Source Information

Ancestry.com. Delaware, U.S., Death Records, 1861-1933 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010.
Original data: Delaware. Delaware Vital Records. Microfilm. Delaware Public Archives, Dover.

About Delaware, U.S., Death Records, 1861-1933

The keeping of vital records – births, marriages, and deaths – has been required by the state of Delaware since 1913, at which time the Office of Vital Statistics was created. Law states that Delaware death records become public after 40 years. In other words, as of 2010, records dating from 1970 and earlier are open to the public. Once a record is old enough to become public it is transferred from the Office of Vital Statistics to the Delaware Public Archives. The Delaware Public Archives also holds earlier death records dating from before the 1913 state mandate. These have been taken from a variety of sources such as church and Bible records, and newspaper notices.

This database contains death records from Delaware from 1811-1933. These come from records available on microfilm at the Delaware Public Archives. Information listed in a death record generally includes:

  • Name of deceased
  • Gender
  • Age
  • Death date
  • Birth date
  • Spouse’s name
  • Parents’ names