50 YEARS
BEFORE DELAWARE'S RATIFICATION OF THE U.S. CONSTITUTION
1738
Prince
George's Chapel, original log building (1706) replaced
by a frame building in Dagsboro, Sussex County Delaware.
Named after Prince George, later King George III.
1739
Wilmington
in Delaware, named to founder Thomas Willings, received
royal charter and is renamed Wilmington.
1740
January
18, John Dickinson mansion built in Dover Delaware.
Penman of the American Revolution and wealthy Quaker
tobacco planter.
1742
Flour
mill built by Oliver Canby in Wilmington Delaware on
the Brandywine River.
1743
November
24, Francis Alison's "Free School" founded,
to become the Academy of Newark, the University of Delaware
and Newark College.
1745
Jesuits
of Old Bohemia established a school for boys in Kent
County, Delaware.
1747
Dagsboro in Indian River School District founded in
Sussex County Delaware,
also known as Blackfoot Town, Dagsbury and Dagsborough.
Jesuits
purchased land at Willow Grove near Dover in Kent County,
Delaware.
1752
Jacob
Broom, born in Wilmington, New Castle County Delaware.
Member of the Annapolis Convention and the Constitutional
Convention and signer of the US Constitution.
1754
Outbreak
of the French and Indian War in Delaware.
1755
1706 built Prince George's
Chapel, re-built as an Anglican chapel-of-ease in Dagsboro,
Sussex County, Delaware.
September
13, Oliver Evans inventor, born in Newport, Delaware.
1757
June
30, Prince George's Chapel built and received by the
Worcester Parish of the Church of England in Dagsboro,
Sussex County, Delaware.
1761
First
printing press set up by James Adams in Wilmington Delaware
and first book published The Child's New Play-Thing.
1763
William
Penn hired English scientists Charles Mason and Jeremiah
Dixon to survey the Delaware state bounderies.
1764
William
Penn hired English scientists Charles Mason and Jeremiah
Dixon to survey the Delaware state bounderies.
1765
-Masonic
lodge established in Cantwell's Bridge, Odessa, New
Castle County, Delaware.
1767
Colonel
John Dagworthy, a native of New Jersey became owner
of Dagworthy in Delaware.
1769
November
11, the Academy of Newark in Delaware chartered by the
colonial government.
1771
Jacob
Dingee House built in Wilmington, New Castle County,
Delaware by Jacob Dingee.
1772
Old
Christ Church built by Robert Houston at Broad Creek,
near Laurel and Chipmans mill pond in Sussex County,
Delaware.
1773
Obidiah
Dingee House built by Obidiah Dingee, next to his brother's
house Jacob Dingee, in Wilmington New Castle County,
Delaware.
1775
Pennsylvania took formally possession of Sussex County
in Delaware.
A
law passed in Delaware for an Overseer of the Poor.
June
20, Sussex County Militia organized at Broad Creek,
near Laurel with John Dagworthy as chairman.
1776
Delaware state name derived from Sir Thomas West, Lord
De La Warre or baron De La Warr, governor of Virginia.
Slave
importation outlawed in Delaware by the Constitution.
June
15, Delaware identified as 'The Three Lower Counties;
Kent, New Castle, Sussex' separated from Pennsylvania.
JULY
4, INDEPENDENCE OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
July 4, Caesar Rodney, appointed Speaker of the House
of Representatives of Delaware.
August 30, George Read, appointed president of the Constitutional
Convention of Delaware.
September
20, Delaware's first Constitution adopted.
September
21, City of New Castle on the Delaware River in New
Castle County served as Delaware state capital. Coordinates
39°40'N-75°34'W.
October
29, John McKinly and George Read, appointed presidents
of Delaware (1776-February 21, 1777).
1777
Dover city, seat of Kent County
appointed capital of the state of Delaware, replacing
New Castle. Coordinates 39°10'N 75°32'W.
January
17, Delaware state seal adopted.
February
21, John McKinley appointed president of Delaware (1777-April
2, 1778). Born,
February 24, 1721 in Northern Ireland, died on August
31, 1796 in Wilmington, Delaware.
September,
British army occupied Wilmington, Delaware after winning
the Battle of Brandywine, the capture of John McKinley,
the Delaware state documents and the funds.
September
3, the Battle of Cooch's Bridge near Newark, New Castle
County, Delaware. The only Revolutionary War battle
fought in Delaware.
September
8, Aiken's Tavern in New Castle County Delaware, quarters
of General William Howe.
September
22, Thomas McKean, appointed acting president of Delaware
(1777-October 20, 1777).
October
20, George Read, appointed acting president of Delaware
(1777-April 2, 1778).
1778
The
Cook-Simms House built by William Cook in Wilmington,
New Castle County, Delaware.
Selbyville
founded, Sussex County in Delaware.
April
2, Caesar Rodney, appointed president of Delaware (1778-November
13, 1781).
1779
Delaware
Assembly ratifies the Articles of Confederation.
1780
Barratt's
Chapel built on land of Philip Barratt near Frederica,
Kent County in Delaware. The craddle of Methodism in
America.
1781
November
13, John Dickinson appointed President of Delaware (1781-January
31, 1783).
1783
January 31,
John Cook appointed acting president of Delaware (1783-February
8, 1783).
February 8,
Nicholas Van Dyke, appointed president of Delaware (1783-October
27, 1786).
1784
Methodist Church established by Thomas Coke and Francis
Asbury as a result of their meeting at Barratt's Chapel
in Frederica, Kent County, Delaware.
Automatic
flour mill prototype built and demonstrated by inventor
Oliver Evans on Red Clay Creek in Newport, New Castle
County, Delaware.
June
29, Caesar Rodney died and buried in Byfield, Kent County,
Delaware. Signer of the Declaration of Independence
for the state of Delaware.
1785
Appoquinimink
Friends Meeting House built by David Wilson in Delaware.
One of the smallest Quaker meeting houses in the nation.
Blackfoot
town became Dagsborough in Sussex County, Delaware.
Quaker
petition to abolish slavery sent to the General Assembly
of Delaware.
June
14, Delaware's first newspaper established, The
Delaware Gazette.
1787
John
Dickinson, signed the U.S. Constitution as delegate
from Delaware.
North
Milford on the Mispillion River,
Kent County in Delaware, established. Milford
city coordinates 38°55'N-75°25'W.
Old
State House, Delaware's first capitol building, rebuilt
in Dover housing the Delaware state government center.
-The
State of Delaware passed a law to weaken slavery.
December
7, Delaware DE, 1st state
admitted to the Union
Delaware
Today : the first of the original 13
states to ratify the Federal Constitution of the United
States. Nickname 'The First State', capital Dover.
Area 2,489 sq.mi.(6.446km²) 49th largest state.
Delaware is the name of Indians who lived in the region,
however the state was named after baron De La Warr,
governor of Virginia.
Counties 3 : Kent, New Castle, Sussex.Attractions
& Recreation : Bellevue State Park,
Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge, Brandywine Creek
State Park, Brandywine Zoo, Cape Henlopen State Park,
Delaware National Estuarine Research Reserve, Delaware
Seashore State Park, Fenwick Island State Park, First
State Heritage Park and Dover, Fort Delaware State
Park, Fort DuPont State Park,, Fox Point State Park,
Holts Landing State Park, Indian River Marina, Killens
Pond State Park, Lums Pond State Park, Port Penn,
Prime Hook National Wildlife Refuge, Trap Pond State
Park, White Clay Creek State Park, Wilmington State
Park.
1788
Abolition
societies established in Dover and Wilmington, Delaware.
1789
Delaware barred slave ships from his ports.
James
Adams and his son Samuel published the Delaware
and Eastern Shore Advertiser in Wilmington, Delaware.
March
29, Jehu Davis, appointed acting president of Delaware
(1789-June 2, 1789). Born 1738 in Worcester County,
Maryland, died on May 11, 1802 in Kent County, Delaware.
June
2, Physician Joshua Clayton, appointed president of
Delaware (1789-1793). Born on July 20, 1744, near Wyoming
in Kent County, Delaware. Delaware's last president
and first governor, major in the Bohemia Manor Battalion
Militia and member of the Delaware General Assembly.
Died on August 11, 1798 in New Castle County, Delaware.
1790
Delaware population,
59,096 residents.
Old Presbyterian Church built in Dover, Delaware
housing the Delaware State Museum.
Jacob
Broom signer of the US Constitution, appointed first
postmaster of Wilmington, New Castle County in Delaware.
1791
Georgetown,
seat of Sussex County Delaware,
founded and incorporated.
Old
Swedes Church (1698 oldest building in Delaware) in
Wilmington, placed under the jurisdiction of the Protestant
Episcopal Church.
Sussex
County seat moved from Lewes to Georgetown, Delaware.
Trustees
of the Poor, created under the Levy Court in Kent County
directed to establish a Poor House in each Delaware
county.
1792
Damming
of the head waters of the Indian River in Millsboro,
Sussex County, Delaware.
Printer
James Adams, died in Wilmington Delaware.
The
second state Delaware constitution changed the name
of its government from 'The Delaware State' into 'State
of Delaware'.
1793
Joshua
Clayton, elected governor of Delaware (1793-January
19, 1796).
1794
The French
Engineer Pierre Charles L'Enfant, identified a small
island in the middle of the Delaware River, an ideal
place for seacoast fortification, what should become
the site of Fort Delaware
on Pea Patch Island in Delaware. (credit
NJ resident)
1795
Bank
of Delaware Delaware's first state bank founded
in Wilmington, New Castle County.
1796
January 19,
Gunning Bedford, elected governor of Delaware (1796-September
28, 1797).
July 24, John
Middleton Clayton, born in Dagsboro, Delaware. Delaware
Secretary of State and U.S. senator.
1797
Delaware laws published at New CastleDelaware, by the printers
John and Samuel Adams, the sons of printer James Adams.
All
Delaware slaves sold out of the state were declared
automatically free.
September
28, Daniel Rogers appointed acting governor of Delaware
(1797-January 15, 1799).
1798
Old
Town Hall built in Wilmington city, New Castle County
in Delaware.
Yellow
fever epidemic spreads in Wilmington, New Castle County,
Delaware.
May
25, British ship the brig HMS De Braak sinks
off Lewes, Sussex County in Delaware.
1799
Seaford
town on the Nanticoke River in Sussex County,
Delaware, laid out and named after
Seaford UK. Coordinates 38°39'N 75°37'W.
James
Wilson started the publication of the semi-weekly Federal
party supporting paper the Mirror of the Times,
in Delaware.
January 15,
Richard Bassett, elected governor of Delaware (1799-February
20, 1801).
1800
Delaware population,
64,273 residents.
1801
The Newbold
family purchased land in Delaware, known as Newbolds
Landing, today Delaware City.
The
Coxe Houses built in Wilmington, New Castle County,
Delaware, by brickyard owner Thomas Coxe for his daughters.
March
4, James Sykes, appointed acting governor of Delaware
(1801-January 19, 1802).
1802
Laurel
town on the Laurel River in Sussex County, Delaware
laid out. Named for the local laurel bushes along
the Broad Creek. Coordinates 38°33'N-75°34'W.
New
Castle County elections at New Castle town in Delaware.
January
19, David Hall, elected governor of Delaware (1802-January
15, 1805).
July,
Irénée Eleuthère Du Pont constructed
powderworks in Brandywine Creek, Wilmington, Delaware.
1803
Eleutherean
Mills Mansion in Delaware, built by the du Pont company
founder frenchman Irénée Eleuthère
du Pont.
The
Wilmington newspaper Federal Ark published
in Delaware.
NOVEMBER
30 - LOUISIANA PURCHASE
1804
Ashley Mansion built near Richardson Park in Newport,
New Castle County, Delaware,
by a prominent Quaker AshtonRichardson.
June
30, start of the weekly paper Museum of Delaware
by Joseph Jones.
1805
First
Methodist camp meeting held near Smyrna, in Kent County,
Delaware.
January
15, Nathaniel Mitchell, elected governor of Delaware
(1805-January 19, 1808).
1806
Salisbury
in Delaware or Duck Creek town name, changed into Smyrna.
February
5, Robert Montgomery Bird; born in New Castle, Delaware.
Dramatist and novelist.
1807
Milford
incorporated in Delaware on the Mispillion River in
Sussex County. Named for the English poet John Milton.
1808
Frankford founded in Sussex County, Delaware.
First
toll road in Delaware, the Newport and Gap Turnpike.
January
19, George Truitt, elected governor of Delaware (1808-January
15, 1811).
February
14, American statesman 'Penman of the Revolution' John
Dickinson died in Wilmington, Delaware. Governor of
Pennsylvania (1782-1785).
1809
Editor
James Wilson, changed the name of his Mirror of
the Times paper into American Watchman
to become a Delaware anti-Federal journal.
1810
Delaware population,
72,674 residents.
1811
January 15,
Joseph Haslet, elected governor of Delaware (1811-January
18, 1814).
1812
Peter
Spencer, a Maryland born slave, founder of the African
Union Methodist Protestant Church in Wilmington, New
Castle County, Delaware.
1813
Lewes
oldest and first town in Delaware in Sussex County,
bombarded by the British. Coordinates 38°47'N-75°08'W.
1814
Big
Quarterly or August Quarterly, America's first major
black religious festival, started by Peter Spencer,
founder of the African Union Methodist Protestant Church
in Wilmington, New Castle County, Delaware.
January
18, Daniel Rodney, elected governor of Delaware (1814-January
21, 1817).
1816
Citizens
of Smyrna in Kent County, Delaware, protested against
John McWorther's request to open a publick house.
The
Methodist Episcopal Church founded in Dover, Kent County,
Delaware, by slave born Richard Allen, becoming the
first Bishop of the church.
1817
January 21,
John Clark, elected governor of Delaware (1817-January
15, 1820).
1818
Construction
started on the mile-long Delaware Breakwater.
1819
South
Milford in Delaware on the
Mispillon River in Kent County, laid out. Coordinates
38°55'N-75°25'W.
1820
Delaware population,
72,749 residents.
January 18,
Jacob Stout, appointed acting governor of Delaware (1820-January
16, 1821).
1821
January 16,
John Collins, elected governor of Delaware (1821-April
16, 1822).
1822
Thomas
Garrett moved to Wilmington, New Castle County in Delaware.
Quaker, abolitionist and secret worker of the anti-slavery
network Underground Railroad.
Start
of the weekly paper Museum of Delaware published
by Joseph Jones in Wilmington, New Castle County, Delaware.
April 23, Caleb
Rodney, appointed acting governor of Delaware (1822-January
21, 1823).
December
11, George David Cummins, born near Smyrna in Delaware.
Clergyman, founder and first bishop of the Reformed
Episcopal Church.
1823
January 21,
Joseph Haslet, elected second-term governor of Delaware
(1823-June 20, 1823).
June 24, Charles
Thomas, appointed acting governor of Delaware (1823-January
20, 1824).
1824
The 'Great
Fire' destroyed many homes, inns and warehouses in the
city of New Castle, Delaware.
January 20,
Samuel Paynter, elected governor of Delaware (1824-January
16, 1827).
1825
Construction
started of the 14-mile Chesapeake Bay & Delaware
River Canal (C&D) in Delaware.
1827
January 16,
Charles Polk, elected governor of Delaware (1827-January
19, 1830).
1828
Steamboat
line opens between Philadelphia and New Castle in Delaware.
October
29, Thomas Francis Bayard, born in Wilmington, Delaware.
Diplomat, lawyer and statesman.
1829
Chesapeake and Delaware Canal opens in Delaware.
Dover
town incorporated, seat of Kent County in Delaware.
First
public schools in Delaware established, after the Free
School Act passes in legislature.
Perkins
School for the Blind started in Delaware, the first
school for the blind in the United States.
1830
Delaware population,
76,748 residents.
January 19,
David Hazzard, elected governor of Delaware (1830-January
15, 1833).
1832
Delaware states adopts third constitution.
Fort Delaware
on Pea Patch Island in Delaware, destroyed by a fire.
Wilmington
in Delaware incorporated, port city and seat of New
Castle County. Coordinates 39°44'N-75°33'W.
First
peach orchard planted, the start for Delaware as major
commercial producer of peaches.
New
Castle and Frenchtown Railroad in Delaware opens with
horse cars, later switching to steam.
1833
University
of Delaware's name changed into Newark College.
January
15, Caleb P. Bennett, elected governor of Delaware (1833-July
11, 1836).
1834
Newark
College opened in Newark, Delaware.
1836
July 11, Charles
Polk, appointed second-term acting governor of Delaware
(1836-January 17, 1837).
1837
January 17, Cornelius P. Comegys, elected governor of
Delaware (1837-January 19, 1841).
50
YEARS AFTER DELAWARE'S RATIFICATION OF THE U.S. CONSTITUTION
DE
1737-1837 SUSSEX
COUNTY Timeline
4 Topics
1738
Prince George's Chapel, original log building (1706)
replaced by a frame building in Dagsboro, Sussex County
DE. Named after Prince George, later King George III.
1747
Dagsboro in Indian River School District founded in
Sussex County DE, also
known as Blackfoot Town, Dagsbury and Dagsborough.
1755
1706
built Prince George's Chapel, re-built as an Anglican
chapel-of-ease in Dagsboro, Sussex County, DE.
1775
Pennsylvania
took formally possession of Sussex County in Delaware.