New Castle County, Delaware Genealogy

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Guide to New Castle County, Delaware ancestry, genealogy and family history, birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, family history, and military records.

County Facts
County seat: Wilmington
Organized: August 8, 1673
Parent County(s): New Amistel
Neighboring Counties
Cecil (MD)  • Chester (PA)  • Delaware (PA)  • Kent  • Kent (MD)  • Gloucester (NJ)  • Salem (NJ)
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County Information[edit | edit source]

Description[edit | edit source]

The county was named for the English city of Newcastle. The county seat is Wilmington and the county was created August 8, 1637. New Castle County is located in the north area of the state and was previously known as New Amistel County. The name changed by 31 December 1674 to New Castle.[1]

County Courthouse[edit | edit source]

New Castle Courthouse
Leonard L. Williams Justice Center
500 North King Street
Wilmington, DE 19801
Phone: 302-255-0544
New Castle County Courthouse

Clerk of Peace has marriage records from 1911.
The Prothonotary has divorce and court records.
Register of Wills has probate records.
Recorder of Deeds has land records.
Most records of the older county records have been transferred to the Delaware Public Archives. [2]

New Castle County, Delaware Record Dates[edit | edit source]

Information for this chart was taken from various sources, often containing conflicting dates. This information should be taken as a guide and should be verified by contacting the county and/or the state government agency.

Known Beginning Dates for Major Records[3]
Birth* Marriage Death* Court Land Probate Census
abt 1861 1744 1919 1676 1671 1680 1782
*Statewide registration was 1861-1863, then reinacted in 1881. General compliance by 1921.

Record Loss[edit | edit source]

  • The British army confiscated many county records during the Revolutionary War. Most were eventually returned, but some were never recovered.[4]
  • For suggestions about research in places that suffered historic record losses, see:

Boundary Changes[edit | edit source]

Populated Places[edit | edit source]

For a complete list of populated places, including small neighborhoods and suburbs, visit Hometown Locator. The following are the most historically and genealogically relevant populated places in this county:[6]

Cities
Towns
Villages
Unincorporated communities
Census-designated places


History Timeline[edit | edit source]

1638 Swedes and Finns settle at Fort Christiana (now Wilmington).[7][8] They eventually spread as far north as Philadelphia. See New Sweden Genealogy wiki article for more details.
1651 Dutch build Fort Casimir and Sandhook (now New Castle City).[9][10][11] See New Netherland Genealogy article for details.
1654 New Sweden captures Fort Casimir without a fight. It is renamed Fort Trinity (Trefaldighets).
1655 New Netherland returns a large army and forces all of New Sweden to submit to Dutch rule.
1664 As part of the Second Anglo-Dutch War New Netherland is surrendered to England.
1673 A new war breaks out. The Dutch send a huge armada to recapture New Netherland, but at the end of 1674 it is finally ceded to England.[12] Nieuw Amstel is renamed New Castle after the English take control.

Resources[edit | edit source]

Bible Records[edit | edit source]

Biographies[edit | edit source]

Business, Commerce, and Occupations[edit | edit source]

Cemeteries[edit | edit source]

Cemeteries of New Castle, Delaware online and in print
Tombstone Transcriptions Online
Tombstone Transcriptions in Print (Often more complete)
List of Cemeteries in the County
See Delaware Cemeteries for more information

Census Records[edit | edit source]

For tips on accessing census records online, see: Delaware Census.

Historical populations
Census Pop. %±
1790 19,688 —
1800 25,361 28.8%
1810 24,429 −3.7%
1820 27,899 14.2%
1830 29,720 6.5%
1840 33,120 11.4%
1850 42,780 29.2%
1860 54,797 28.1%
1870 63,515 15.9%
1880 77,716 22.4%
1890 97,182 25.0%
1900 109,697 12.9%
1910 123,188 12.3%
1920 148,239 20.3%
1930 161,032 8.6%
1940 179,562 11.5%
1950 218,879 21.9%
1960 307,446 40.5%
1970 385,856 25.5%
1980 398,115 3.2%
1990 441,946 11.0%
2000 500,265 13.2%
2010 538,479 7.6%
Source: "Wikipedia.org".

Church Records[edit | edit source]

Contains church records of:

  • Wilmington: Central Presbyterian Church; First Presbyterian Church; Holy Trinity Church; St. Andrew's Episcopal Church
  • Swedes Church
  • Christina Parish was located in what is now Wilmington. A 1754 membership list is preserved in Archivum Americanum at the Consistory Court of the Archbishop of Upsal in Sweden. A copy is held at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania.[13]

List of Churches and Church Parishes

Court Records[edit | edit source]

Online Court Indexes and Records
Synopsis of Delaware Courts

Directories[edit | edit source]

Emigration and Immigration[edit | edit source]

Large numbers of Scotch-Irish immigrants who settled in Chester (PA), probably arrived at the port of New Castle in the early 1700s.[14]

Ethnic, Political, and Religious Groups[edit | edit source]

Funeral Homes[edit | edit source]

Genealogies[edit | edit source]

Guardianship[edit | edit source]

Land and Property Records[edit | edit source]

Local Histories[edit | edit source]

Online County Histories

Maps and Gazetteers[edit | edit source]

KentKent County, MarylandCecil County, MarylandChester County, PennsylvaniaDelaware County, PennsylvaniaGloucester County, New JerseySalem County, New JerseyDE NEW CASTLE.PNG
Click a neighboring county
for more resources



Migration[edit | edit source]

Military Records[edit | edit source]

American Revolution

  • A Census of Pensioners for Revolutionary or Military Services: With their Names, Ages, and Places of Residence, as Returned by the Marshalls of the Several Judicial Districts, Under the Act for Taking the Sixth Census]. 1841. Digital version at Google Books. 1967 reprint: FHL Collection 973 X2pc 1840. [See Delaware, New Castle County on page 126.]

Civil War

Regiments. Civil War service men from New Castle County served in various regiments. Men often joined a company (within a regiment) that originated in their county. Listed below are companies that were specifically formed in New Castle County.

- Nield's Independent Battery, Delaware Light Artillery (Union)

World War I

World War II

Naturalization and Citizenship[edit | edit source]

Online Naturalization Indexes and Records

Delaware Public Archives has placed the New Castle County Naturalizations Original petitions and other legal documents of immigrants wishing to become American citizens on-line. There is an alphabetical listing of the names and dates.The date listed reflects the year of the file and may vary from the document displayed. The file for each individual may contain more documentation.

Newspapers[edit | edit source]

Obituaries[edit | edit source]

Other Records[edit | edit source]

Periodicals[edit | edit source]

Probate Records[edit | edit source]

Online Probate Indexes and Records

  • A Calendar of Delaware Wills, New Castle County, 1682-1800. New York, NY: National Society of the Colonial Dames of America, 1911; Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogical Publishing Company, 1969. (Family History Library book 975.11 S2n.)

School Records[edit | edit source]

Social Security Records[edit | edit source]

Tax Records[edit | edit source]

Online Tax Indexes and Records

  • Dickson, Taylor L. and P.S.P. Conner. "Some Data Concerning the Taking of Wolves in New Castle County in 1676, and a Reprint of the Taxables of that Year," Publications of the Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania, Vol. 1, No. 1 (Jan. 1895):29-34. For free online access, see WeRelate.

Vital Records[edit | edit source]

Birth[edit | edit source]

Marriage[edit | edit source]

Death[edit | edit source]

Divorce[edit | edit source]

Research Facilities[edit | edit source]

Archives[edit | edit source]

Listed below are archives in New Castle County. For state-wide facilities, see Delaware Archives and Libraries.

Family History Centers[edit | edit source]

Family History Center and Affiliate Library Locator map - search for local Family History Centers or Affiliate Libraries

  • Family History Centers provide one-on-one assistance, free access to center-only databases, and to premium genealogical websites.
  • FamilySearch Affiliate Libraries have access to most center-only databases, but may not always have full services normally provided by a family history center.

Local Centers and Affiliate Libraries

Libraries[edit | edit source]

Listed below are libraries in New Castle County. For state-wide library facilities, see Delaware Archives and Libraries.

Museums[edit | edit source]

Societies[edit | edit source]

Listed below are societies in New Castle County. For state-wide genealogical and historical societies, see Delaware Societies.

Websites[edit | edit source]

Research Guides[edit | edit source]

References[edit | edit source]

  1. ↑ Wikipedia contributors, "New Castle County," in Wikipedia: the Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Castle_County,_Delaware 04/27/2017.
  2. ↑ Handybook for Genealogists: United States of America, 10th ed. (Draper, Utah: Everton Pub., 2002), New Castle, Delaware Page 121 At various libraries (WorldCat); FHL Book 973 D27e 2002.
  3. ↑ Handybook for Genealogists: United States of America, 10th ed. (Draper, Utah: Everton Pub., 2002), New Castle County, Delaware. Page 121 At various libraries (WorldCat); FHL Book 973 D27e 2002; Alice Eichholz, ed. Ancestry’s Red Book: American State, County, and Town Sources, Third ed. (Provo, Utah: Ancestry, 2004), 118.
  4. ↑ Hancock, Harold. "Delaware's Captured Colonial Records." Delaware History Vol. 9, No. 4 (October 1961).
  5. ↑ The Handybook for Genealogists: United States of America,10th ed. (Draper, UT:Everton Publishers, 2002).
  6. ↑ Wikipedia contributors, "New Castle County," in Wikipedia: the Free Encyclopedia,https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Castle_County,_Delaware, accessed 24 October 2018.
  7. ↑ Amandus Johnson, "Detailed Map of New Sweden 1638-1655" in Amandus Johnson's book The Swedes on the Delaware 1638-1664 (Philadelphia: Swedish Colonial Society, 1915), 392.
  8. ↑ John A. Munroe, Colonial Delaware: A History] (Millwood, N.Y.:KTO Press, 1978) [FHL book 975.1 H2mu], 16-18. “From there they proceeded according to instructions up the Delaware and into the Christina River, the Minquas Kill to the Dutch. Here, after reconnoitering the stream, Minuit met with Indians and purchased lands from Duck Creek (the southern boundary of New Castle County) to the Schuylkill. Here too a site was picked for a settlement that was called Fort Christina. It was at the Rocks, ‘a wharf of stone’ on the Christina about two miles from the Delaware River and above the junction of the Christina and its main tributary, the Brandywine, on the east side of the present city of Wilmington.”
  9. ↑ Johnson, Detailed Map.
  10. ↑ "Fort Casimir" in Wikipedia: the Free Encyclopedia at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Casimir accessed 7 November 2008).
  11. ↑ Philip S. Klein, and Ari Hoogenboom, "A History of Pennsylvania, 2nd ed." (University Park, Penn.: Penn State Press, 1980; digitized by Google at http://books.google.com/books?id=AB24rFZOmzcC), 11.
  12. ↑ "New Netherland" in Wikipedia: the Free Encyclopedia at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_netherland accessed 13 December 2008).
  13. ↑ Charles J. Stillé, "Archivum Americanum in the Consistory Court of the Archbishop of Upsal," The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, Vol. 15 (1891):482, 484-485. For free online access, see WeRelate.
  14. ↑ Wayland F. Dunaway, The Scotch-Irish of Colonial Pennsylvania (Chapel Hill, N.C.: The University of North Carolina Press, 1944), 51. Free digital version at PA's Past: Digital Bookshelf at Penn State.



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