and
lists of deceased soldiers should also be consulted at the state
archive. A considerable amount of military material is also housed
at the Historical Society of Delaware. For further information,
consult James C. Neagles, U.S. Military Records: A Guide to Federal
and State Sources (Salt Lake City: Ancestry, 1994).
Additional Sources
Scharf, J. Thomas. History of Delaware
1609–1888. 2 vols. 1888. Reprint. Washington, N.Y.: Kennikat
Press, 1972, and Westminster, Md.: Family Line Publications, 1990.
Delaware Genealogical Research Guide. Wilmington:
Delaware Genealogical Society, 1989.
Clay, Henry, and Marion B. Reed. A Bibliography of
Delaware Through 1960. Newark: University of Delaware Press, 1966.
Boyer, Carl, ed. Ship Passenger Lists: Pennsylvania
and Delaware, 1641–1825. Newhall, Calif: the author, 1980.
Weslager, Clinton A. Dutch Explorers, Traders and
Settlers in the Delaware Valley 1609–1664. Philadelphia: University
of Pennsylvania Press, 1961.
Johnson, Amandus. The Swedish Settlements on the
Delaware 1638–1664. 2 vols. 1911. Reprint. Baltimore: Genealogical
Publishing Co., 1969.
Delaware Vital Records:
Event: Birth or death
Cost of copy: $6.00
Address:
Office of Vital Statistics
Division of Public Health
P.O. Box 637
Dover, DE 19903
Remarks: State office has death records since 1958
and birth records since 1926. Additional copies of the same record
requested at the same time are $4.00 each. For previous years, write
to Archives Hall of Records, Dover, DE (302) 739-5318.
Check or money order should be made payable to Office
of Vital Statistics. Personal checks are accepted. To verify current
fees, the telephone number is (302) 739-4721.
Search All Delaware Records
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Event: Marriage
Cost of copy: $6.00
Address:
Office of Vital Statistics
Division of Public Health
P.O. Box 637
Dover, DE 19903
Remarks: Records since 1958. Additional copies of
the same record requested at the same time are $4.00 each.
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Event: Divorce (State)
Cost of copy: See remarks
Address:
Office of Vital Statistics
Division of Public Health
P.O. Box 637
Dover, DE 19903
Remarks: Records since 1935. Inquiries will be forwarded
to appropriate office. Fee for search and verification of essential
facts of divorce is $6.00 for each 5-year period searched. Certified
copies are not available from State office.
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Event: Divorce (county)
Cost of copy: $2.00
Address: See remarks
Remarks: Prothonotary in county where divorce was
granted up to 1975. For divorces granted after 1975 the parties
concerned should contact Family Court in county where divorce was
granted.
Search All Delaware Records
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