Our Delaware genealogists are available to research on location. They will find and analyze the best records available to further your family history research. They can search the archives and libraries in Delaware, as well as help you with other special requests.
Our researchers are available to visit local archives and libraries to access unique record collections to help with your research. Below is a list of a few of the archives our Delaware researchers have access to.
The Delaware Historical Society is an important repository for records of early Delaware settlers. Some of their articles include colonial records, newspapers, church records, state records, as well as records from the American Revolution and American Civil War. The library contains a surname file with over 100,000 entries, family history records, and census records. Their manuscript collection numbers at over 2 million documents that date from the late 1600s to the present. These manuscripts include documents from early Delaware leaders such as Caesar Rodney and George Read.
The Special Collections Department at the University of Delaware contains an extensive collection of materials, both rare and specialized alike. The archives include books, manuscripts, maps, prints, photographs, broadsides (i.e. posters) and pamphlets. The strength of their collection is their articles on the history of Delaware, but they also contain information on the history of science and technology and American literature.
The Delaware Public Archives are responsible for all the non-current records of the State of Delaware. Their holdings contain documents from the Swedish colonial period (1638-1655), the Dutch settlement (1655-1664), the Duke of York regime (1664-1682), and the Penn Proprietorship (1682-1776). The are original and microfilmed documents located here. The archives also maintain a library based solely on Delaware that consists of state publications, books, genealogies, pamphlets, maps, newspaper clippings, and photographs.
Delaware Office of Vital Statistics (Dover, Delaware)
The Delaware Office of Vital Statistics contain Birth records since 1938, Death and marriage records since 1969, Divorces since 1935.
Delaware State Archives (Dover, Delaware)
This archive contains:
Birth records over 72 years old
Marriage and death records more than 40 years old (More recent records are maintained by the Office of Vital Statistics).
Vital statistical information for years prior to 1913
Federal census schedules for the years 1800-1880 and 1900-1920
Reverend Joseph Brown Turner Genealogical Collection of research and correspondence concerning more than one thousand Delmarva families
Walter G. Tatnall Collection of Delaware tombstone records
WPA transcribed church records
Library of Delawareana
Includes state publications, books, genealogies, pamphlets, maps, and newspaper clippings
Bastardy bonds, Probate records, Naturalization records, Apprentice Indentures
Records of the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of Delaware’s state government
Privately compiled and donated family histories and genealogies
Manuscript Collections
Papers of distinctive Delawareans including George Read, Caesar Rodney, and John M. Clayton
Ridgley Papers
John Dickinson Collection
Business records of farmers, and craftsmen dating from 18th century.
Delaware Public Library