Delaware Taxation

State and County Records
Tax assessments in what is now Delaware were first taken in 1693. Family History Library film 441413 has the lists for that year for Kent, New Castle, and Sussex Counties; also a list for 1696 for New Castle County. Tax lists were taken sporadically until 1726, then annually thereafter. Lists for the following years are on microfilm at the Family History Library:

Kent County


 * 1726-1850 Family History Library films 006494-510

New Castle County


 * 1738-1852 Family History Library films 006531-36

Sussex County


 * 1767-1850 Family History Library films 006674-78

The original lists from the 1700s to about 1915 are preserved at the Delaware Public Archives.

Published Lists and Indexes
The following published lists and indexes may be helpful in locating early residents of Delaware:

Bendler, Bruce A. Colonial Delaware Records, 1681- 1713. Westminster, Maryland: Family Line Publications, 1990. This includes lists for: Kent County, rent rolls 1681-1688, tax lists 1693, quit rents 1701-1713; New Castle County, tax lists 1693; Sussex County, rent rolls 1681-1688, tax lists 1693, quit rents 1702-1713. The quit rent records often contain valuable genealogical information.

DeValinger, Leon Jr. Reconstructed 1790 Census of Delaware. Washington, DC: National Genealogical Society, 1962. (Family History Library film 1000156; fiche 6019928.) This list was prepared from tax lists and is a useful census substitute.

The First Tax List for the Province of Pennsylvania and the Three Lower Counties, 1693. Bedminster, Pennsylvania: The Press, 1994. This book contains information for 1693 on the three Delaware counties as well as Philadelphia, Bucks, and Chester Counties in Pennsylvania.

Hancock, Harold B. The Reconstructed Delaware Census of 1782. Wilmington, Delaware: Delaware Genealogical Society, 1973. The publication below by Ralph Nelson is more complete and more fully indexed.

Jackson, Ronald Vern, and Gary Ronald Teeples. Early Delaware Census Records, 1665-1697. Bountiful, Utah: Accelerated Indexing Systems, 1977. This early tax record index is also included in the Accelerated Indexing Systems (AIS) microfiche search 1, available at many Family History Centers in the United States and in the FamilyFinder Index and Viewer (FamilyFinder is a trademark of Brøderbund Software, Inc.)

Nelson, Ralph D. Delaware 1782 Tax Assessment and Census. Wilmington, Delaware: Delaware Genealogical Society, 1994. Contains tax lists for 1782 for all the "hundreds" of Delaware and 1782 census for seven of the "hundreds." This has maps on pages 5-6 and a list of the "hundreds" on p. 4. There is a Soundex cross reference list (to surnames) at the end of the book.

Federal Internal Revenue Records
The following Internal Revenue records are available:

United States. Bureau of Internal Revenue. Internal Revenue Assessment Lists for Delaware, 1862-1866. Washington, DC: National Archives, 1988. (Family History Library films 1578436-43.) These records are not well organized and it is difficult to find out where the records of a particular town are located. There is a note at the beginning of the first film about the history of this type of record; however, it does not show any organization for the towns and counties.