Peter DelanceyFrom The Peopling of New York CityPeter DeLanceyPeter DeLancey was a French merchant affiliated with the Court Party. His slave, Albany, was accused but not arrested. I began my research on Peter Delancey on ancestry.com and familysearch at the NYPL. Because there was more than one Peter DeLancey and although all the information seemed to be leading to one specific person there was not sufficient information to eliminate all the other ones until it was confirmed by the inconsistent information such as year dates that were associated with other Peter Delanceys. After this confirmation I was able to more easily search for specific information regarding Peter DeLancey from New York Burning. With the preliminary research I also found that Delancey and De Lancey are interchangeable.
Peter DeLancey is from the the DeLancey's that were a French nobility in France. His father, Stephen DeLancey, was born on October 24, 1663 in Caen, Normandie Province, France. His parents, and thus Peter's grandparents, were Seigneur Jacques de Lancy and Marguerite Bertrand.[4] (I searched on the title 'seigneur' and found that it was used for someone who had a lot of land and became a feudal lord.) Stephen DeLancey moved from France after the Edict of Nantes was revoked in 1685 to Holland, then to London, and then to NY. He sailed to New York on March 20, 1686 and arrived on June 7, 1686. In New York City, Stephen DeLancey became a merchant and was quite influential in his town. He even represented the city at one point. He used his money very wisely to help the public. For example, he helped introduce (with John Moore) the use of fire-engines in New York in 1731.[5] Based on the continuous popup of James Delancey's name, it seemed that he was the one that took after him in becoming as influential as he was in public affairs.) Stephen Delancey married Anna van Cortlandt on January 19 1700. They had 7 children: James, Peter, Oliver, Stephen, Susan, who married Admiral Sir Peter Warren, and Ann, who married John Watts, Senior.[6] James Delancey was appointed Chief Justice of New York in 1733 and in 1753 he became Lieutenant Governor. Oliver Delancey served in the French and Indian War, was elected to House of Assembly in 1759, and became a Member of the Council in 1760.[7] Peter Delancey married Elizabeth Colden and had 12 children: 1.Stephen, who was named after his grandfather. He was a lawyer, Recorder of Albany, and Clerk of Tyron County 2.John, who was a Member of the Assembly from Westchester County and High Sheriff of that county. He married a Miss Wickham. 3.Peter, who became a lawyer of Charleston, South Carolina. 4. Anne, who married Joh Coxe of Philadelphia. 5.Alice, who married Ralph Izard of South Carolina, a delegate to the Continental Congress and a US senator from South Carolina. 6.Elizabeth, who died unmarried. 7.James, who was High Sheriff of Westchester County and a Tory during the Revolution. In Nova Scotia he was appointed a Member of the Council in 1794 and died there in 1800. 8.Oliver, who was born in West Farms. He resigned his Lieutenancy in the British Navy because of his loyalty to America at the time of the Revolution. He died in Westchester on September 4, 1820. 9.Susanna, who married Colonel Thomas Barclay 10.Warren, who was drowned during his childhood. 11. Warren, who ran away from home to join the British forces. He was made a Cornet of Horse for his bravery at the Battle of White Plains. He then moved to Madison County, New York. 12. Jane, who was born on September, 5 and died on March 2, 1809. She married her cousin, John Watts, Junior, the son of John Watts, Senior.[8]
To his son, Peter, he wrote "all my mills, mill houses, mill boat, farm and lands situate in Westchester County, upon the Bronx river." Peter also received from him 3,000 pounds. Peter Delancey became known as "Peter of the Mills" because of his posession of this valuable property on the banks of the Bronx River.[10] Peter Delancey left his estate amongst 10 children and his Widow, whose share was later given to the youngest son when he came of age. All the buildings on the spot were burnt - 2 dwelling houses, 3 stories, and 2 stables. At first it was thought that the fire was accidental but reports then caused the Delanceys to believe it to have been on purpose. On record is the fact that Susanna had 1/11 of the estate of her father which consists of "divers Lots and houses" in New York. This estate was actually left undivided until 1782 and Susanna obtained one share. The whole estate was worth 7000 pounds. However, after the destruction of the houses by the fire Susanna Barclay sold her share for 250 pounds.[11] Pictured on the right is an article that attests to the prominence of the Delancey's and their property, specifically in Westchester.[12]
Peter DeLancey was a member of the Assembly from Westchester County for many years, and was High Sheriff of Westchester County.[13] He defeated Lewis Morris for a New York Assembly seat in Westchester County in 1752. When this happened, Morris complained that Peter used "threatening and bribery...barefacedly" but he did not follow with ths claim.[14]
My next stop was the New York Historical Society. I searched on the society's catalog for Peter Delancey. I found some books that I already looked at by the New York Public Library and some papers that, according to site, can only be used by "qualified researchers". As soon as I got excited that I found manuscripts which included information on Peter Delancey I was let down by the statement about qualified researchers. However, after speaking to the person in charge of the manuscripts I found that I was able to and quickly gave him the call numbers to Family Papers by James Delancey and the Family Papers by Nicolls Colins which, according to the site, included information on the Delancey family. The manuscript director then returned with 3 huge boxes of manuscripts by James Delancey and a 2 small ones for Colins and I quickly began to pore over the ancient ripped papers from the 1700s. I really felt like a historian at that point. They included receipts, invoices, coresspondences, wills, indentures, and legal documents. It was so hard to decipher the handwriting but nevertheless I went about to search for the name Peter Delancey through the hundreds of papers by trying to narrow down where I might find him. Much to my disappointment, I could not find anything on him through these papers. I searched and searched until I had to return them because they were closing. But I have to admit, it was kind of cool looking through actual papers from the 1700s. (I actually found it interesting the way they used to "staple" papers together.) While researching for information on Peter Delancey, I found that his children continued to hold the high status of the Delanceys. Many books that mentioned Peter for just a sentence or so were either about or included information on his children. Up to now, I did not take note of the stories and facts I found on his children because I was focusing on Peter Delancey. However, because I didn't seem to find any more information besides for what I already have found, I decided to move on to research on some of his children and the legacy Peter Delancey left behind. Ironically, when I started doing this, I found a little more on Peter Delancey and it pushed me to keep searching for him. I then realized there was no more time to organize specific narratives on the children. Along the way, two other interesting advertisements regarding Peter Delancey are below. I am unsure of their significance. I tried searching on google and Google Books but have not found anything on them.
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