Source Information

Ancestry.com. Delaware, U.S., Marriage Records, 1806-1933 [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., Marriage Records, 1806-1933

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 marriage 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 marriage records dating from before the 1913 state mandate. These have been taken from a variety of sources such as marriage bonds, church and Bible records, and newspaper notices.

This database contains marriage records from Delaware from 1806 to 1933. However, there are some records that extend up to 1935. These come from records available on microfilm at the Delaware Public Archives. Information listed in a marriage record generally includes:

  • Names of spouses
  • Gender
  • Age
  • Birth date
  • Parents’ names
  • Marriage date
  • Marriage place