Delano family
Trademark
UnclaimedThe Delano family is a prominent American family network descended from Philippe de Lannoy, a Walloon-born Pilgrim who reached Plymouth Colony in the early seventeenth century.
Last updated August 26, 2026
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Overview
The Delano family is an American lineage whose recorded colonial progenitor was Philippe de Lannoy, also rendered Philippe de la Noye or Philip Delano. Born into a family of religious refugees associated with the French-speaking Walloon community in Leiden, he traveled to England and sailed for Plymouth Colony aboard the Fortune, arriving in November 1621. He later joined relatives connected with the Mayflower settlement and received land at Plymouth. Philippe married Hester Dewsbury in Plymouth in 1634 and subsequently married the widow Mary Pontus Glass. His children established a large New England lineage. He participated in local infrastructure and landholding, including the 1652 purchase of the Dartmouth territory, and owned property in several Massachusetts communities. His descendants became especially associated with maritime commerce, shipbuilding, whaling, trade, finance, public service, medicine, architecture, diplomacy, and the professions. Some branches later became part of the social and commercial elite sometimes described as the Boston Brahmin families. The family’s historical significance comes from the public prominence of many descendants rather than from a single commercial enterprise. The lineage includes U.S. presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt, Ulysses S. Grant, and Calvin Coolidge; astronaut Alan Shepard; author Laura Ingalls Wilder; anthropologist Robert Redfield; photographer James Whitlow Delano; actress Diane Delano; nurse and public-health organizer Jane Arminda Delano; architect William Adams Delano; and numerous merchants, mariners, bankers, diplomats, and government officials. Franklin D. Roosevelt’s mother, Sara Delano Roosevelt, came from the New York branch of the family. The family’s maritime and commercial history includes Amasa Delano, a sea captain whose account of encountering the slave ship Tryal near Chile later influenced Herman Melville’s novella Benito Cereno. Other family members, including Paul Delano, were involved in Chilean naval and commercial history. Warren Delano Jr. became wealthy through his senior role at Russell & Company and its China trade, which included the illegal opium business in Canton. This aspect of the family history reflects the moral and imperial contradictions of nineteenth-century global commerce and is an important part of the lineage’s documented record. Family branches spread from Massachusetts to Pennsylvania, New York, Ohio, Maine, Michigan, Georgia, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Oklahoma, and Chile. Places and institutions named for Delano relatives include Delano, California; Delano, Minnesota; Delano, Pennsylvania; Delano Township, Pennsylvania; and Delano Hall at the United States Merchant Marine Academy. The surname is also associated with a broader body of genealogical, immigration, maritime, political, and social history. Genealogical claims should be treated carefully: research summarized in the family’s reference literature finds no demonstrated connection between this American lineage and the European House of Lannoy.
History
The Delano family’s American history begins with Philippe de Lannoy, who was baptized in Leiden in 1603. His parents belonged to a Walloon religious-refugee community whose members had moved through the Low Countries and England during the religious conflicts of the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries. Philippe traveled to England and sailed aboard the Fortune, reaching Plymouth Colony in November 1621. He joined relatives connected to the Plymouth settlement, including his uncle Francis Cooke and cousin John Cooke, who had arrived on the Mayflower. Philippe received a Plymouth land grant in 1623, later moved to Duxbury, and married Hester Dewsbury in 1634. After her death he married Mary Pontus Glass, a widow. His family expanded through several children and later generations in southeastern Massachusetts. He was involved in local civic and infrastructure affairs, volunteered in connection with the Pequot War, and became one of the purchasers of the Dartmouth territory in 1652. His landholdings extended beyond Duxbury into Bridgewater and Middleborough. He died in the Duxbury area between August 1681 and March 1682. The subsequent lineage developed through several prominent branches. Descendants of Jonathan Delano and Mercy Warren, herself connected to the Mayflower passenger Richard Warren, included Ulysses S. Grant, Calvin Coolidge, Laura Ingalls Wilder, Robert Redfield, Alan Shepard, Hunter S. Thompson, Martina McBride, and Conrad Potter Aiken. Another branch produced Sara Delano Roosevelt, whose son Franklin D. Roosevelt became president of the United States. The family’s geographic reach expanded across much of the United States and into Chile, where descendants of Captain Paul Delano became significant in local public and naval life. During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, Delano relatives were strongly represented in maritime occupations. Amasa Delano became a captain, trader, shipbuilder, and author. In 1805 he encountered the Spanish schooner Tryal near the coast of Chile and became involved in the aftermath of a revolt by enslaved people aboard the vessel. His published account later supplied historical material for Herman Melville’s Benito Cereno. Paul Delano served in Chilean naval history, while other relatives pursued shipbuilding, whaling, and international trade. The nineteenth century also brought political, financial, and ethical complexity. Columbus Delano served as a lawyer, Ohio politician, rancher, banker, congressman, and U.S. secretary of the interior during the Grant administration. He supported federal protection for African Americans and advocated federal protection for Yellowstone, but his tenure ended amid corruption allegations and President Grant’s demand for his resignation. Warren Delano Jr. became a leading partner of Russell & Company in Canton and accumulated wealth through China trade that included opium smuggling. His career illustrates the relationship between elite American fortunes and coercive nineteenth-century commercial systems. Later descendants entered public administration, nursing, architecture, diplomacy, science, photography, entertainment, journalism, and religious leadership. Jane Arminda Delano helped establish the American Red Cross Nursing Service and died in France during the 1918 influenza pandemic while engaged in relief work. Frederic Adrian Delano was a civil engineer and civic figure in Chicago; William Adams Delano became an architect; Preston Delano served as U.S. comptroller of the currency; and later family members included physicist David Delano Clark, actress Diane Delano, photographer James Whitlow Delano, and Episcopal bishop Mary Gray-Reeves. The surname survives in geographic and institutional names, including communities in California, Minnesota, and Pennsylvania and Delano Hall at the United States Merchant Marine Academy. The family should not be treated as a unified corporation or operating brand. It is a historical genealogy whose members had separate careers, businesses, and public identities. Although the surname resembles that of the European House of Lannoy, the cited family history states that extensive research has not established a connection between the American Delano lineage and that noble European house.
- 1933
Franklin D. Roosevelt begins the presidency
[1]Franklin Delano Roosevelt becomes the 32nd president of the United States.
- 1874
Advocacy for federal protection of Yellowstone
[1]As secretary of the interior, Columbus Delano calls for Yellowstone to receive federal protection.
- 1843
Warren Delano Jr. leads Russell & Company
[1]After roughly a decade in the China trade, Warren Delano Jr. becomes head partner of the major American firm Russell & Company.
- 1805
Amasa Delano encounters the Tryal
[1]Captain Amasa Delano encounters the slave ship Tryal near Chile, an episode later associated with Benito Cereno.
- 1652
Dartmouth territory purchase
[1]Philippe becomes one of 36 purchasers of the Dartmouth territory, receiving an 800-acre share.
- 1634
Marriage to Hester Dewsbury
[1]Philippe marries Hester Dewsbury at Plymouth; their descendants help establish the later Delano lineage.
- 1623
Plymouth land grant
[1]Philippe receives land at Plymouth, beginning his documented landholding career in New England.
- 1621
Arrival in Plymouth Colony
[1]Philippe travels aboard the Fortune and reaches Plymouth Colony in November.
- 1603
Philippe de Lannoy is baptized in Leiden
[1]Philippe de Lannoy, later known in America as Philip Delano, is baptized in Leiden within the Walloon religious-refugee community.
Products and positioning
Not a commercial product brand. The Delano family is best understood as a historical American family lineage and namesake network, notable for colonial ancestry, maritime and mercantile activity, public service, political leadership, and cultural contributions.
Controversies
1875
Columbus Delano leaves the Interior Department amid corruption allegations
Columbus Delano’s tenure as U.S. secretary of the interior came under a cloud of corruption allegations, and President Ulysses S. Grant required his resignation.
1843
Warren Delano Jr. and the opium trade
Warren Delano Jr.’s fortune and senior position at Russell & Company were tied to the firm’s participation in the illegal opium trade conducted through Canton. The episode forms a controversial part of the family’s nineteenth-century commercial history and should not be confused with a family-wide corporate activity.
Brand decisions
1874
Columbus Delano advocates federal protection for YellowstoneStrategyBackground
As secretary of the interior, Columbus Delano addressed the administration of western public lands and Yellowstone.
Action taken
He demanded stronger federal protection for the Yellowstone area.
Aftermath
The proposal contributed to the historical record of federal conservation advocacy, although his departmental tenure later ended in controversy.
1652
Philippe Delano participates in the Dartmouth purchaseOtherBackground
A group of Plymouth-area purchasers acquired a large tract identified in the family history as Dartmouth territory.
Action taken
Philippe acquired an 800-acre share, later selling portions of it in separate transactions.
Aftermath
The transaction became part of the family’s early New England landholding history.
Sources1 sources
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