[The following letter was sent in response to our sending an e-mail request
to the Delaware State Archives. Many thanks to them! PHL ]
"The Delaware Public Archives has many poorhouse records for each of
Delaware's three counties, especially for Kent County. The poorhouse was
usually referred to as the almshouse in Delaware. The following are some of
the more important records that we have:
New Castle County:
Minute Books, 1791-1933.
Admittance and Discharge Record Books, 1822-1868.
Kent County:
Accounts, 1797-1933.
Apprentice Indentures, 1793-1914.
Burial Records, 1809-1933.
Register of Births and Deaths in the Almshouse, 1851-1901.
Paupers Books, 1800-1933.
Bastardy Bonds, 1803-1924.
Proceedings of the Trustees of the Poor, 1791-1934.
Sussex County:
Proceedings of the Trustees of the Poor, 1850-1925.
Paupers Lists, 1847-1923.
Bastardy Bonds, 1845-1919.
Account Books, 1791-1933.
Accounts, 1786-1933.
We are hoping to have descriptions of all the records in our collections
put on our web site within the next year. Also, currently we have volunteers
abstracting birth and death information from our almshouse records. At some
point that database will also be put on the web. Stay tuned!"
