Delaware Vital Records

Birth Records

Statewide registration of births began in 1861 but was discontinued in 1863. Registration was resumed in 1881 and was generally complied with by 1921. The following indexes may be helpful:

Delaware. Bureau of Vital Statistics. Index Cards of Delaware . . . Births . . . Salt Lake City, Utah: Genealogical Society of Utah, 1949. (Family History Library films 006424-30.) From 1861 to 1913.

Delaware. Bureau of Vital Statistics. Vital Records, Births, 1861-1913. Salt Lake City, Utah: Genealogical Society of Utah, 1949. (Family History Library films 006323-59.)

Delaware. Bureau of Vital Statistics. Index Cards of Delaware . . . Baptisms . . . Salt Lake City, Utah: Genealogical Society of Utah, 1949. (Family History Library film 006423.) From 1759 to 1890.

The Delaware Bureau of Vital Statistics has birth records from the past 72 years. You can obtain copies by writing:

Bureau of Vital Statistics
Jesse S. Cooper Memorial Building
William Penn Street
Dover, DE 19901
Internet: http://archives.delaware.gov/collections/vital.shtml

For records of births that occurred more than 72 years ago, contact the Delaware Public Archives (see the "Archives and Libraries" section).

The current fees for this service are listed in Where to Write for Vital Records: Births, Deaths, Marriages, and Divorces (Hyattsville, Maryland: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, March 1993.  Copies of this booklet are at the Family History Library and many Family History Centers. You can also contact the Vital Records Section (address given above) for current information.

Death Records

Although some deaths were recorded as early as 1855, state registration of deaths officially began in 1881 and was generally complied with by 1890. For indexes see:

Delaware. Bureau of Vital Statistics. Index Cards of Delaware . . . Deaths . . . Salt Lake City, Utah: Genealogical Society of Utah, 1949. (Family History Library film 006431-33.) Indexes from 1855 to 1888.

Delaware. Bureau of Vital Statistics. Vital Records, . . . Deaths, 1855-1910. Salt Lake City, Utah: Genealogical Society of Utah, 1949. (Family History Library films 006360-409.)

The Delaware Bureau of Vital Statistics has death records for the most recent 40 years. For deaths recorded over forty years ago, contact the Delaware Public Archives.

Marriage Records

State registration of marriages began in 1847 and was generally complied with by 1913. The Family History Library has microfilm copies of the marriage bonds for 1744-1836 and 1855-1861, and licenses for 1889-1894. You can obtain marriage records for the most recent 40 years by writing to the Bureau of Vital Statistics. For marriages recorded more than 40 years ago, contact the Delaware Public Archives.

Delaware counties began keeping marriage records as early as 1832. These records have been transferred from the counties to the Delaware Public Archives. These early county marriage records are not available at the Family History Library; however, the library has records of some pre-1847 marriage bonds.

For a helpful index see:

Delaware. Bureau of Vital Statistics. Index Cards of Delaware . . . Marriages . . . Salt Lake City, Utah: Genealogical Society of Utah, 1949. (Family History Library film 006416-22.) This is an index of marriages for the years 1680-1850 from information in bonds, licenses, probate records, and church records at the Delaware Public Archives.

Many early marriage license bonds are in the following collection:

Gilbert Cope, A List of Marriage License Bonds . . . in New Castle County, Delaware, 1744-1836 (Salt Lake City, Utah: Genealogical Society of Utah,1965; Family History Library film 441415). It also includes a few marriages from other counties in Delaware.

Marriages of Delaware residents may also be recorded in adjoining states, such as Pennsylvania and Maryland.

Divorce Records

The Delaware Public Archives has a card catalog with names and dates with reference to divorces granted up to about 1890 by Acts of the State Legislature.

Divorce proceedings from 1975 to the present are kept by the family court office in the county where the divorce was recorded. For records before 1975 and dating back to the early 1900s, contact the county prothonotary's office (clerk of the court of common pleas). For pre-1900 records write to the Delaware Public Archives or the:

Delaware Legislative Council
Legislative Hall
P.O. Box 1401
Dover, DE 19901
Internet: http://www.llsdc.org/sourcebook/state-leg.htm