State guide · DE

Delaware genealogy records

Delaware has required statewide registration of births, deaths, and marriages since July 1, 1913. Older records are at the Delaware Public Archives in Dover, but before 1913 they are not complete.

Delaware at a glance

First settled: 1638
Statewide births, deaths, and marriages from: July 1, 1913
Open at the Archives after: Births 72 years, marriages 50 years, deaths 40 years
Federal census: 1790 recreated from tax assessments; 1890 destroyed by fire
State archives: Delaware Public Archives, Dover

The main place for Delaware family history is the Delaware Public Archives in Dover. The state was first settled in 1638 and began as the "Three Lower Counties" of Pennsylvania, with its own legislature from 1704, so its records reach back to the seventeenth century. Birth, death, and marriage records before 1913 survive only in part, and the Archives has built indexes from family Bibles, newspapers, church records, and tombstones to fill the gaps.

On July 1, 1913, a state law required the registration of births, deaths, and marriages. The Archives holds those certificates once they become public. Newer records are with the Office of Vital Statistics.

Births, deaths, and marriages from 1913

Since 1913, state law has required these records, and in 1913 a central Bureau of Vital Statistics was set up with the Secretary of the Board of Health as State Registrar. Under Delaware law, a birth record becomes public after 72 years, a marriage record after 50 years, and a death record after 40 years, and the Delaware Public Archives holds the public ones on microfilm. As of 2026, its research page says that means births through 1953, marriages through 1975, and deaths through 1985. For later records, contact the Office of Vital Statistics.

The forms had space for a lot of detail, but the Archives warns they were not filled in consistently. A birth record may give the child's name, date and place of birth, and the parents' names, ages, occupations, and birthplaces. A marriage record may name the bride's and groom's parents and say how many times each had married before. A death record may give the parents' names, the spouse, the cause of death, and the place of burial. As of 2026, the Archives charges $25 for a certified copy.

Before 1913

Before 1913, each county's Recorder of Deeds was to record births, marriages, and deaths and send a copy every three months to the Secretary of the State Board of Health. The Archives says the vital records before 1913 are not complete. Its early birth, marriage, and death files were compiled from family Bibles, newspapers, church records, tombstones, and similar sources, and staff will search these indexed files for you. Much of the rest is not indexed and has to be searched in person.

Several free indexes are on the Archives website. One covers the state's marriage records from 1855 to 1934, with brides and grooms indexed separately. Another indexes the state's older death records collection, part list and part index cards. A third gives abstracts of births, deaths, and marriages from Delaware newspapers from 1789 to 1850, such as the Delaware Gazette. There is also an index card collection of private vital statistics, tombstone, and cemetery records spanning about 1700 to 1991, arranged by cemetery. The Archives also suggests probate and Orphans' Court records, census records, city directories, tax assessments, and deeds as substitutes.

Census records

Delaware's 1790 federal census was recreated from tax assessments. From 1800 to 1840, the census names only the head of each household, and from 1850 it names everyone. The 1890 census for Delaware was destroyed by fire, but the National Archives has lists of selected Delaware African Americans from the 1890 and 1900 censuses that survived by chance. The 1910 census was not indexed for Delaware, so you need to know where a person lived and search that enumeration district.

The Delaware Public Archives has the federal census through 1950, since census records are released after 72 years. It also holds the special schedules: mortality schedules from 1850 to 1880, which name people who died and give the cause of death, slave schedules for 1850 and 1860, and agriculture schedules.

Wills, Orphans' Court, and local records

Many Delaware Public Archives records have been digitized with genealogy partners. On FamilySearch, free with an account, the Delaware collections include birth, marriage, and death records and military and naturalization records. If you live in Delaware, you can use the Archives' records on Ancestry free by entering a Delaware ZIP code, including births from about 1650 to 1908, deaths and marriages from about 1650 to 1933, and wills from about 1677 to 1947.

The Archives' Orphans' Court records can be searched by keyword online, divided into parent and child lists. Some local records are arranged by hundred. The Kent County pauper books, for example, list inmates of the county almshouse from 1811 to 1933 by hundred, gender, and race, and a separate register lists births and deaths in the Kent County almshouse from 1851 to 1901.

Military records

The Military Archives collections, Record Group 1800, hold the Archives' most complete records of Delaware in the Revolutionary War. Delaware's militia and its Continental regiment, known as the Delaware Blues, fought at battles including Brandywine and Germantown and in the southern campaigns, and veterans received pensions after the war. When you search the Archives portal, try variant spellings: the Archives notes that names such as John Haslet also appear as Hazlet and Haslett. Many records that are not online can be digitized on request.

For later wars, the Archives has a guide to its Civil War records and a series of forms filled out by families of Delawareans who died in World War II, collected for the World War II memorial at the Delaware Memorial Bridge.

Search in this order

Find the family in the census to learn the county where they lived.
For an event from July 1, 1913 on, check whether it is old enough to be public at the Archives.
For a marriage from 1855 to 1934, search the Archives' free marriage index.
For earlier events, search the death index and the 1789 to 1850 newspaper abstracts.
Ask the Archives to search its indexed vital records cards, up to five items at a time.
Look for wills, Orphans' Court, and land records in the county of residence.
Check cemetery and tombstone index cards for a burial.
For a Revolutionary War ancestor, search Record Group 1800 under every spelling of the name.

Where to see them for free

The Delaware Public Archives in Dover: as of 2026 the research room is open Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., walk-ins are welcome, and appointments are strongly encouraged.
Requests by email or mail to the Archives: staff search indexed records for up to five specific items per request but do not do extensive genealogical research. As of 2026, mailed copies cost $10 for up to ten pages.
Free indexes on the Archives website for marriages from 1855 to 1934, deaths from 1855 to 1910, and newspaper notices from 1789 to 1850.
The Office of Vital Statistics for births, deaths, and marriages too recent to be public.
FamilySearch, free with an account, and Ancestry, free for Delaware residents, for Archives records digitized with those partners.

Sources

How to cite this page

Daily Ancestor. "Delaware genealogy records." State guides. https://dailyancestor.com/states/delaware. Last checked 2026-10-12.