This article was published in June 1993 but was extensively updated in 2006.
Donald Odell Virdin has written, compiled, or edited a number of books, many of them relating to Delaware genealogy or history. He was born in Hartly in 1912, and his family goes back 300 years in the state. He attended the University of Delaware. Virdin was living in Alexandria, VA, and still writing when he died in 2001. He was a subscriber to Collecting Delaware Books.
Most of his books are good quality paperbacks with excellent indexes, published and sold by the Heritage Press, Inc. of Bowie, MD. Some were published by Raymonf B. Clark, Jr. of St. Michaels, MD. Some listed below are largely Delaware related. Others include limited Delaware material.
Delaware Bible Records now includes five volumes published from 1991 on. Virdin has edited family bibles located and documented by the Delaware chapters of the Daughters of the American Revolution and has added information from his own files. Several hundred of these family records from 1700 to the early 1900s are included, some spanning six generations.
Colonial Delaware Wills and Estates to 1800, an Index, 1994.
Delaware Genealogies, a Bibliography, 1984.
Maryland and Delaware Genealogies and Family Histories a Bibliography, 1993.
Major General Alfred Thomas Archimedes Torbet: Delaware's Most Famous Civil War Hero, a Memorial by George Alfred Townsend, 1993. Virdin wrote a preface to this latest facsimile reprint of a "Gath" classic. The book includes Civil War and Delmarva Peninsula history as well as the Torbet biography.
Some Pioneer Delaware Families, 1977, 1992, written by Virdin, includes much material on the Virdin family as well as brief material on the families of Broadway, Carter, Gilder, Lowber, Marvel, Register, Reynolds, and Rodney.
The Virdins of Delaware and Related Families, 1991, is also written by Virdin. It apparently adds to the material in the book above for the Virdin, Broadway, Lowber, Reynolds, and Rodney families.
The Civil War Correspondence of Judge Thomas Goldsborough Odell, 1992, is an annotated compilation of the letters of one of Virdin's ancestors. Odell was a corporal in the 78th Illinois Volunteer Infantry. His letters include details of field life in Kentucky and Tennessee.
The Moore Family in America, Descendants of Shildes Moore of Wales from 1732 to 1891 by George L. Moore has some material added by Virdin on Delaware residents.
Pennsylvania Genealogies and Family Histories: A Bibliography of Books about Pennsylvania Families, 1992, by Virdin, lists 2,800 books.
Virginia Genealogies and Family Histories: A Bibliography of Books about VirginiaFamilies, 1990, by Virdin, lists 2,500 books.
Antonia Karablis Jacobauski Baikauskus, 1978
The Ludwigs and Other Pennsylvania Families, 1980 (no index)
New Castle County, Delaware, Wills and Estates, 1682-1800, 1982
Maryland Genealogies, 1984 (probably referes to a 2-volume consolidation of articles from Maryland Historical Magazine including some articles by Virdin.)
The Hargadines and Other Delaware and Maryland Families, 1986
Reflections of an Elderly Gentleman in Alexandria, Virginia, 1981, reprinted 1985
Thoughts From Your Plantation Uncle, 1989.
Virdin published several bibliographies of New England Genealogy.
Anyone seeking Virdin books should start with Heritage Books of Westminster, MD. www.heritagebooks.com. Many are still in print. They also have used copies of some. After that, try a used book search on the Internet or the big Internet book stores. — JPR