Kent County Delaware ~ Levy Court ~ Treasures

Levy Court Commissioners

The act establishing Levy Courts was passed in 1736 under George II. Section 3 provided that the justices of the peace of the respective counties shall meet yearly for the laying of levies together with eight grand jurymen, and the assessors or the majority of them shall meet at the court-house within the county and settle the public debts and charges of the county, and adjust the sums of money to be raised to defray the expenses of building and repairing court-houses, prisons and work-houses, for destroying wolves, crows and black-birds, with such other uses as may redound to the public service and with power to make good deficiencies and to collect and enforce collections.

In 1757 a supplement to this act was passed, authorizing the Levy Court to appoint county treasurers, and on the 14th of June, 1793, the act was amended, which provided that the Levy Court and Court of Appeals should be composed of commissioners to be elected by the people. Nine were to be elected for Kent County, two from each hundred of Duck Creek and Mispillion, and one for each of the other hundreds, Little Creek and St. Jones.

An amendment February 9, 1796, provided that every freeman over twenty-one years of age shall be rated, in addition to his amount of other tax.

An amendment January 19, 1797, authorizes the court to raise money to maintain the poor and build poor-houses, for laying out and repairing, amending and erecting bridges, causeways and public roads.

The Levy Court records of Kent County are not to be found in continuous record until 1851. A few of the members are here given:

 The following list is from the Levy Court records. The members in office in 1851 were as follows:

From this date the names of the members elected every two years are given.

Treasurers

Kent County

Source: History of Delaware, 1609-1888, Volume I, by J. Thomas Scharf, L. J. Richards & Company, Philadelphia, 1888.