For a small state, Delaware has played an outsized role in US history. As one of the original Thirteen Colonies, it had three signers of the Declaration of Independence. Delaware was the first to ratify the U.S. Constitution, becoming The First State. And Delaware was a stop along the Underground Railroad, supporting the Union during the Civil War despite permitting slavery.
Delaware has drawn people looking for opportunities since the days of fur-trading in the 17th century. Today’s business-friendly corporation laws, financial industry, and agriculture continue that tradition. With a well-documented history, the state offers repositories and museums that are a goldmine for genealogists. Learn more about research opportunities in store for you in The Diamond State.
For at least 10,000 years before Europeans arrived on Delaware’s shores, the Unami Lenape (“Delaware”) and Nanticoke American Indian tribes inhabited the region. They encountered Dutch, Swedish and British settlers in the early 1600s. Within a century, their numbers greatly diminished, many merging with other tribes as they left north to Canada and west to Oklahoma. Their history has been studied in several books by C.A. Weslager (see the Toolkit). Today the Nanticoke Lenni-Lenape Tribal Nation of their descendants maintains a presence in Delaware and New Jersey .
Henry Hudson sailed by Delaware Bay in 1609 and claimed the area for the Dutch as part of New Netherland. The first Dutch trading outpost was built in Zwaanendael (today’s Lewes) in 1631. Shortly after, the first Swedish settlement was establishedat Fort Christina (today’s Wilmington). The Swedes,along with Finns, vied with the Dutch for dominance. TheEnglish seized New Netherland in 1664, using the region toconnect its colonies in New England and Virginia.
In addition to Pennsylvania Province, Quaker WilliamPenn was granted the “Three Lower Counties on the Delaware”in 1682. The counties were administered by Pennsylvaniafrom that year. Immigrants from Maryland andNew England flooded what became Delaware Colony, andthe eventual capital of Dover was founded in 1683. A long-standing boundary issue between the Penn family and Maryland’s Calvert family was settled in 1775. The borders of Delaware were set, and Delaware became a colony in its own right. Delaware’s militia (the “Delaware Continentals”) fought valiantly in the Revolutionary War. The Delaware Public Archives (DPA) and other repositories hold records.
In 1787, Delaware was the first of the 13 colonies to ratify the Constitution, proudly becoming “The First State.” Delaware prospered in the young nation, with mills and manufacturers growing rapidly in the north. In 1802, DuPont (now an international, S&P 500 company) established its powder works on the Brandywine Creek. People migrated throughout the Delmarva Peninsula and sought opportunities in the American West. Rivers, bays, roads (such as the National Old Trail Road to the West), railroads, and overland shipping routes facilitated the movement of people and business through the late 1700s and 1800s.
Delaware permitted slavery, though the practice was less prominent than in the South. By 1860, there were 1,800 enslaved people in the state, compared to 20,000 free African Americans. Delawareans participated in the Underground Railroad and some 12,000 (including 1,500 African Americans) fought for the Union during the Civil War. By the turn of the 20th century, the state’s population had increased to nearly 185,000 and its economy was robust. Flour mills, manufacturing, and shipbuilding operated in the north; and agriculture was predominant in the mid- to southern part of the state. Opportunities attracted Irish, French Huguenots, and Germans immigrants, followed by Poles and German Jews. To meet their spiritual needs, the number of churches and religious organizations increased.
1609 Englishman Henry Hudson sails past Delaware Bay 1638 Swedish settlers found Fort Christina near modern Wilmington
1639-1682
1655 The Dutch conquer “New Sweden,” incorporating it into “New Netherland” 1664 The English take control of Delaware 1682 William Penn is granted Pennsylvania, including “the Lower Three Counties” of modern Delaware
1683-1787
1701 Delaware gains its own legislature, but still shares a governor with Pennsylvania 1775 Boundary disputes between Delaware and Maryland are settled 1787 Delaware becomes the first state to ratify the Constitution
1788-1861
1841 Kent County gains land from New Castle County, largely setting Delaware’s modern county borders 1861 Though allowing slavery, Delaware remains loyal to the Union in the Civil War
State requirements to register births, marriages and deaths were set in place by 1881, but not enforced until 1913. An earlier attempt to mandate state registration in the 1860s was short-lived. As a result, records from prior to 1913 are considered incomplete. Church records can help fill gaps. Your ancestors may have crossed state lines to marry at “Gretna Greens” in Maryland or Pennsylvania. Other substitutes include bastardy bonds, which wererequired from 1796 into the 20th century to guaranteethat care provided for children born out of wedlock orabandoned would be paid for by the father. Online indexesto bonds from Kent and Sussex Counties are at theDelaware Public Archives (DPA).
Records of post-1913 events become available tothe public based on how old they are: birth recordsat 72 years, marriage records at 50 years, and deathrecord at 40 years. After that time, the recordsare available through DPA . FamilySearchand Ancestry.comhave digitized some recordsreleased to the public. Delaware residents can access thelatter for free. DPA has an online index to acts of the General Assembly,which handled divorces cases for much of Delaware’s history.Later divorces were handled by various courts.
Delaware has appeared in every US federal census since 1790. As of this writing, records through the 1950 census are available to the public and widely available on genealogy websites. However, Delaware’s portions of the 1790 and 1890 censuses have been lost (except for a very small portion of the latter). Reconstructed 1790 Census of Delaware by Leon DeValinger, Jr. (available through FamilySearch) provides comparable information to that year’s records using tax assessments.
Colonial-era censuses of Delaware have been published in a number of sources, including The 1693 Census of the Swedes on the Delaware by Peter Stebbins Craig. The state has not taken any of its own censuses, though the National Archives compiled a list of 1,200 African American farmers in Delaware who previously went unrecorded in the 1890 and 1900 federal censuses.
Digitized copies of Delaware land records from the 1600s to mid-20th century are available on Ancestry.com, and the FamilySearch Library holds some copies. County records from before the mid-20th century (including some land records) are at DPA.
Delaware’s three counties—New Castle, Kent and Sussex—were subdivided into “hundreds” for voting representation, tax assessments, and censuses. As the population grew, the original 12 hundred were divided, until 1875 when 33 were formed. They appear in US censuses and are important for pinpointing geographic locations. They’re still referenced today in real estate transactions.
FamilySearch has published service records from the Revolutionary War and Civil War. The Delaware Genealogical Society has resources for Black veterans who served the Union.
Maps can provide insight into 19th-century communities and guidance for locating public records. Two detailed maps, Rea and Price Map of New Castle County, Delaware (1849) and D.G. Beers’s Atlas of the State of Delaware (1869), show hundreds, towns and property owners
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