Warren Delano Jr. (July 13, 1809 – January 17, 1898) was an American
merchant
A merchant is a person who trades in goods produced by other people, especially one who trades with foreign countries. Merchants have been known for as long as humans have engaged in trade and commerce. Merchants and merchant networks operated i ...
and
drug smuggler who made a large fortune smuggling illegal
opium
Opium (also known as poppy tears, or Lachryma papaveris) is the dried latex obtained from the seed Capsule (fruit), capsules of the opium poppy ''Papaver somniferum''. Approximately 12 percent of opium is made up of the analgesic alkaloid mor ...
into
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
. He was the maternal grandfather of U.S. President
Franklin Delano Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), also known as FDR, was the 32nd president of the United States, serving from 1933 until his death in 1945. He is the longest-serving U.S. president, and the only one to have served ...
.
Early life

Delano was born on July 13, 1809, in
New Bedford, Massachusetts
New Bedford is a city in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States. It is located on the Acushnet River in what is known as the South Coast region. At the 2020 census, New Bedford had a population of 101,079, making it the state's ninth-l ...
. He was the eldest son of Captain Warren Delano Sr. (1779–1866) and Deborah Perry (
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 ...
Church) Delano.
After his mother's death in 1827, his father, who was involved in the New England sea trade, remarried to Elizabeth Adams,
a widow of Captain Parker of the
United States Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...
.
Among his siblings were brothers Frederick Delano, Edward Delano and
Franklin Hughes Delano, who was married to Laura Astor, a daughter of
William Backhouse Astor Sr. and a sister of, among others,
John Jacob Astor III
John Jacob Astor III (June 10, 1822 – February 22, 1890) was an American financier, philanthropist and a soldier during the American Civil War. He was a prominent member of the Astor family, becoming the wealthiest member in his generation.
Ea ...
and
William Backhouse Astor Jr.
A descendant of
Philip Delano (a
Pilgrim
The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a heraldic star.
Computer scientists and mathematicians often vocalize it as ...
who arrived in
Plymouth, Massachusetts
Plymouth ( ; historically also spelled as Plimouth and Plimoth) is a town in and the county seat of Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States. Located in Greater Boston, the town holds a place of great prominence in American history, folklor ...
, in 1621), Warren Jr.'s paternal grandparents were Ephraim Delano and Elisabeth (née Cushman) Delano,
and his maternal grandparents were Joseph Church and Deborah (née Perry) Church.
He graduated from the Fairhaven Academy at the age of 15 and by age 17 was a trader in the import business.
Career
Delano made a large fortune smuggling
opium
Opium (also known as poppy tears, or Lachryma papaveris) is the dried latex obtained from the seed Capsule (fruit), capsules of the opium poppy ''Papaver somniferum''. Approximately 12 percent of opium is made up of the analgesic alkaloid mor ...
into Canton (now
Guangzhou
Guangzhou, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Canton or Kwangchow, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Guangdong Provinces of China, province in South China, southern China. Located on the Pearl River about nor ...
), China.
Opium, a highly addictive narcotic related to heroin, was illegal in China.
By the 1800s, there was an immense European demand for Chinese luxury products such as silk, tea, porcelain ("china"), and furniture, but Chinese demand for European products was much less.
As a result, many European nations ran large trade deficits with China. Foreign traders such as the Scottish merchant
William Jardine of
Jardine Matheson
Jardine Matheson Holdings Limited (also known as Jardines) is a Hong Kong–based, Bermuda-domiciled British multinational conglomerate. It has a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange and secondary listings on the Singapore Exchange ...
introduced large-scale
opium
Opium (also known as poppy tears, or Lachryma papaveris) is the dried latex obtained from the seed Capsule (fruit), capsules of the opium poppy ''Papaver somniferum''. Approximately 12 percent of opium is made up of the analgesic alkaloid mor ...
smuggling into China as merchandise to pay for coveted Chinese products. The vast illegal opium trade resulted in millions of Chinese becoming addicted, and in a drastic reversal of the trade imbalance to favor Europe. This led to the
First Opium War
The First Opium War ( zh, t=第一次鴉片戰爭, p=Dìyīcì yāpiàn zhànzhēng), also known as the Anglo-Chinese War, was a series of military engagements fought between the British Empire and the Chinese Qing dynasty between 1839 and 1 ...
of 1840–1843.
Delano first went to China at age 24, before the Opium War, to work for
Russell & Company
Russell & Company () was the largest American trading house of the mid-19th century in China. The firm specialised in trading tea, silk and opium and was eventually involved in the shipping trade.
Foundation
In 1818, Samuel Russell was approach ...
, which had pioneered the China trade. Earlier,
John Perkins Cushingalso a Russell & Company partnerhad worked with the largest Chinese
hong merchant,
Howqua
Wu Bingjian (; 17694 September 1843), trading as "Houqua" and better known in the West as "Howqua" or "Howqua II", was a hong merchant in the Thirteen Factories, head of the '' E-wo hong'' and leader of the Canton Cohong. He was once the rich ...
, to establish an offshore base. At this anchored floating warehouse, Russell & Company ships would offload their opium contraband, then continue with their legal cargo up the
Pearl River Delta
The Pearl River Delta Metropolitan Region is the low-lying area surrounding the Pearl River estuary, where the Pearl River flows into the South China Sea. Referred to as the Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao Greater Bay Area in official documents, ...
to Canton.
By early 1843, Delano had prospered greatly in the Chinese opium trade, rising to become the head partner of the biggest American firm trading with China. He had witnessed the destruction of the Canton trading concession system, the humiliation of the Chinese government, and the creation of New China.
In the 1850s, Delano, along with his brother Franklin and
Asa Packer
Asa Packer (December 29, 1805May 17, 1879) was an American businessman who pioneered railroad construction, was active in Pennsylvania politics, and founded Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. He was a conservative and religious man who ...
, builder of the
Lehigh Valley Railroad
The Lehigh Valley Railroad was a railroad in the Northeastern United States built predominantly to haul anthracite, anthracite coal from the Coal Region in Northeastern Pennsylvania to major consumer markets in Philadelphia, New York City, and ...
and founder of
Lehigh University
Lehigh University (LU), in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, United States, is a private university, private research university. The university was established in 1865 by businessman Asa Packer. Lehigh University's undergraduate programs have been mixed ...
, headed a land company that purchased several thousand acres and established the town of
Delano, Pennsylvania
Delano is a census-designated place (CDP) in Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 377 at the 2000 census.
Geography
Delano is located at (40.839633, -76.071032). According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Delano has a t ...
.
Delano lost much of his fortune in the
Panic of 1857
The Panic of 1857 was a financial crisis in the United States caused by the declining international economy and over-expansion of the domestic economy. Because of the invention of the telegraph
Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission ...
. In 1860, he returned to China, except this time to
Hong Kong
Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...
, where he rebuilt his fortune. During the
U.S. Civil War, Delano shipped
opium
Opium (also known as poppy tears, or Lachryma papaveris) is the dried latex obtained from the seed Capsule (fruit), capsules of the opium poppy ''Papaver somniferum''. Approximately 12 percent of opium is made up of the analgesic alkaloid mor ...
to the Medical Bureau of the
U.S. War Department.
Personal life
On November 1, 1843, Delano was married to Catherine Robbins Lyman (1825–1896), a daughter of Joseph Lyman and Anne Jean (née Robbins) Lyman, during a short visit to Massachusetts. Together, they were the parents of eleven children:
# Susan Maria Delano (1844–1846), who died in infancy.
# Louisa Church Delano (1846–1869), who died young and unmarried.
# Deborah Perry Delano (1847–1940), who married merchant
William Howell Forbes of the
Forbes family
The Forbes family is one of the components of the Boston Brahmins—a wealthy extended American family long prominent in Boston, Massachusetts. The family's fortune originates from trading opium and tea between North America and China in the 1 ...
. After William died in 1896, she married his brother Paul Revere Forbes in 1903.
# Anne Lyman Delano (1849–1926), who married merchant Frederic Delano Hitch in 1877.
# Warren Delano III (1850–1851), who died in infancy.
#
Warren Delano IV (1852–1920), who married Jennie Walters, the only daughter of merchant
William Thompson Walters.
#
Sara Ann Delano (1854–1941), who married
James Roosevelt I
James Roosevelt I (July 16, 1828 – December 8, 1900), known as "Squire James", was an American businessman, politician, horse breeder, and the father of Franklin D. Roosevelt, the 32nd President of the United States.
Early life
Roosevelt was ...
and became the mother of President
Franklin Delano Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), also known as FDR, was the 32nd president of the United States, serving from 1933 until his death in 1945. He is the longest-serving U.S. president, and the only one to have served ...
.
# Philippe Delano (1857–1881), who died young and unmarried.
# Katherine Robbins Delano (1860–1953), who married Charles Albert Robbins in 1882. After his death in 1889, she married Hiram Price Collier, a
Unitarian minister.
#
Frederic Adrian Delano
Frederic Adrian Delano II (September 10, 1863 – March 28, 1953) was an American railroad president who served as the first vice chairman of the Federal Reserve from 1914 to 1916. After his term as vice chairman, Delano continued to serve as a ...
(1863–1953), who married Matilda Anne Peasley and served as president of the
Monon Railroad
The Monon Railroad , also known as the Chicago, Indianapolis, and Louisville Railway from 1897 to 1971, was an American railroad that operated almost entirely within the state of Indiana. The Monon was merged into the Louisville and Nashville R ...
.
# Laura Franklin Delano (1864–1884), who died young and unmarried.
In 1851, Delano bought 60 acres on the
Hudson River
The Hudson River, historically the North River, is a river that flows from north to south largely through eastern New York (state), New York state. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains at Henderson Lake (New York), Henderson Lake in the ...
in
Balmville, New York
Balmville is a hamlet (and census-designated place) in Orange County, New York, United States. It is part of the Kiryas Joel–Poughkeepsie– Newburgh, NY Metropolitan Statistical Area as well as the larger New York– Newark&ndas ...
(two miles north of
Newburgh). He commissioned
Andrew Jackson Downing
Andrew Jackson Downing (October 31, 1815 – July 28, 1852) was an American landscape designer, horticulturist, writer, prominent advocate of the Gothic Revival in the United States, and editor of ''The Horticulturist'' magazine (1846–1852). ...
and
Calvert Vaux
Calvert Vaux Fellow of the American Institute of Architects, FAIA (; December 20, 1824 – November 19, 1895) was an English-American architect and landscape architect, landscape designer. He and his protégé Frederick Law Olmsted designed park ...
to remodel an existing farmhouse into an
Italianate
The Italianate style was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. Like Palladianism and Neoclassicism, the Italianate style combined its inspiration from the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century It ...
villa, naming it Algonac.
His grandson
Franklin Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), also known as FDR, was the 32nd president of the United States, serving from 1933 until his death in 1945. He is the longest-serving U.S. president, and the only one to have served ...
was married at Algonac in 1905.
Death and burial
His wife Catherine died on February 10, 1896, in
Newburgh, Massachusetts. Delano died in Algonac on January 17, 1898, of bronchial pneumonia.
After a funeral there, he was buried next to his wife in the Delano Family Tomb at
Riverside Cemetery in
Fairhaven, Massachusetts
Fairhaven (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ) is a New England town, town in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States. It is located on the South Coast (Massachusetts), South Coast of Massachusetts where the Acushnet River flows into Buzz ...
, which Delano had established in 1850. The tomb was erected in 1859 and designed by
Richard Morris Hunt
Richard Morris Hunt (October 31, 1827 – July 31, 1895) was an American architect of the nineteenth century and an eminent figure in the history of architecture of the United States. He helped shape New York City with his designs for the 1902 ...
.
[Riverside Cemetery and Crematorium]
A Brief History of Riverside Cemetery
Retrieved 9 February 2018.
Descendants
Through his daughter Sara, he was a grandfather of the 32nd
President of the United States
The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal government of t ...
Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who married his fifth cousin,
Eleanor Roosevelt
Anna Eleanor Roosevelt ( ; October 11, 1884November 7, 1962) was an American political figure, diplomat, and activist. She was the longest-serving First Lady of the United States, first lady of the United States, during her husband Franklin D ...
, and was the father of six children,
Anna Eleanor Roosevelt
Anna Eleanor Roosevelt ( ; October 11, 1884November 7, 1962) was an American political figure, diplomat, and activist. She was the longest-serving First Lady of the United States, first lady of the United States, during her husband Franklin D ...
,
James Roosevelt II, Franklin Roosevelt (who died in infancy),
Elliott Roosevelt Elliott Roosevelt may refer to:
* Elliott Roosevelt (socialite) (1860–1894), American socialite, father-in-law of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, father of Eleanor Roosevelt, younger brother of President Theodore Roosevelt, and grandfather of G ...
,
Franklin D. Roosevelt Jr., and
John Aspinwall Roosevelt II.
Through his daughter Katherine, he was a grandfather of four, including diplomat
Warren Delano Robbins
Warren Delano Robbins (September 3, 1885 – April 7, 1935) was an American diplomat and first cousin of President of the United States, President Franklin D. Roosevelt. He served as Chief of Protocol of the United States from 1931 to 1933 an ...
and
Katharine Price Collier, a
Republican U.S. Representative
The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...
who in 1917 married George St. George, third son of the second
Sir Richard St George, 2nd Baronet.
Legacy
Both
Delano, Pennsylvania
Delano is a census-designated place (CDP) in Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 377 at the 2000 census.
Geography
Delano is located at (40.839633, -76.071032). According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Delano has a t ...
, and
Delano Township, Pennsylvania
Delano Township is a township in Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania, United States. Formed in 1882 from part of Rush Township, it is named for Warren Delano Jr., maternal grandfather of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 32nd President of the United St ...
, were named for Warren Delano Jr.
Notes
References
External links
Portrait of Algonac, Delano's home north of
, now housed at the Smithsonian Institution">Newburgh, New York">Portrait of Algonac, Delano's home north of Newburgh, New York, now housed at the Smithsonian Institution
Photograph of Algonacin the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum">Franklin D. Roosevelt Library.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Delano, Jr., Warren
1809 births
1898 deaths
19th-century American merchants
American drug traffickers
Warren
Warren most commonly refers to:
* Warren (burrow), a network dug by rabbits
* Warren (name), a given name and a surname, including lists of persons so named
Warren may also refer to:
Places Australia
* Warren (biogeographic region)
* War ...
People from New Bedford, Massachusetts