Stephen Etienne Delancey (1663 - 1741)

Born 24 Oct 1663 in Caen, Calvados, Normandy, France

Husband of Anna (van Cortlandt) Delancey — married 23 Jan 1700 in New York City, New York

Descendants

Died 18 Nov 1741 at age 78 in New York City, New York

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Stephen Delancey was a Huguenot.

Biography

Stephen (Etienne) Delancey (October 24, 1663 - November 18, 1741) was a major figure in the life of colonial New York. His children continued to wield great influence until the American Revolution.

Born in Caen, France on Oct 24, 1663 as Etienne de Lancey, he was the only son of Jacques de Lancey and Margaret Bertrand. The de Lancey family were minor French nobility ("Noblesse de France Royale") and, despite being of the Huguenot faith, served the French Crown as administrators and bureaucrats for over two hundred years.

Dating back to the early 15th century, successive generations of the de Lancey family held the titles of Vicomte de Laval et de Nouvion, Vicomte de Laonnais, Baron de Raray, and Seigneur de Nery et de Faverolles, Verines, Ribencourt, et Arment.

In 1686, Etienne de Lancey was forced to flee bitter persecution by French Catholics following the Oct 18, 1685 revocation of the Edict of Nantes by Louis XIV, in which some two hundred thousand Huguenots left their native land. Escaping first to Rotterdam with approximately 300 British Pounds' worth of family jewels sewn into his clothing, Etienne sailed to England, obtaining an "Act of Denization" (naturalization) from King James II on March 3, 1686.

Soon afterwards, Etienne sailed for the English Colonies in America, landing in New York City on June 6, 1686. Almost exactly one month later (July 7), he obtained additional letters of denization in New York from Governor Dongan, and on Sept 9th, 1687, took the Oath of Allegiance to the British Crown under the Colonial Act of 1683. It is at this time that he anglicized his name, becoming Stephen Delancey.

On Jan 23rd, 1700, Delancey married Anne van Cortlandt, third child of Chief Justice of the Province of New York Stephanus van Cortlandt, and his wife Gertrude Schuyler. They had ten children, only five of whom survived infancy. The eldest two sons Stephen and Jacques died in infancy, the three surviving sons (James (1703-1760), Peter (1705-1770), and Oliver (1708-1785)) all married and had issue.

Stephen and Anne also had two daughters: Susannah de Lancey (1707-1771), who married Admiral Sir Peter Warren, and Anne de Lancey (1713-?) who married John Watts, a prominent businessman of the day.

Delancey was to become one of the most successful merchants in the colony of New York with his well-known granary, warehouse and retail store, known to all as "Delancey and Co."

Stephen Delancey played an active role in the life of the city, serving as an Alderman for several years, and both a member of the Province of New York Provincial Assembly and State Senator.

1725: Stephen De Lancey is doing business with prominent Jewish businessman David Elias of South Hampton, Suffolk County. Stephen's son Brig. Gen. Oliver Delancey later married (in 1743) Phila Franks, whose family was connected with the same early Jewish merchant community of New York.^[1][2]

1740: "Stephen DeLancey, Church of England, New York City merchant" takes the oath of loyalty to the British crown, under the Naturalization Act of 1740.^[3]

Sources

1. ↑ HERSHKOWITZ, LEO. “Original Inventories of Early New York Jews (1682–1763).” American Jewish History, vol. 90, no. 4, 2002, p,404:
   • www.jstor.org/stable/23887216 (accessed 7 Sep 2020)
2. ↑ Hershkowitz, p.408: Stephen Delancey [sic] is cited as a merchant who, along with Abraham de Lucena and others, petitioned New York governor Edward Cornbury "to prevent the debasement of currency". The controversial Cornbury was first cousin of Queen Anne via their common grandfather Sir Edward Hyde.
3. ↑ New York Genealogical and Biographical Record, July 1963: Vol. 94, issue 3, p.135.

• Wikipedia Stephen De Lancey, accessed 23 March 2012.

• Kenneth T. Jackson: The Encyclopedia of New York City: The New York Historical Society; Yale University Press; 1995. P. 324.

• The Delanceys: A Romance of a Great Family. by DA Story. Published Halifax, NS, 1931. Accessed Priauix Library, Guernsey, CI, October 2015.

• George Lockhart Rives: Genealogical Notes (New York: Knickerbocker, 1914).

Acknowledgements

• This person was created on 13 September 2010 through the import of 124-DeCoursey.ged.

• Delancey-33 was created by Veronica Williams through the import of DELANCEY - St Helena Connections_2012-03-23_2014-12-01.ged on Nov 30, 2014.

• Erin M Delancey