Philip Delano

Philip Delano (c. 1603 – c. 1681-82) arrived in Plymouth Colony in November 1621 on the voyage of the ship Fortune. He was about 16 years of age on arrival and may have been a servant of one of the Fortune passengers. Mayflower passenger Francis Cooke was his uncle with whom he may initially have resided. Philip Delano lived a long life in Plymouth Colony where he became a person of some note, being involved in numerous governmental activities such as civil commissions and juries. Among his early activities was in becoming a very young (investment) Purchaser in 1626 and making the first recorded land sale in Plymouth after the institution of private property. At his death it is believed he had become a person of some wealth.^[1][2]

Philip Delano died in Duxbury, Massachusetts between August 22, 1681 and March 4, 1681/82. His burial place is unknown.^[3][4]

French language and Walloon ancestry

Philip Delano was baptized in the Waloon church of Leiden, Holland on November 6, 1603. His parents are recorded as Jan de Lano of Tourcoing and Mary Mahieu of Lille in French Flanders, who were betrothed on January 13, 1596 in the same Walloon church. His father died within a year or two, and his mother became betrothed to Robert Mannoo, a woolcomber from Namur in Wallonia on February 18, 1605. Philip grew up in Leiden, but further details are unknown. Per author Eugene Stratton, Philip was a member of the Separatist church in Leiden, born of French parents and had been in communion with the French (Walloon) church. In the 17th century the Walloons were French-speaking people (Protestants or Catholics) from the Low Countries, in today's Belgium and French Flanders.

Family name

Over the years, names of various spellings have been attributed to him. Banks has him as Phillipe de la Noye, although the original spelling of the name is « de Lannoy ». In the 1623 Division of Land he is listed as Philipe de la Noye. In both the 1626 Purchasers list and 1633/34 tax list he is Phillip Delanoy. In the next generation the name changed, with his son Thomas listing his surname as "De Lano". His father's name at marriage and death is recorded in Dutch church records as Jan Lano.

In New England

In November 1621 Philip Delano arrived in Plymouth Colony as a single man on the ship Fortune. Banks states that he was 16 years of age when he arrived and must at this time have been a servant of one of the other passengers, as he was a minor.^[1][3]

He may have lived first in Plymouth with an aunt and uncle, Mayflower passenger Francis Cooke and his wife Hester (Mahieu).^[2]

In the 1623 Division of Land he is listed as Philipe de la Noye.

Delano was one of the Purchasers (or Old Purchasers) which were heads of families resident in Plymouth in 1626 and were later given special privileges which allowed them advantageous grants of free land. In late 1626 Isaac Allerton had reached an agreement with their colony financial backers in London, the Adventurers, that the colony would buy their debts from the London backers and form their own group in Plymouth, the Undertakers, which would assume the debt. The agreement was signed in Plymouth on behalf of the Purchasers by 27 men with Delano signing as “Phillip Delanoy”.

In 1627 Delano made the first recorded land sale in Plymouth after institution of private property (from his share of the 1623 land division). The land was one acre on the north side of town sold to Stephen Deane.

In 1633 Delano was on the freeman list.

In 1637 Delano volunteered for the Pequot War.^[1]

On October 2, 1637 Delano was given forty acres of land in Duxbury, adjoining the lands of John Alden and Edward Bumpus.^[5]

Philip Delano served on various juries and commissions, especially grand juries.

For several years Delano was appointed surveyor and resided in Duxbury by 1639.

In 1641 Philip Delano deposed that he was about thirty-six years old.^[5]

Delano was on the 1662 list of first-born children to get land at Middleborough.^[5]

Family

The number of children that Philip Delano had is not certain, their birth years or which of his two wives bore them. The following is the current estimate:^[2][6]

Philip married:

1. Hester Dewsbery/Dewsbury on December 19, 1634 in Plymouth. She died between 1648 and 1653. Her burial place is unknown.

2. Mary (Pontus) Glass, widow of James, sometime between September 3, 1652 (death of James Glass) and December 3, 1659. Her father was William Pontus, died before March 4, 1652/53. Her burial place is unknown.^[7]

Children attributed to Philip and Hester Delano:

• Mary was born about 1635 and died childless. She married Jonathan Dunham on November 29, 1655.
• Philip was born about 1637 and died in Duxbury in December 1708. He married Elizabeth Sampson about 1670 and had five children.
• Thomas was born about 1639 and died in Duxbury on April 13, 1723. He married Rebecca Alden by 1667 and had nine children. It was known that Thomas married a daughter of Mayflower passenger John Alden, but which daughter has been controversial, although believed to be Rebecca. They witnessed a deed as “Thomas De Lano” and “Rebecca De Lano”. Thomas Delano and his wife were both buried in Myles Standish Burying Ground, Duxbury, Mass.^[5][6]
• Esther was born about 1641. She was not named in her father’s estate and may have been deceased by then (1681).
• John was born about 1644 and died in Duxbury after September 5, 1721. He married Mary Weston by about 1679 and had six children.
• Jonathan was born about 1648 and died in Dartmouth on December 28, 1720. He married Mercy Warren on February 28, 1677/78 and had thirteen children. Mercy was a granddaughter of Mayflower passenger Richard Warren. Jonathan Delano and his wife were both buried in Acushnet Cemetery, Acushnet, Mass.

Children attributed to Philip and Mary Delano:

• Jane was born about 1655. She was living at the settlement of her father’s estate in 1682. There is no further information.
• Rebecca was born about 1657 and died in Plymouth on April 7, 1709. She married John Churchill on December 28, 1686 and had five children. She was buried at Burial Hill, Plymouth, Mass.
• Samuel was born about 1659 and died in Duxbury before August 9, 1728. He married Elizabeth Standish by 1679 and had nine children. Elizabeth was a granddaughter of Mayflower passenger Myles Standish. Samuel and his wife Elizabeth were both buried in Myles Standish Burying Ground, Duxbury, Mass.
• (a daughter) was born about 1661. Nothing further is known about her birth and is based on the wording of various bequests in Philip’s will.^[2][3]

Death and burial of Philip Delano

Philip Delano died in Duxbury, Massachusetts between August 22, 1681 (date of memorandum serving as will) and March 4, 1681/2 (date of inventory). Per the Duxbury Rural and Historical Society, there are no records of his burial place. But it is likely that he was buried in the Myles Standish Burying Ground in Duxbury as he was a member of the church there and many of his descendants were buried there. ^[2][8]

His estate and heirs

On July 5, 1682 Philip Delano’s sons Thomas and Samuel (Samuel being called the only son of the second wife) agreed to follow what they knew to be the intent of their father, now deceased, for the distribution of his estate; his other children sharing the estate being John, Jane, Rebecca and Philip.^[5][6]

References