An Introduction

Gen-Tool Kit

Researching

 by Surname

Researching

by Location

Internet Resources

Contact Information

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     Delaware is a U.S. state located on the Atlantic Coast in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. The state takes its name from Thomas West, 3rd Baron De La Warr, an English nobleman and Virginia's first colonial governor, after whom (what is now called) Cape Henlopen was originally named.  Delaware became the first of the original 13 states to ratify the Constitution of the United States.

     The Dutch were the first Europeans to settle in present-day Delaware by establishing a trading post at Zwaanendael, near the site of Lewes in 1631. Within a year all the settlers were killed in a dispute with area Indian tribes. In 1638 New Sweden, a Swedish trading post and colony, was established at Fort Christina (now in Wilmington) by Peter Minuit at the head of a group of Swedes, Finns and Dutch. Thirteen years later, the Dutch, reinvigorated by the leadership of Peter Stuyvesant, established a new fort in 1651 at present-day New Castle, and in 1655 they took over the New Sweden colony, incorporating it into the Dutch New Netherland. Only nine years later, in 1664, the Dutch were themselves forcibly removed by an English expedition under the direction of James, the Duke of York. Fighting off a prior claim by Cecilius Calvert, 2nd Baron Baltimore, Proprietor of Maryland, the Duke passed his somewhat dubious ownership on to William Penn in 1682. Penn strongly desired access to the sea for his Pennsylvania province and leased what then came to be known as the "Lower Counties on the Delaware" from the Duke.

     Delaware is divided into three counties: New Castle, Kent, and Sussex. Historically, industrialized New Castle County has contrasted with the other two counties, which have been predominantly agricultural areas.  This State     is bounded to the north by Pennsylvania; to the east by the Delaware River, Delaware Bay, New Jersey and the Atlantic Ocean; and to the west and south by Maryland. Small portions of Delaware are also situated on the eastern side of the Delaware River sharing land boundaries with New Jersey. The state of Delaware, together with the Eastern Shore counties of Maryland and two counties of Virginia, form the Delmarva Peninsula, which stretches down the Mid-Atlantic Coast.

gen tool

• Delaware Genealogy Records     
• Delaware Public Archives 
• Delaware Public Libraries     
• Historic House Museums & Historic Structures 

• Historic House Museums in Delaware 
• Historical Museum Guide for Delaware     
• State of Delaware Digital Archives 

Delaware Division of History & Cultural Affairs 
Delaware Genealogical Society 
Delaware Museum Association 
The Delaware Society of the SAR     
Delaware State Society  Daughters of the American Colonists

The Historical Society of Delaware 
Jewish Historical Society of Delaware 
Lutheran Historical Society of the Mid-Atlantic 
Mid-Atlantic Germanic Society 
Preservation Delaware 

Delaware (select a county)

Kent;    New Castle;    Sussex

Surname

The following are surnames of persons, found within our databases,

as having been either born, married or died in this U.S. State.

McVicker; Moreland; Pinnell; Scruggs and allied families

Adams;   Armstrong;   Bishop;   Booker;   Bowen;   Bracken;   Green;   Gregg;   Hedges;   Jordan;   Lineberry;   Machan;   McIlvaine;   Reed;   Smith;   Springer;   Vanderford

Bozarth; Peiffer; Quigley; Rhubart and allied families

Dellinger; Knecht; Pfeffer; Silar and allied families

To find out more about each surname listed above click on the corresponding LINK.

Additional information regarding these surnames may also be found at:

  Surname Locator Resources

Use this free genealogy site to help you get the best genealogy searches from Google™ by using your family tree, for your research. It will create a series of different searches using tips or   "tricks"  

that    will   likely   improve your results. The different searches will give you many different ways of using Google and the Internet to find ancestry information about this or any other Surname.

research location

Our Ancestral Counties

Gazetteer of Places

Historical Changes in County Boundaries

County Research (Genealogical)

County Research

 (General Info.)

Where in the World

are My Ancestors?

Our Ancestral Counties

The following named counties are associated with the history of our DIRECT ancestors.   To select a specific ancestral county, go to our Ancestral Locations home page. Here you will find additional links to our county pages where you can obtain information about our family gen-sites, images of localities, and surnames of persons, in our database, who have lived in the selected county.

Click on this thumbnail map for a full-sized version.

Kent;   New Castle

Gazetteer of Places

The following Links will take you to gazetteers that identify places within this U.S. State.  These resources feature profiles of cities, towns, neighborhoods and subdivisions.  In addition this site contains maps, data and directions for a wide variety of physical, cultural and historic features.

 List of all cemeteries in Delaware

List of numbered routes in Delaware

Cities in Delaware

Places in Delaware

List of all cities in Delaware

List of Delaware municipalities

Delaware Cities - profiles of 1,796 Delaware cities, towns & neighborhoods

Delaware Physical Features such as lakes, islands & steams

Delaware Cultural Features such as schools, parks, hospitals & airports

Delaware Civil Features such as Native Areas and Political Subdivisions

Search by Name, County, ZIP Code or Area Code

* includes but not limited to Cemeteries, Churches, Locales,

Military Installations;  Populated Places, Post Offices, Schools, Streams, and Trails

Boundary changes

     Conducting genealogical research in the United States requires an understanding of county boundaries.  As the population grew more counties were created to meet the public’s need for localized governments.  This phenomena was common in all states during the 17^th, 18^th and 19^th centuries. As such you may be looking for records in the wrong county or state. 

     The web site for the Atlas of Historical County Boundary Project provides interactive maps for all states. The Atlas of Historical County Boundaries is meant to be a resource for people seeking records of past events, as well as people trying to analyze, interpret and display county-based historical data like Land Records, Probate Records, Court Records, Tax Records, and Vital Records that document birth, death, and marriage.  The following link will take you to a list of all the boundary changes to each county or equivalent within this U.S. State, as well as the date these changes occurred. Each entry is followed by a citation to the primary source(s) used to determine the change.

Delaware: Chronologies of Individual County Boundary Changes

County Research (Genealogical)

Clicking on a Link (below) will take you to the County’s website.  Here you will find additional links to more information specific to that location.    The USGenWeb Project also sponsors important Special Projects, at the national level, that were created to collect and disseminate data that goes beyond county and state lines.

County Research  (General)

Wikipedia is a multilingual, Web-based, free-content encyclopedia project based mostly on anonymous contributions. Clicking on a Link (below) will take you to the Wikipedia article about the county.  Here you will find additional links to guide the user to related pages with additional information.

Kent;   New Castle;   Sussex

Where in the World  are My Ancestors?

Resources which enhance our knowledge of the places inhabited by our ancestors are almost as important as their names. The LINK

to the right will take you to Maps, Gazetteers,   and other helpful  resources  that will assist you in discovering Ancestral Locations. 

The Google search engine

 button  and following web

sites    may     provide    you

with additional information

to assist with your research

about   this   U. S.   State. 

·           Website & Webpages We Like

·           Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

·           Free Genealogy Search Help For Google

·           Linkpendium > Genealogy > USA

·           Data Base Collections at Ancestry.com$

·           GenealogyLinks.net

·           Access Genealogy

·           Histopolis.com – Collaborative Genealogy and History

·             Birth & Marriage Records Indexes for USA

·              

·        Cyndi's List - United States Index

·        IGI Batch Numbers - British Isles & North America

·        Libweb - Libraries on the Web

·        50states.com - States and Capitals

·        USA Resources at RootsWeb

·        StateGenSites - U.S. Genealogy Sites by State

·        The USGenWeb Project

·        DistantCousin.com - archive of genealogy records

·        Searchable Death Indexes & Records

·Delaware - Wikipedia

·Delaware State Facts and Information

·Delaware Information (50 States.com)

·Linkpendium – Delaware

·Delaware – Access Genealogy

·         Cyndi’s List (Delaware)

·         Delaware Genealogy Links

·         Delaware Resources at RootsWeb

·         Family Search (IGI Records for Delaware)

·         Delaware - Histopolis

·Delaware Data Collections - Ancestry.com$

·Delaware Record Search – Family Search.org

·Death Indexes & Records – Delaware

·Delaware Census & Other Records

The following Link will take you to our library of genealogy reference books that pertain to this U.S. State.   Here you will find books about the history and records of this State, as well as its counties and other localities such as towns and churches.   The collection also contains research works about State military units and personnel during America’s wars.  In addition, there are resource texts about the ethnic and religious groups who settled in this State.

Research Library – Table of Contents

Contact Information

Email

Snail Mail:

Fred
889 Dante Ct.
Mantua, NJ 08051

USA

Email

Pony Express:

Tom
6484 Riverstone Dr

Sooke, BC V9Z 0Y7

Canada