DELMARVA has a unique settlement history because colonial borders were disputed and overlapped. The oldest English areas were settled as part of the Virginia Colony. In 1631 the Colony of Maryland was chartered to Lord Calvert giving him the rights to the Eastern shore of Maryland as far as the Delaware River and Bay. William Penn was granted a Charter for Pennsylvania in 1681 that included what is now the state of Delaware. Therefore portions of the peninsula were under the control of three British Colonies. In 1767 the state line between Maryland and Delaware was finally established. County boundaries were still shifting in the 1800s, so it may seem your ancestors moved from place to place when the jurisdictions around them changed. Use the resources found on our Links Page to help find your families.

The DELMARVA pre-1800 Project welcomes autosomal testers, Y-DNA testers and mtDNA testers. Our objective is document, identify and prove links to colonial ancestors who resided on the Eastern Shores of Maryland, Delaware, and Accomack or Northampton, Virginia. Please include your ancestor's name, residence, and supporting sources when you apply. We hope to break down perennial brick walls by linking participants to each other through DNA matches. 

This is a public project. When you join you're making your surname, ancestor and DNA related results public. We do not publish your full given name, contact information or test kit numbers.