Edward Floyd DeLancey (October 23, 1821 – April 8, 1905) was an American lawyer, author, and historian.

Early life

"Ned" DeLancey was born on October 23, 1821, in

Mamaroneck, New York Mamaroneck ( ), is a Administrative divisions of New York#Town, town in Westchester County, New York, Westchester County, New York (state), New York, United States. The population was 31,758 at the 2020 United States census over 29,156 at the 2 ...

. He was the eldest son of eight children born to Frances Jay (

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

Munro) DeLancey (1797–1869) and the Right Reverend William Heathcote DeLancey (1797–1865), the first Bishop of Western New York and sixth Provost of the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

. Among his siblings was Peter Munro DeLancey and William Heathcote DeLancey Jr. His maternal grandfather was Peter Jay Munro. His paternal grandparents were Elizabeth (née Floyd) DeLancey and John Peter DeLancey, a son of

Governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

James De Lancey James De Lancey (November 27, 1703 – July 30, 1760) was an American politician from the colonial period who served as chief justice, lieutenant governor, and acting colonial governor of the Province of New York. Early life and educatio ...

. His grandfather was a brother to

and a grandson of

Stephen Delancey Stephen Delancey (born Étienne de Lancy; October 24, 1663 – November 18, 1741) was a French-born American merchant and politician in colonial New York (state), New York who served as a member of the New York General Assembly and the New York E ...

, a French

Huguenot The Huguenots ( , ; ) are a Religious denomination, religious group of French people, French Protestants who held to the Reformed (Calvinist) tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, ...

who became a successful New York merchant and married Anne Van Cortlandt, the third child of Gertrude Schuyler and

Stephanus van Cortlandt Stephanus van Cortlandt (May 7, 1643 – November 25, 1700) was the first native-born mayor of New York City, a position which he held from 1677 to 1678 and from 1686 to 1688. He was the patroon of Van Cortlandt Manor and was on the governor ...

, the Chief Justice of the

Province of New York The Province of New York was a British proprietary colony and later a royal colony on the northeast coast of North America from 1664 to 1783. It extended from Long Island on the Atlantic, up the Hudson River and Mohawk River valleys to ...

. Through his great-grandmother, Anne (née Heathcote) DeLancey, he was also a direct descendant of Caleb Heathcote, the 31st

Mayor of New York City The mayor of New York City, officially mayor of the City of New York, is head of the executive branch of the government of New York City and the chief executive of New York City. The Mayoralty in the United States, mayor's office administers all ...

. His paternal aunt, Susan Augusta DeLancey, was married to the prominent author

James Fenimore Cooper James Fenimore Cooper (September 15, 1789 – September 14, 1851) was an American writer of the first half of the 19th century, whose historical romances depicting colonial and indigenous characters from the 17th to the 19th centuries brought h ...

. As a youth, he traveled on an extensive

European tour The European Tour, currently titled as the DP World Tour for sponsorship reasons, and legally the PGA European Tour or the European Tour Group, is the leading men's professional golf tour in Europe. The organisation also operates the European ...

for fourteen months with his father. DeLancey received his early education from the Rev. John Eustace and Samuel Wylie Crawford of Philadelphia. He studied at the

but transferred to Hobart College in

Geneva, New York Geneva is a City (New York), city in Ontario County, New York, Ontario and Seneca County, New York, Seneca counties in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It is at the northern end of Seneca Lake (New York), Seneca Lake; all land port ...

, upon his father's elevation to Bishop in 1839. He graduated from Hobart College with the class of 1843. DeLancey studied in Albany and later became graduated from

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, Harvard Law School is the oldest law school in continuous operation in the United ...

in 1845.

Career

After being

admitted to the bar An admission to practice law is acquired when a lawyer receives a license to practice law. In jurisdictions with two types of lawyer, as with barristers and solicitors, barristers must gain admission to the bar whereas for solicitors there are dist ...

in 1846, he practiced in Albany for four years until he moved to New York City and entered into a partnership with Gerard Walton Morris (son of Richard Valentine Morris) and later with George Clinton Genêt (son of

Edmond-Charles Genêt Edmond-Charles Genêt (January 8, 1763July 14, 1834), also known as Citizen Genêt, was the French envoy to the United States appointed by the Girondins during the French Revolution. His actions on arriving in the United States led to a major po ...

and grandson of

Samuel Osgood Samuel Osgood (February 3, 1747 – August 12, 1813) was an American merchant and statesman born in Andover, Massachusetts, currently a part of North Andover, Massachusetts. His family home still stands at 440 Osgood Street in North Andover ...

). In 1867, he traveled abroad and stayed for more than two years, partly working in England, and also to visit

Asia Minor Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...

Northern Africa North Africa (sometimes Northern Africa) is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region. However, it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of t ...

, the

Holy Land The term "Holy Land" is used to collectively denote areas of the Southern Levant that hold great significance in the Abrahamic religions, primarily because of their association with people and events featured in the Bible. It is traditionall ...

. He served as president of the

New York Genealogical and Biographical Society The New York Genealogical and Biographical Society (NYG&B or NYGBS) is a non-profit institution located at 36 West 44th Street in New York City. Founded in 1869, it is the second-oldest genealogical society in the United States, and the only stat ...

and the 41st President of the

Saint Nicholas Society of the City of New York The Saint Nicholas Society of the City of New York is a charitable organization in New York City of men who are descended from early inhabitants of the State of New York. Thomas S Johnson is the current president. The organization preserves his ...

. DeLancey was considered the head of DeLancey family as "all the other branches having become extinct in the male line."

Personal life

In November 1848, DeLancey was married to Josephine Matilda DeZeng (1823–1865). Josephine was the eldest daughter of Caroline and William Steuben DeZeng. Together, they lived in New York City and were the parents of six children, including: * Frances Munro DeLancey (1854–1867), who died aged 12. * Edward Etienne Delancey (1859–1927), a civil engineer who married Lucia Cleveland Grannis (1872–1939), a daughter of William Heathcote Grannis, in 1890. * Josephine DeZeng DeLancey (1863–1921). DeLancey died on April 8, 1905, in Ossining, New York. After a funeral at Trinity Episcopal Church in Ossining, he was buried in the family burial ground at Mamaroneck by the side of his father and grandfather.

Descendants

Through his son Edward, he was the grandfather of Edwin Floyd DeLancey (b. 1893) and William Heathcote DeLancey (b. 1897).

References

External links

Edward Floyd De Lancey Family Papers
at the

Museum of the City of New York The Museum of the City of New York (MCNY) is a history and art museum in Manhattan, New York City, New York. It was founded by Henry Collins Brown, in 1923Beard, Rick. "Museum of the City of New York" in to preserve and present the history ...

. {{DEFAULTSORT:DeLancey, Edward Floyd 1821 births 1905 deaths University of Pennsylvania alumni Hobart and William Smith Colleges alumni Harvard Law School alumni Presidents of the Saint Nicholas Society of the City of New York De Lancey family People from Mamaroneck, New York Lawyers from Albany, New York Lawyers from New York City