Richmond County Virginia USGenWeb Archives Biographies.....Delano, William Joseph 1855 - 
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Joy Fisher http://www.rootsweb.com/~archreg/vols/00001.html#0000031 March 2, 2008, 7:46 pm

Author: Leonard Wilson  (1916)

WILLIAM JOSEPH DELANO

WILLIAM JOSEPH DELANO, of Wellfords, Virginia, is descended from one of the most
distinguished families of western Europe. It is rather hard to classify from a
national point of view, because it was originally Burgundian, then French, then
Holland Dutch, and lastly American. Strictly speaking, however, this family
belongs to France, its original habitat having been in the old Dukedom of
Burgundy, a large part of which is included in what we now know as Belgium. The
family history is one of exceeding interest and will be referred to later.

    William Joseph Delano was born in Richmond County, Virginia, on December
10,1855, son of Joseph Patterson and Lucinda (Self) Delano. The family has been
identified with this section of Virginia since 1820, when Mr. Delano's
grandfather, Captain George Delano, moved south from New England and settled
near Oldhams. His father was a farmer, and the son, growing up on a Virginia
farm, received a common school education. On entering business he devoted his
attention to agriculture, and to this interest he has adhered through life, but
has added others. Sawmilling, real estate and lumber have all commanded a share
of his time, and he has made a substantial success of his business operations.
Mr. Delano tells that he earned his first dollar at the age of twelve, and was
so proud of it that he kept it and has it to this day. He has been a
hard-working, public-spirited, useful citizen, has served as a member of the
Board of Supervisors for Richmond County, and his active interest in the
building of bridges and in the improvement of the public roads has been most
highly commended in the local press. He is certainly entitled to be classed as a
progressive citizen, and all the world admires energy and progress. He is an
Independent in politics, and, in matters of faith, he is a Baptist and a deacon
of his church.

    Patriotism is one of the virtues of Mr. Delano. Through life he has been
governed by a principle which he thinks should actuate every good citizen, that
is, love of country and unsparing effort to promote its welfare. He has other
sound convictions. He believes that every man should be dealt with on exactly
the same plane of equity, whether he be rich or poor. He loves farming, because
to him it seems to be the most independent life, and though he has found other
lines of business, such as real estate, profitable, these things have never
alienated him from his first love for the land. In his reading he says that he
has never found any book more helpful than the Bible. W. J. Delano is one of
those plain, unassuming citizens, seeking no preferment, performing their daily
duties with fidelity, and contributing by lives of useful industry to the making
of the nation. He comes of a remarkable family stock noted not only for high
character and for good work, but for large families in nearly every generation,
as shown by the Delano Book, a remarkable compilation of the records of the
American and European family.

    Mr. Delano was married in Richmond County, Virginia, August 28, 1878, to
Virginia Elizabeth Packett, daughter of Eli P. and Ella S. (Sisson) Packett. To
them have been born twelve children, of whom eleven are living, as follows: Eli
Patterson, Ella Susan, Cleveland Otis, George Milton, Arthur William, Laura
Virginia, Lilly May, Randolph, Herbert Packett, Claude Lyell and Minnie Ruth
Delano. Of these, Eli Patterson Delano married Minnie Evelyn Kennedy. They have
two children: Marian Evelyn and William Allen Delano. Ella Susan married Emory
E. Packett. They have five children: Harry Leonard, Virginia Louise, Florence
Gertrude, Mabel Irene and William Randolph Packett. Cleveland Otis Delano
married Ann Elizabeth Muse. George Milton Delano married Maude Virginia Douglas.

    The history of this family has been referred to. It is contained in a huge
volume published in New York in 1899 entitled "Genealogy, History and Alliances
of the American House of Delano, 1621 to 1899," "compiled by Major Joel Andrew
Delano, with the history and heraldry of the Maison de Franchimont and de Lannoy
to Delano, 1096 to 1621, and the royal ancestry of Lannoy from Guelph, Prince of
the Scyrri, to Philippe de Lannoy, 476 A. D. to 1621, including other royal
lines and a list of the Lannoy Chevaliers De La Toison D'or (Golden Fleece), and
arranged by Mortimer Delano de Lannoy, pursuivant-of-armes, a member of the New
York Genealogical and Biographical Society, Societe Suisse D'Heraldique and
Herold Society Zu Berlin." This combined history covers an authentic record of
eight hundred and three years. Back of that, however, is given what purports to
be the record back to the year 382 A. D. This claims descent for the family from
Priam, King of the Franks in that year, and makes fifty-eight generations down
to the present date.

    Philippe, founder of the American family (1621), was in the thirty-third
generation from Charlemagne, from whom also the family claims descent. Without
entering into any discussion as to far-away times, it is sufficient to say here
that the record is complete and authentic for eight hundred years. In the middle
ages, it was one of the great families of Burgundy and Flanders. We come upon it
under the name of de Lannoy and De La Noye. When Charles the Bold was Duke of
Burgundy, no family ranked higher or was nearer to the throne than the De La
Noyes. In those middle ages there was a very close connection with the French
family of Baudouin, now represented in America by the Bowdoins.

    The American Delano family was founded by Philippe De La Noye, born in
Leyden, Holland, in 1602, baptized in 1603 and died in Bridgewater,
Massachusetts, about 1681, aged seventy-nine years. He came to Plymouth,
Massachusetts, in 1621, the first year after its settlement. He was married
twice: first, at Duxbury, December 19, 1631, to Hester Dewsbury, of Duxbury, and
secondly, in the same town, in 1657, to Mary Pontus, widow of James Glass and a
daughter of William Pontus. He had nine children, eight by his first wife and
one by his second. This Philippe was a son of Jean and Marie De La Noye, French
Huguenots, who moved from France to Leyden to escape religious persecutions. He
was baptized in the Walloon Church. Philippe came to Massachusetts on the ship
"Fortune," of fifty-five tons burden. Not many of us would care at this time to
navigate the Atlantic in ships of that size. The Pilgrim fathers promptly
changed the spelling of the name to Delano, which conformed closely to the
French pronunciation, and it is by this American form of the name that we know
the family.

    After years of residence at Duxbury, he moved to Bridgewater, where he died.
Our space will not permit more than the briefest mention of the various
generations from Philippe to William J. Delano. The second of his nine children
was Doctor Thomas Delano, born in Duxbury, March 21, 1642, who died in the same
place April 13, 1723. He was a physician, tailor, surveyor and constable. One
gets from this list of occupations an idea both of the adaptability and of the
democracy of the Pilgrim fathers.

    He married, first, in 1667, Mary Alden, daughter of John and Priscilla
(Mullins) Alden, and after her death, in 1688, he married, on October 24, 1699,
Hannah Bartlett, widow of Ebenezar. He had eight children by his first wife. His
first wife was the daughter of the heroine of the famous story by Longfellow
entitled "Courtship of Miles Standish." Of the eight children of Doctor Thomas
Delano, Jonathan, Sr., was the third. He was born at Duxbury in 1676, and
married, on January 12, 1699, Hannah Doten, or Dotey, daughter of Thomas and
Mary (Churchhill) Doten.

    Jonathan was the father of eleven children. He was a prominent man in his
generation, took a very active part in town affairs, and seems to have enjoyed a
large measure of influence. Of his eleven children, Amaziah was the sixth, born
August 7, 1709, and died August 5, 1790. He married, January 8, 1730, Ruth,
daughter of Abraham and Penelope Sampson, who was born July 2, 1713. They had
ten children. Of these, Cornelius, was fifth in order. He was born October 10,
1742, and died in Duxbury, April 29, 1801. He was a shipsmith by trade. In 1773
he joined the first "minute company of militia" raised in Duxbury, which finally
grew into a regiment of which Cornelius was chosen as ensign of the second
company. He married at Duxbury, June 24, 1762, Sarah, daughter of Reuben and
Rebecca (Simmons) Peterson. They had nine children. Of these children, Captain
George Delano, born July 27, 1784, was the youngest. He was the founder of the
Virginia family. He was in charge of a woolen factory in Charlestown,
Massachusetts, about the beginning of the last century. In the War of 1812 he
ran a packet ship to Charleston, South Carolina, with supplies.

    He was twice married, first at Plymouth, Massachusetts, January 1, 1801, to
Lydia, daughter of Thomas and Lydia (Tribble) Burgess. In 1820 Captain George
Delano settled in Virginia near Oldhams. His first wife died in 1823, and he
married at Leonardtown, Maryland, Nancy, daughter of Joseph and Polly (Holavy)
Davis. Of his two marriages nineteen children were born. Evidently Captain
George was the dean of this branch of the Delano family in the matter of children.

    Joseph Patterson, the tenth of Captain George's nineteen children, was born
at Oldhams September 20, 1824. He was twice married: first at Warsaw, Virginia,
August 29, 1847, to Lucinda, daughter of Moses and Mary (Smith) Self, who died
January 18, 1871. He married secondly, on May 18, 1878, Ella, daughter of James
and Susan (Moore) Sisson. Of the ten children of Joseph Patterson Delano,
William Joseph Delano, born December 10, 1855, is the fourth in order, and is
the principal subject of this sketch, being in the eighth generation from
Philippe, the immigrant.

    It is perhaps within bounds to say that no one of the Colonial forefathers
of America has to-day more living descendants than Philippe Delano. They have
been noted for large families, and the number now runs literally into thousands.
In these eight generations they have spread over the entire country, and
everywhere have been splendid citizens, contributing largely to the development
of every section in which they have settled. In many respects they have retained
characteristics which are so pronounced among the French people, industry,
thrift, temperance and courage. In all our wars they have been well represented.
Earely have they been office seekers. In all this numerous family, there have
been since the establishment of the Republic but three men prominent in official
life.

    Columbus Delano, born in Vermont and moved to Ohio, was a member of Congress
and served under President Grant as Secretary of the Interior. Charles Delano,
of Massachusetts, represented his State in the Federal Congress, and Milton
Delano, of New York, after two terms in the Federal Congress, declined ťa
renomination and retired from politics. It must not be inferred from this that
the Delanos lack interest in public affairs, but it is simply that their tastes
do not seem to run in the direction of public office.

    The American compiler of the Delano Book, Major Joel Andrew Delano, was born
in Vermont, but became a citizen of Michigan. His own account of himself is very
interesting. Reared on a farm, he says, his education consisted of reading,
writing and cyphering, with a sprinkle of geography and grammar thrown in. He
was engaged in the tailoring business, and followed it for several years. Then
he tells that the roving disposition which was the feature in the character of
many of the Delanos, led him to fare forth and seek adventure. He joined the
regular United States Army in 1856. He shared in some Indian campaigns and in
the Utah expedition. His first enlistment had just expired as the Civil War was
starting. He helped to organize a company, of which he became Second Lieutenant,
and which became known as Company "F," Fifty-First Indiana Regiment. He served
through the war until May, 1863, when he was captured and remained in prison for
twenty-two months, and was paroled just a few weeks before the end of the war.
He rose to the rank of Major, became interested in his family history in 1SS9
and spent the ten years ensuing in the compilation of the Delano Rook, which
will stand as a perpetual monument to his faithful research, industry and patience.
    Another most useful member of the family was Professor Edward Chandler
Delano, of New York, who after seven years as a public school teacher was made
School Commissioner of Wayne County, New York, with one hundred and eighteen
schools under his care. His work there was so remarkably successful as to
attract widespread attention, and he became President of the New York State
Association of School Commissioners and City Superintendent. His work grew in
public esteem until, when the Bureau of Examinations was created in the State
Department of Public Instruction, he was called to become its first chief, and
organized the system along lines which have been found most efficient for the
last twenty-five years.

    Mortimer Delano de Lannoy, compiler of the European end of the Delano Book,
a splendid scholar and a most competent genealogist, has been referred to. His
article on the inherited right to bear coat armor in America is probably the
best that has ever been written along that line.

    It would take a volume to write the worthy deeds of the notable members of
this family, but the few incidents here quoted illustrate the temperament of the
Delano men, which in all fairness it must be said is shared by the women whose
children have quite as good records as have been made by the descendants of the
male line.


Additional Comments:

Extracted from:

MAKERS OF AMERICA
BIOGRAPHIES OF LEADING MEN OF THOUGHT AND ACTION

THE MEN WHO CONSTITUTE THE BONE AND SINEW OF AMERICAN PROSPERITY AND LIFE

VOLUME II

By
LEONARD WILSON,
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

ASSISTED BY PROMINENT HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL WRITERS
Illustrated with many full page engravings
B. F. JOHNSON, INC.
CITY OF WASHINGTON, U. S. A.
1916

Copyright, 1916
by
B. F. Johnson, Inc.

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