Document Exhibits

BECOMING THE FIRST STATE – DELAWARE’S ROAD TO RATIFICATION

• John Dickinson’s Report from the Annapolis Convention (Sept. 14, 1786)
• Sussex County Petition for Paper Currency (circa 1787)
• Act of the Delaware House of Assembly to nominate and elect Deputies to attend the Constitutional Convention (February 3, 1787)
• Letter from Charles Thomson stating support of Continental Congress for a Constitutional Convention (February 21, 1787)
• Letter from Charles Thomson, Secretary of Congress, containing the report (the United States Constitution) from the Convention “lately assembled in Philadelphia.” (September 28, 1787)
• A Petition to the Delaware General Assembly in support of the ratification of the Constitution (October 24, 1787)
• A Petition to the Delaware General Assembly in support of establishing the Nation’s Capital in Delaware (October 24, 1787)
• Delaware House of Assembly Resolution calling for the election of delegates to Delaware’s Constitutional Ratification Convention (November 7, 1787)
• Ratification Document (December 7, 1787)
• Receipt for Expenses at the Ratification Convention (December 7, 1787)
• Receipt for Expenses at the Ratification Convention (December 7, 1787)
• Auditor of Accounts Waste Book noting state government expenses for the Ratification Convention (December 7, 1787)
• Letter from Charles Thomson, Secretary of Congress, announcing an Act of the United States Congress to put the operation of the ratified Constitution into operation (September 13, 1788)
• Act of Congress to establish Government under the new Constitution (September 13, 1788)
• George Read, Delaware Delegate to the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia
• Gunning Bedford Jr., Delaware Delegate to the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia
• John Dickinson, Delaware Delegate to the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia
• Richard Bassett, Delaware Delegate to the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia
• Jacob Broom, Delaware Delegate to the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia

EXAMINING THE 17th CENTURY THROUGH THE DOCUMENTS OF THE DELAWARE PUBLIC ARCHIVES

• Chronology
• Background – Native American Period
• Background – Dutch and Swedes Period
• Background – Duke of York Period
• Background – William Penn Period
• Bibliography
• Document Index

DELAWARE TURNPIKE SCRAPBOOKS

• Delaware Turnpike Scrapbooks, 1963-1988

JOSEPH BARKER’S NEGRO LEDGER BOOK, 1801-1811

• Joseph Barker was a general merchant whose store and home was located at Barkers Landing on the St. Jones River in Murkerkill Hundred. Titled by Barker as his “Negro Ledger A”, the volume contains entries for purchases made by his African-American customers. Each entry notes the name of customer, date of purchase, items purchased, cost for each item, date and amount paid, and how paid. Often bills were paid with grain, other items, or labor

CIVIL WAR RECORDS

• Resources related to Delaware’s involvement in the American Civil War.

WORLD WAR II MEMORIAL VOLUME

• World War II Memoriam

CORONER’S REPORTS

• Record of a county coroner’s investigations into the manner and cause of a death where a person died under circumstances that were violent, unnatural, or unknown.

KENT COUNTY PAUPER BOOKS

• The Kent County Paupers Books are registers of the sick and poor inmates of the county almshouse, 1811 to 1933. Most of the books were done annually and arranged by hundred or district. For each hundred there are separate lists by gender and race. The Pauper Books include the name of the inmate, dates admitted and discharged, age, sex, race, disease or reason for admission, date of death, and birth date for infants born in the almshouse.

DELAWARE LAWS OF 1829

• In 1829 the African-American population of Delaware was comprised of 15,855 free negroes, and 3,292 slaves. The laws of the State of Delaware for this period reflect the morality of the time.

NEW CASTLE COUNTY NATURALIZATIONS

• New Castle County Naturalizations Original petitions and other legal documents of immigrants wishing to become American citizens. The date listed in the title reflects the year of the file and may vary from the document displayed. The file for each individual may contain more documentation.

LEGISLATIVE PETITIONS

• Petition files contain formal applications to the General Assembly requesting specific action on stated issues. Petitions were generally passed on to committees specially appointed for investigation and reporting on the issue.

LEGISLATIVE ROSTERS

• Annual rosters created by the Delaware State Chamber of Commerce provides names and addresses of the Delaware General Assembly, the Congressional delegation, and state and local government leaders. Also included are an introduction to State Chamber lobbyists, listings of Senate and House committees and their members, district maps, and voter registration information. Rosters are typically updated every other year following elections. Legislative Rosters are a part of the Delaware Public Archives Pamphlet Collection.

OATHS OF ALLEGIANCE

• Oaths of Allegiance or declarations of fidelity were sworn to the new nation or to the State of Delaware as required by state legislation in 1778. Shown on these documents are the oath taken, name of person sworn before, date of swearing, and signature of person taking the oath. Included are the oaths of New Jersey residents administered by Caesar Rodney at Trenton (Feb. 1777) and a transcript of the legislation requiring the oaths.

SLAVERY PAPERS

• Legal documents related to the treatment of slaves living in the State of Delaware.

REVEREND JOSEPH BROWN TURNER COLLECTION

• Reverend Turner’s Collection of genealogical notes and correspondence concerning about three thousand Delmarva Peninsula families.

STATE MAP COLLECTION

• Part of the reference collection of maps of Delaware and the surrounding areas from 1688 â?” 1976. These maps, which are among the smallest in the collection, capture waterways, cities, towns, utility service, infrastructure, and geological information. To view the entire collection, please visit the Delaware Public Archives.

STATE REPORTS COLLECTION

• Educational Directories are annual directories of Delaware educational personnel, 1909-2008. The directories include the names and positions of the Board of Education members and Department of Public Instruction/Department of Education administrators and support staff. In the early directories, each public school district name and number is listed with the names of local school board members, teachers, and the grades or subjects that they taught. Beginning with the 1971-1972 directory, private schools and colleges are included. Starting in the 1974-1975 directory, only the school principals and selected administrators are listed.
• State Manuals include lists of elected and appointed state and local government officials. Though varying from year to year in content, many of the manuals provide salaries, term expiration dates, and geographic information. The later editions include information about Delaware including the state seal, flower, song, bird and other state facts. Photos and biographies of high-level officials are available in later editions as well. While the bulk of the collection spans the mid-20th century, the earliest state manual is from 1898.
• The Sussex County Voter Register is a 1929 list of registered voters in Sussex County arranged by voting district. The Voter Register includes name, age, town of residence, nation or state of origin, and length of residence in the state, county, and voting district.

VIETNAM MAILBAG

• Vietnam Mailbag is a collection of correspondence, newspaper clippings, and photographs compiled by Nancy E. Lynch for her “Vietnam Mailbag” column in the Wilmington Morning News. Correspondence includes nearly nine hundred letters from Delaware soldiers in Vietnam, describing their viewpoints on the war, life in Vietnam, and the home front. These records were used in Lynchâ??s book, Vietnam Mailbag: Voices from the War, 1968-1972.