Edward H. Nabb Research Center for Delmarva History & Culture Enduring Connections: Exploring Delmarva's Black History

Source Information

Free Black Families of Colonial Delmarva (abstracted by Paul Heinegg)

Biographical • 104 Records • Uploaded June 17, 2022 • Data Website: www.freeafricanamericans.com

This source, abstracted from original records by Paul Heinegg, compiles the histories of free Black families that lived on the Delmarva Peninsula during the Colonial Era. Many of these families descended through children of unmarried white women, which court and church records recorded as "illegitimate." For this compilation, Heinegg relied on his abstractions of the 1800, 1810, and 1820 censuses, in addition to county court records. Some of the records referenced by Heinegg are captured in sources he helped transcribe, including the 1800-1820 censuses. Abbreviations commonly used in the source include:

DB Deed Book DW Deeds, Wills L.P. Loose papers at the county courthouse MD:, DE:, Federal census records for the state. Page number is for the printed version of the census in 1790 and the microfilm of the original for all other years. MdHR Maryland Hall of Records MSA Maryland State Archives M804, M805 Microfilm copies of the Revolutionary War Pension files at the National Archives Orders Order book for the county court of pleas and quarter sessions OW Orders, Wills W&cO Wills, etc. Orders

View Records

Fields Included

The list below shows the data fields included in this source. If a field is marked as Indexed, it is searchable.

  • State
  • County (Primary)
  • Other Counties
  • Family Name Indexed
  • Family History Notes Indexed
  • Additional Notes Indexed
Download Original Dataset