Delaware, Wilmington Vital Records - FamilySearch Historical Records

Collection Time Period
The collection covers the years 1881 to 1954.

Record Description
The records consist of vital records and indexes from Wilmington, New Castle County, Delaware. Some of these records may be duplicated in the New Caslte County registers. The records include:


 * Births (1881-1919
 * Marriages (1881-1954)
 * Deaths (1881-1954)

Record Content
Vital record documents often contain the following information:


 * Name
 * Date of event
 * Place of event
 * Sex and race
 * Age
 * Marital status
 * Maiden name of mother
 * Name of father
 * Parent’s birthplaces
 * Occupation
 * Cause of death
 * Place of residence
 * Place of burial

Delaware death certificates may also include:


 * Name of undertaker
 * Date of burial
 * More place of death information (name of village, hundred, etc)

How to Use the Record
Begin your search by finding your ancestors in the index. Use the locator information in the index (such as page, entry, or certificate number) to locate your ancestors. Some on-line indexes, such as indexes to FamilySearch Historical Records, will take you directly to an image. Compare the information in the record to what you already know about your ancestors to determine if this is the correct person. You may need to compare the information of more than one person to make this determination. Be aware that as with any index, transcription errors may occur.

When you have located your ancestor’s record, carefully evaluate each piece of information about them. These pieces of information may give you new biographical details that can lead you to other records about your ancestors. For example:

■ Use the birth date along with the place of birth to find the family in census records. ■ Use the residence and names of the parents to locate church and land records. ■ The father’s occupation can lead you to employment records or other types of records such as military records. ■ The parent’s birth places can tell you former residences and can help to establish a migration pattern for the family. ■ Use the marriage date and place as the basis for compiling a new family group or for verifying existing information. ■ Use the birth date or age along with the place of birth of each partner to find a couple's birth records and parents' names. ■ Use the birth date or age along with the place of birth to find the family in census records. ■ Use the residence and names of the parents to locate church and land records. ■ Occupations listed can lead you to employment records or other types of records such as military records. ■ Use the parent’s birth places to find former residences and to establish a migration pattern for the family. ■ The name of the officiator is a clue to their religion or area of residence in the county. However, ministers may have reported marriages performed in other counties. ■ Compile the marriage entries for every person who has the same surname as the bride or groom, this is especially helpful in rural areas or if the surname is unusual. ■ Continue to search the marriage records to identify children, siblings, parents, and other relatives of the bride and groom who may have married in the same county or nearby. This can help you identify other generations of your family or even the second marriage of a parent. Repeat this process for each new generation you identify. ■ Use the marriage number to identify previous marriages. ■ When looking for a person who had a common name, look at all the entries for the name before deciding which is correct. It is often helpful to extract the information on all children with the same parents. If the surname is unusual, you may want to compile birth entries for every person of the same surname and sort them into families based on the names of the parents. Continue to search the birth records to identify siblings, parents, and other relatives in the same or other generations who were born in the same county or nearby.

Keep in mind:

■ The information in vital records is usually reliable, but depends upon the reliability of the informant. ■ Earlier records may not contain as much information as the records created after the late 1800s. ■ There is also some variation in the information given from record to record. For a summary of this information see the wiki article: United States, How to Use the Records Summary (FamilySearch Historical Records).

Record History
Statewide registration of births began in 1861, was discontinued in 1863, then resumed in 1881 and was generally complied with by 1921.

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. 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.

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

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

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.

Why This Record Was Created
Birth and deaths were recorded to better serve public health needs.

Counties in Delaware recorded marriages to safeguard the interests of the wife and other legal heirs by documenting marriages and property ownership.

Record Reliability
Vital records are considered to be primary source records. Information in these records is usually reliable, depending on the knowledge of the informant.

Related Wiki Articles
Wilmington Delaware Family History Center

Delaware Vital Records

Related Websites
Delaware Vital Records

Guide to Vital Records

Requesting Vital Records

This section of the article is incomplete. You can help FamilySearch Wiki by supplying links to related websites here.

Citing FamilySearch Historical Collections
When you copy information from a record, you should also list where you found the information. This will help you or others to find the record again. It is also good to keep track of records where you did not find information, including the names of the people you looked for in the records.

A suggested format for keeping track of records that you have searched is found in the Wiki Article: How to Cite FamilySearch Collections

Examples of Source Citations for a Record in This Collection

 * United States. Bureau of the Census. 12th census, 1900, digital images, From FamilySearch Internet (www.familysearch.org: September 29, 2006), Arizona Territory, Maricopa, Township 1, East Gila, Salt River Base and Meridian; sheet 9B, line 71.
 * Mexico, Distrito Federal, Catholic Church Records, 1886-1933, digital images, from FamilySearch Internet (www.familysearch.org: April 22, 2010), Baptism of Adolfo Fernandez Jimenez, 1 Feb. 1910, San Pedro Apóstol, Cuahimalpa, Distrito Federal, Mexico, film number 0227023.

Sources of information for This Collection
Delaware. Wilmington City Vital Records, 1881-1954. Delaware Public Archives. Wilmington, Delaware.