More Resources
- Orphans' Court (Delaware Public Archives)A history of the Orphans court.
- Delaware Genealogical Society JournalPublishes transcripts of original records. Published since 1980. The Tables of Contents and indexes are online on the Delaware Genealogical Society website.
Court Records
Court House, Wilmington. A.D. 1881. Conrad, Henry Clay. History of the state of Delaware, v. 2, frontispiece. GoogleBooks.
Special Compilations of Cases
- Delaware Cases, 1792-1830 (Del. Cas.) by"Manuscripts ... printed in these volumes": Hilles' notebook, Wilson's red book, Bayard's notebook, Clayton's notebook, Miller's notebook, Read's notebook, Wells' notebook, Rodney's notebook, Rodney's criminal cases, Stout's criminal cases, Ridgely's notebook, anonymous notebook. Includes index. Cited as Del. Cas. Included in LexisNexis Academic.
- Delaware Chancery Reports (Del. Ch.) byStatements of cases before the Court of Chancery involving the division of property between the heirs of a decedent sometimes provide genealogical details. Not every case if reported; only cases having significance as precedents are printed. Covers 1814-1968. (v.1-43). Volume 4 (1872-73) is missing and is available on microfiche. Also in LexisNexis Academic; source: "DE Court of Chancery Cases from 1814." Cited as Del. Ch.
- Delaware Reports ( Del.)Reports of cases argued and adjudged in the Superior Court and the Supreme Court.
Other names for these courts: Court of Errors and Appeals, Court of Oyer and Terminer,
Court of General Sessions. Includes the "nominative reports": S.M. Harrington, Houston,
Marvel, Pennewill, Boyce, W.W. Harrington. Cited as Del. Ceased in 1966. Continued by the
Delaware Reporter. Included in LexisNexis Academic. - Orphans' Court Records (microfilm) by14 reels. Covers extant Orphans Court records, 1742-1868 and Chancery Court, 1833-1852.
Reel 8 contains an index to the Orphans Court records, 1742-1868; reel 9 contains an
index to the Guardian Accounts, 1803-1869; reels 9-11, contain an index to Chancery Records. Film produced by the Genealogical Society of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. The original Orphans' Court Books are in the Delaware Public Archives. - Reports of Cases Decided in the Court of Oyer and Terminer and the Court of General Sessions of the Peace and Jail Delivery of the State of Delaware (Del. Cr. Cas.) byAlso known as Houston's Criminal Reports. The section of Delaware Reports known by
the name of the court reporter: J.W. Houston.
Colonial
- Court Records of Kent County, Delaware, 1680-1705 bySeries: American Legal Records, v. 8.
- Records of the Court of New Castle on Delaware byContents: I. 1676-1681. II. 1681-1699. Provides extracts of many of the oldest original records of New Castle County, as found in the court minutes of the Government of The Three Lower Counties on Delaware. Records include criminal and civil suits, lists of tithables, records of indenture, contents of estates, wills, deeds, land records, probates and more. Each volume contains a complete name index to its contents. Based on photocopies of original records.
- Orphans' Court Records (microfilm) by11 reels. Covers extant Orphans Court records, 1742-1868. Reel 8 contains an index to the Orphans Court records, 1742-1868. The original Orphans' Court Books are in the holdings of the Delaware Public Archives.
- Records of Sussex County: Court Records, 1680-1699 (microfilm)Also known as Deale-Sussex County Court Records, 1680-1699. Filmed from originals at Delaware Public Archives.
- Some Records of Sussex County, Delaware byIncludes civil, court, church, and Bible records, such as land grants, civil suits, wills, administrations, and marriage records. Also included are vestry records of St. Peter's church for the early 1800's. Some Kent County records are included. Dates of coverage vary; most cover 1600s to 1775. The Index is available online. Available online through Hathi Trust.
Genealogy Resources at the University of Delaware Library
Although not aimed at genealogy and family history, the collections of the University of Delaware Library (Morris Library) include materials useful to genealogists and family historians.
This Genealogy Research Guide is provided as a service for genealogists. It presents topics and resources to assist researchers.
The UD Library does not specialize in genealogy and does not have staff responsible for genealogy. Library staff cannot conduct research.
For questions about library resources and holdings, use the Ask the Library service.
For questions about getting research assistance, see the suggestions on the home page of this guide or on the topic/resources pages.