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.

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, 1759compiled by Allen Winberg and Thomas E. Slattery under the directory of Charles E. Hughes, Jr., Knightstown, Indiana : The Bookmark, 1975.

• 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

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