Etienne DeLancey
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Etienne DeLancey (1663 - 1741) was the only son of Jacques DeLancey and Margaret Bertrand. The DeLancey 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 1400s, successive generations of the DeLancey 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.
Born in Caen, France in 1663, Etienne DeLancey was forced to flee bitter persecution by French Catholics following the October 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" from King James II on March 11, 1686.
Soon afterwards, Etienne sailed for the English Colonies in America, landing in New York City on June 7, 1686. Exactly one month later (July 7), he obtained letters of denization in New York from Governor Dongan, and on September 7, 1687, took the Oath of Allegiance to the British Crown under the Colonial Act of 1683. It is at this time that he anglicized both his Christian and surnames, becoming Stephen DeLancey.
On January 23, 1700, Etienne married Anne Van Cortland, third child of Chief Justice of Colonial New York Stephanus Van Cortland, and his wife Gertrude Schuyler. They had ten children, only five of whom survived infancy. The three surviving sons (James, Peter, and Oliver) and two daughters (Susannah and Anne) all married and had issue. In the summer of 1700, Etienne began construction of a house at 54 Pearl Street in New York City, on land given to his wife by her father as a wedding gift to the young couple. In 1762 the house was sold by Etiennes' hiers at auction to Samuel Fraunces, who converted it into the Queen Charlotte Tavern (the house still stands today, and is known as Fraunces Tavern).
Etienne was to become one of the most successful merchants in Colonial New York, with his well-known granary, wharehouse and retail store, known to all as "DeLancey and Co." By the 1730s, Etienne had become such a prosperous merchant that he was able to build a large mansion on Broadway, just above Trinity Church. The mansion was eventually demolished in 1792 to build the City Hotel, and the site is now occupied by the Boreil Building.
Etienne played an active role in the life of the city, serving in the New York Assembly for a total of twenty-six years. He is also credited with having presented as gifts to the city its first Town Clock and its first Fire Engine. At the time of his death on November 18, 1741, Etienne DeLancey left and estate valued in excess of $100,000 British Pounds (approximately $18,000,000 in US Dollars today).
Etienne DeLancey and Anne Van Cortland had three sons: James DeLancey (1703-1760); Peter DeLancey (1705-1770); and, Oliver DeLancey (1708-1785). James became Chief Justice of the Supreme Court for the Province of New York, in addition to serving as Lieutenant Governor of New York. Peter became a merchant, maintaining a large mill in what is now the Bronx, and served in the New York Provincial Assembly for many years. Oliver, also a merchant, became a Brigadier General in the British Army during the American Revolution. Etienne and Anne also had two daughters: Susannah DeLancey (1707-1771), who married Admiral Sir Peter Warren; and, Anne DeLancey (1713-?) who married John Watts, a prominent businessman of the day.
Source: D.A. Story, "The DeLancey's: Romance of a Great Family, Toronto: Nelson & Sons, 1931.
