Delaware Obituaries

Delaware’s newspapers go back to the 1760s, but much of the state’s historic press is still on microfilm. The Delaware Public Archives and the Wilmington Library are the main places to find older obituaries.

Recent Delaware obituaries (2000 to today)

Most obituaries published since about 2000 are online. Daily papers post paid death notices and family-written obituaries in an Obituaries section, usually hosted by Legacy.com, and keep them online with a guest book. The largest daily papers in Delaware are:

• The News Journal (Wilmington)
• Delaware State News (Dover)
• Cape Gazette (Lewes)

Legacy.com’s Delaware page searches the obituaries of most of these papers and many smaller ones at once. Funeral homes also post obituaries on their own websites, often before the newspaper does and sometimes instead of it: search the person’s name with the town and “obituary” or “funeral home.” For obituaries no longer online, ask your public or state library: many offer NewsBank or ProQuest databases with the full text of recent newspapers, free with a library card.

Delaware obituaries in historic newspapers

Wilmington had a newspaper by the 1760s, and through the 1800s the city’s papers, along with weeklies in Dover, Georgetown and smaller towns, reported deaths for the whole state. Because Delaware is small, its residents also appear in Philadelphia, Baltimore and Eastern Shore Maryland papers, which are often better digitized.

Delaware began statewide death registration relatively late, so newspaper notices, church records and cemetery inscriptions carry much of the load for 1800s deaths. Rural notices are short, but they often name the farm or hundred where the person lived, which helps tell families of the same name apart.

The Wilmington Library holds local newspapers on microfilm back to 1871 and will search them for obituaries on request. The Delaware Public Archives in Dover keeps newspaper microfilm along with state death records.

Where to find older Delaware obituaries

Digitized Delaware newspapers

• Delaware newspapers on Chronicling America — Free Delaware titles digitized for the Library of Congress.
• Digital Collections, University of Delaware Library — UD's digitized collections, including Delaware newspapers and local history.

Archives and libraries

• Delaware Public Archives: vital records — Delaware death records more than 40 years old, with research help in Dover.
• Wilmington Public Library — Wilmington newspapers on microfilm; ask the library about its obituary lookup service.
• University of Delaware Library — Delaware newspaper microfilm and special collections in Newark.
• Delaware Newspapers, FamilySearch Research Wiki — Volunteer-maintained guide to Delaware newspaper archives, indexes and microfilm, with local links.

Also search the nationwide archives: Chronicling America, FamilySearch, Find a Grave, Newspapers.com. See all nationwide obituary resources.

Delaware death records

The Office of Vital Statistics issues certified death certificates to family and others with a legal interest. Delaware death records more than 40 years old are transferred to the Delaware Public Archives, where they are open for research.

• Delaware Office of Vital Statistics — the office that issues Delaware death certificates, with ordering instructions and fees.
• Where to Write for Vital Records: Delaware — the CDC’s summary of where to order, current fees and which years the office holds.
• Delaware Vital Records, FamilySearch Research Wiki — free death indexes and certificate collections, with the years each covers.

Tips for finding an obituary in Delaware

• Search Philadelphia papers too. Northern Delaware families often had notices in Philadelphia papers.
• Use the 40-year rule. Older Delaware death records are at the Delaware Public Archives, where anyone can research them.
• Try the county paper downstate. In Kent and Sussex counties, weeklies carried most death notices.
• Look beyond the word “obituary.” Older papers reported deaths under headings like “Died,” “Deaths,” local news and personals columns, funeral notices and cards of thanks, and often listed married women under the husband’s name (“Mrs. John Smith”). See death notices vs. obituaries.

Common questions