Delaware County, Pennsylvania Genealogy

United States Pennsylvania Delaware County
 * This article is about a county of southeast Pennsylvania. For other uses, see Delaware (disambiguation)

Historical Facts

 * Parent Counties: Formed from Chester County 26 September 1789.
 * County Seat: Media
 * Neighboring Counties: residents may also have records in Montgomery (north) • Chester (west) • York (south) • Philadelphia (east) • New Castle County, Delaware (southwest)  • Gloucester County, New Jersey (south)


 * Named for the Delaware River
 * The County seat prior to 1851 was Chester City and it was county seat for Chester County, too.
 * Since 1851, the county seat has been Media.

1641: Swedes and Finns spreading north from Fort Christina (present-day Wlimington, Delaware) first settle in Finland (Chamassungh), now Trainer, Pennsylvania  and Upland (Meckopenacka), now Chester, Pennsylvania. The New Sweden Colony continues to expand northward with new settlements as far as Philadelphia in the following years.

1651-1655: The New Netherland Colony builds Fort Casimir  (now New Castle, Delaware), settle Sandhook,   and abandon Fort Beversrede (now Philadelphia) in 1651. In 1654 New Sweden captures Fort Casimir from the Dutch without a fight and renames it Fort Trinty (Trefaldighets). In 1655 New Netherland returns with a large army and all of New Sweden in presend-day Pennsylvania, Delaware, and New Jersey submits to Dutch rule.

1664: As part of the Second Anglo-Dutch War New Netherland including southeast Pennsylvania is surrendered to the English.

1673-1674: A new war breaks out and the Dutch send a large armada to retake New Netherland for a few months. But as the war ends the colony is ceeded to England for the last time.

1680s: William Penn founded the English colony of Pennsylvania after receiving a grant in 1681 from the king of England. His colony offered religious freedom, liberal government, and inexpensive land. Quakers established the city of Philadelphia.

Cemeteries
Cemetery records often reveal birth, marriage, death, relationship, military, and religious information.

Har Jehuda Cemetery, Upper Darby BillionGraves Mount Moriah Cemetery, Philadelphia/Yeadon BillionGraves

Census

 * 1671 Transcription and Index

County-wide Database - Multi-denominational



 * 1708-1985 - Pennsylvania, Church and Town Records, 1708-1985 at Historical Society of Pennsylvania – $, free to members of the society; Also available at Ancestry.com – $; 7,542,774 entries. This database is incomplete for all counties.

Cyndie Enfinger has compiled a detailed list of Delaware County, Pennsylvania churches at PAGenWeb - free.

Episcopalian
St. David's Church, Radnor

Communion lists begin in 1722, baptisms in 1727, marriages and burials in 1800.

St. John's Church, Concord

Early registers are lost.

St. Paul's Church, Chester

Registers begin in 1704.


 * 1704-1733 - Marriage Record of St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Chester, 1704-1733 (Pennsylvania Archives, Series 2, Vol. 8, Part 5) at Ancestry ($); Google Books - free.

St. Martin's Church, Marcus Hook

Vestry books begin in 1724.

Gazetteers
United States Geographic Survey Place Names - GNIS for Delaware County (over 1500) (may not always be present in alphabetic order on first try.)

Land and Property
Land records in Delaware County began in 1770. These records are filed with the Recorder of Deeds office in Media, Pennsylvania.

Land and property records can place an ancestor in a particular location, provide economic information, and reveal family relationships. Land records include: deeds, abstracts, indexes, mortgages, leases, grants, sheriff sales, land patents, and maps. Property records include liens as well as livestock brands and estray records.

The following are examples of available resources:

Online Land Records


 * 1982–present Delaware County offers online access to records. Fees apply.

Land Records on Microfilm


 * 1770–1914 Deeds, 1770-1866; Deed Index, 1789-1914.
 * 1789–1912 Mortgages, 1789-1825; Index to Mortgages, 1789-1912.

Additional Resources

Note that the "Maps" section below includes maps related to land ownership.

See Pennsylvania Land and Property for more information about using land records, especially about original land warrants, surveys, and patents filed at the state land office.

Additional resources can sometimes be found using search phrases such as Delaware County Pennsylvania Land in online catalogs such as:


 * Historical Society of Pennsylvania
 * WorldCat (For instructions see WorldCat Online Catalog.)
 * (For instructions see FHL Catalog Place-name Search.)

Maps
Click the image to view an enlarged version

Ancestor Tracks has posted free downloadable image from the 1880 Atlas of Delaware County, Pennsylvania by Benjamin H. Smith. This atlas located in the Library of Congress shows major landowners and geographic sites at the date of publishing. While the physical maps are in the public domain, the images we have taken of the maps belong to us and are not to be used commercially. We hereby give permission to use them strictly for personal use; please attribute to Ancestor Tracks.

Revolutionary War
Men in what is now Delaware County (then Chester County) served in the 5th Pennsylvania Regiment.

Newspapers
Newspapers of Delaware County


 * Pennsylvania Newspapers
 * Chronicling America US Newspaper Directory

Online Newspapers

To learn if there are newspapers online for a specific town or city in Pennsylvania, see news.google.com/newspapers and search for the town or the name of a newspaper.


 * The Newspaper Archives of Delaware County Library

Online Newspaper Abstracts


 * PA-Roots Newspaper Articles for Delaware County.

Obituaries
Obituaries are generally found in local newspapers where the person died. However, sometimes an obituary is found in the location from which he or she originated. To find an obituary, see the information under the Newspaper heading

Online Obituary Abstracts


 * PA-Roots Obituaries for Delaware County.

Probate Records
Online Probate Records

Many original Delaware County probate records are available free online as digital images at:


 * 1789-1973 - at FamilySearch.org - free. Includes  Wills and Administration Record Index (1789-1973), Will Books A-U (1789-1908); Letters of Administration Vols. 1-4 (1789-1917); Orphans' Court Docket Index (1789-1865), Orphans' Court Dockets Vols. A-J (1790-1882); Recognizance Book (1835-1888).

Probate records can be found at the Delaware County Archives.


 * Administrations - 1790-1935 - online index
 * Wills - 1789-1935. - online index

Archives
Delaware County Archives 340 North Middletown Rd Building 19 Lima PA 19063

Mailing Address: 201 West Front Street Media PA 19063

Email: archives@co.delaware.pa.us

The archives has will administrations 1790-1935; county home records 1806-1929; birth 1852-1906; marriage records 1852-1854 and 1885-1940; death records 1852-1854 and 1893-1906; court records 1790-1929; veterans' graves registration 1775-2010; prison records 1873-1917; naturalization records 1795-1990; wills 1789-1935; and more.

Courthouse
Delaware County Courthouse The Courthouse and Government Center Complex 201 West Front Street Media, PA 19063 Telephone: (610)-891-4000 Office hoursL 8:30 a.m to 4:30 p.m.

Offices of County are found in the Departments link on any og the pages. Departments of interest to geanealogists include:


 * Recorder of Deeds - The Recorder of Deeds processes and preserves records relating to real property dating back to 1789. All records are preserved on microfilm.
 * Register of Wills and Clerk of Orphans' Court Division - The Register of Wills is responsible for matters relating to probate and the Orphans Court maintains the records of marriages.
 * Treasurers Office - Tax records are here.

Family History Centers
Family History Centers (FHCs) are branches of the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah, and are located all over the world. Their goal is to provide resources for family history research.


 * Introduction to LDS Family History Centers
 * Valley Forge Pennsylvania Family History Center (Broomall)

Museums

 * Christian C. Sanderson Museum P.O. Box 153 1755 Creek Road (Old Route 100) Chadds Ford, PA 19317 PHONE: 610-388-6545 Email: info@sandersonmuseum.org The museum also has a family name index "for stories to augment your genealogy research." Founded in 1732. Has Research facilities.


 * Pennsylvania Veterans Museum Media Armory 12 East State Street Media, PA 19063 Phone: 610-566-0788 Education is the main focus. It is also creating a living history database.

Societies
Delaware County Historical Society 408 Ave. of the States Chester, PA 19013 Telephone: (610) 359-0826 Hours: Wednesday 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.; Thursday 1:00 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.; Friday 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.; Saturday 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Parking: Free parking is on the DCHS lot behind the building off 4th Street or in the municipal lot across 4th Street.

The Delaware County Historical Society has been collecting and preserving items of the county's history. The research library contains an extensive collection of Bible, birth, burial, census, church, court, genealogical, land and marriage records, as well as maps, newspapers, telephone books, city directories, and yearbooks. The museum hosts four exhibits a year.

Taxation

 * 1798 - Pennsylvania, U.S. Direct Tax Lists, 1798 at Ancestry ($).

Vital Records
For birth and death records prior to 1906 contact:

Delaware County Archives 340 North Middletown Rd Building 19 Lima PA 19063

Mailing Address: 201 West Front Street Media PA 19063 Birth and Death Records (610) 891-5620 Marriage Records (610) 891-4403 Divorce Records (610) 891-4370 archives@co.delaware.pa.us Hours: Tues, Wed, Thurs 8:00 am - 3:00 pm

County-wide Database

 * 1700-1821 – Pennsylvania Marriage Records Ancestry.com – ($) This database is incomplete for all counties.


 * Pre-1810 – Pennsylvania Marriages Ancestry.com – ($) This database is incomplete for all counties. It includes 35,000 marriage records from volume VIII of the second series of the Pennsylvania Archives.

Birth
The following records are available at the Delaware County Archives:


 * 1852-1854 Birth Records, online index
 * 1893-1906 Birth Records, online index
 * 1889-1906 Chester Birth Records, online index


 * 1893-1896 - - free index. Not complete for all years.
 * 1852-1854 – Pennsylvania Births Ancestry.com – ($) Index with images.

Marriage
The following records are available at the Delaware County Archives:


 * 1852-1854 Marriage Records, online index
 * 1885-1940 Marriage Records, online index


 * 1887-1907 - - free index. Not complete for all years.

Divorce
Divorce records are handled by the office of the Prothonotary. While no on-line indexes or records are available, records may be obtained by visiting or writing to the Prothonotary at:

Delaware County Courthouse 201 West Front Street Media PA 19063


 * 1927 to present Divorce Records

Death
The following records are available at the Delaware County Archives:


 * 1852-1854 Death Records, online index
 * 1893-1906 Death Records, online index


 * 1852-1854 – Pennsylvania Deaths Ancestry.com – ($) Index with images.

Yearbooks

 * Swathmore College: 1883-1956 (Online at the Internet Archive)

Web Sites

 * The Delaware County PAGenWeb Project, an member of The PAGenWeb Project, an affiliate of The USGenWeb Project.

Populated Places

 * City: Chester
 * Boroughs: Aldan . Brookhaven . Chester Heights . Clifton Heights . Collingdale . Colwyn . Darby . East Lansdowne . Eddystone . Folcroft . Glenolden . Lansdowne . Marcus Hook . Media . Millbourne . Morton . Norwood . Parkside . Prospect Park . Ridley Park . Rose Valley . Rutledge . Sharon Hill . Swarthmore . Trainer . Upland . Yeadon
 * Townships: Aston . Bethel . Chadds Ford . Chester . Concord . Darby . Edgmont . Haverford . Lower Chichester . Marple . Middletown . Nether Providence . Newtown . Radnor . Ridley . Springfield . Thornbury . Tinicum . Upper Chichester . Upper Darby . Upper Providence
 * Communities: Ardmore . Boothwyn . Bortondale . Bowling Green . Broomall . Cheyney . Drexel Hill . Elwyn . Folsom . Garden City . Garnet Valley . Garrett Hill . Glen Mills . Glen Riddle . Gradyville . Haverford . Havertown . Lenni . Lima . Linwood . Moylan . Pine Ridge . Radnor . Riddlewood . Rosemont . Rose Tree . Secane . South Media . St. Davids . Strafford . Villanova . Village Green-Green Ridge . Wallingford . Wawa . Wayne . Woodlyn