Delaware Colonial Records

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Delaware

Colonial Records

History

In 1638, the first European permanent settlement was founded in Delaware by Swedish immigrants. The colony was named New Sweden, and was conquered by the Dutch in 1655, and the English in 1664. Until Delaware's provincial assembly was established in 1703, it was under the control of Pennsylvania. Maryland claimed portions of Delaware from 1682-1736.

Statewide Records and Resources

The earliest courts in Delaware are:

• Chancery Courts (1684-) County courts of equity.
• Courts of Common Pleas (1701-) Civil and criminal county court records, also includes appeals and adoptions.
• Orphans' Courts (1728-)
• Clerk of The Peace (1642-)
• Probate records from 1682 are kept at the county level.
• 1683-1744 Philadelphia Administrations, 1683-1744, Vol. 2, Philadelphia: Historical Society of Pennsylvania, n.d. This includes collections of the Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania, and includes administrations that were granted for residents of the present state of Delaware.
• Colonial Delaware Wills and Estates to 1880: An Index by Donald Odell Virdin, Bowie, MD: Heritage Books, 1994.

Land Records

• 1646-1679 - The Swedes and Dutch were the first to give land grants. After the English acquired Delaware, propriety deeds were granted by the Duke of York. These can be found in the General Assembly of the State of Delaware. Land Titles in Delaware Commonly Known as the Duke of York Record: Being an Authorized Transcript from the Official Archives of the State of Delaware, and Comprising the Letters Patent, Permits, Commissions, Surveys, Plats, and Confirmations by the Duke of York and Other High Officials from 1646-1679, (Wilmington, DE: Sunday Star Print, 1903).
• 1682-American Revolution - Warrants and Surveys of the Province of Pennsylvania Including the Three Lower Counties, 1759 compiled by Allen Winberg and Thomas E. Slattery under the directory of Charles E. Hughes, Jr., (Knightstown, Indiana : The Bookmark, 1975).
• Delaware's Fugitive Records: An Inventory of the Official Land Grant Records Relating to the Present State of Delaware by Delaware Bureau of Archives and Records, (Dover: Department of State, Division of Historical and Cultural Affairs, 1980).

Tax Records

• 1682 - Delaware was divided by the Penn Proprietary into "hundreds." These were areas created for tax purposes and supposed to be occupied by ten families. Until 1897, the original twelve hundreds were divided and added to. The original twelve were:

Kent County
Duck Creek
Mispillion
Motherkill
Murderkill
Saint Jones
New Castle County
Appoquinimink

Brandywine
Christiana
New Castle
Saint Georges
Sussex County
Broadkill
Rehoboth

Original tax assessment records, beginning in 1693, can be found at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.

• The First Tax List for the Province of Pennsylvania and the Three Lower Counties, 1693, (Bedminster, Pennsylvania : Adams Apple Press, 1994).
• Colonial Delaware Records 1681-1731 by Bruce A. Bendler, (Westminster, MD: Family Line Publications, 1990).

Military Records

Earliest Church Records	Earliest Land Records	Earliest Court Records	Earliest Newspapers
1646	1640	1642	1762