# John Delafield

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**John Delafield** (March 16, 1748 – July 3, 1824) was an [English-American](/source/English_Americans) businessman and diplomat. Known for his 1783 delivery of the [Treaty of Paris](/source/Treaty_of_Paris_(1783)), Delafield would settle in [New York City](/source/New_York_City), achieving further financial prosperity there.[1][2][3]

## Early life

Delafield was born in England on March 16, 1748, in [Cripplegate](/source/Cripplegate), [London](/source/London). He was the son of John Delafield (1714–1763), an affluent cheese merchant, and Martha ( Dell) Delafield (1719–1761). Among his siblings were Joseph Delafield, Martha Delafield (wife of William Arnold and mother of Dr. [Thomas Arnold](/source/Thomas_Arnold)),[4] and William Unsworth Delafield (who died in [West Bengal, India](/source/West_Bengal,_India) in 1771), among others.[5]

His paternal grandparents were John Delafield and Sarah ( Goodwin) Delafield.[5] His maternal grandparents were John Dell and Susannah ( Farnborough) Dell.[6]

## Career

Delafield was among the first Englishmen to settle in America as the [Revolutionary War](/source/American_Revolutionary_War) came to a close. Arriving in New York City in the spring of 1783, while it was still under [British control](/source/British_Empire), he brought with him the first copy of the [provisional treaty](/source/Treaty) of peace between the United States and Great Britain.[1][2][3]

He was said to have arrived with significant [wealth](/source/Wealth), holding the title of “Count of the Holy Roman Empire” by descent, and by the [turn of the century](/source/Turn_of_the_century), had become one of New York's wealthiest individuals, earning the title "one of the fathers of [Wall Street](/source/Wall_Street)." His [mansion](/source/Mansion), located across the [East River](/source/East_River) from New York City, was a grand estate where he lived with his wife, Ann Hallett—herself from a notable Revolutionary family—and their eleven children. He was an original director of the [Mutual Insurance Company of New York](/source/Mutual_Insurance_Company_of_New_York), established by [Alexander Hamilton](/source/Alexander_Hamilton) in 1787, and later became president of the United Insurance Company.[1][2]

## Personal life

Delafield was married to Ann Hallett (1766–1839), a daughter of Joseph Hallett III and Elizabeth ( Hazard) Hallett. Among her siblings was Maria Hallett, the second wife of [U.S. Representative](/source/U.S._Representative) [Benjamin Tallmadge](/source/Benjamin_Tallmadge). Together, they lived at 16 [Wall Street](/source/Wall_Street) in [New York City](/source/New_York_City), and were the parents of eleven children, including:[7]

- John Delafield III (1786–1853), who married Harriet Wadsworth Tallmadge, a daughter of his uncle, [Benjamin Tallmadge](/source/Benjamin_Tallmadge), from his first marriage to Mary Floyd (a daughter of [signer](/source/United_States_Declaration_of_Independence) [William Floyd](/source/William_Floyd)).[8]
- [Joseph Delafield](/source/Joseph_Delafield) (1790–1875), who married [Julia Livingston](/source/Julia_Livingston), a daughter of [Maturin Livingston](/source/Maturin_Livingston) and [Margaret Lewis Livingston](/source/Margaret_Lewis_Livingston) (only daughter and heiress of Gov. [Morgan Lewis](/source/Morgan_Lewis_(governor))).[9]
- William Delafield (1792–1853), a merchant.[10]
- Henry Delafield (1792–1875), a merchant who married Mary ( Parish) Monson, a daughter of Penn Parish and widow of Judge [Levinus Monson](/source/Levinus_Monson), in 1865.[10]
- [Edward Delafield](/source/Edward_Delafield) (1794–1875), a doctor who married Elinor Elizabeth Elwyn, a daughter of Thomas Elwyn. After her death in 1834, he married Julia Floyd, a daughter of Nicoll Floyd (and granddaughter of [William Floyd](/source/William_Floyd)).[11]
- [Richard Delafield](/source/Richard_Delafield) (1798–1873), who married Harriet Baldwin Covington, a daughter of Gen. Elijah Moorman Covington, in 1833.[12]
- [Rufus King Delafield](/source/Rufus_King_Delafield) (1802–1874), who married Eliza Bard, the daughter of [William Bard](/source/William_Bard), in 1836.[13]
- Susan Maria Delafield (1805–1861), who married merchant Henry Parish, a son of Jacob Parish and brother to Daniel Parish.[14]

His summer residence, on 140-acres, built in 1791 on the [East River](/source/East_River) opposite [Blackwell's Island](/source/Blackwell's_Island), was known as" Sunswick" and was one of the largest and best appointed private houses near New York.[15]

He died on July 3, 1824, at the age of 76.[3]

## References

1. admin (2024-05-24). ["Revolutionary War Biographies"](https://www.green-wood.com/2024/revolutionary-war-biographies/). *Green-Wood*. Retrieved 2024-10-07.

1. ["John Delafield (1748-1824) - American Aristocracy"](https://americanaristocracy.com/people/john-delafield). *americanaristocracy.com*. Retrieved 2024-10-07.

1. Greene, Richard Henry; Stiles, Henry Reed; Dwight, Melatiah Everett; Morrison, George Austin; Totten, John Reynolds; Mott, Hopper Striker; Ditmas, Charles Andrew; Pitman, Harold Minot; Forest, Louis Effingham De (1876). [*The New York Genealogical and Biographical Record*](https://books.google.com/books?id=0pUyAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA91). New York Genealogical and Biographical Society.

1. Sinclair, William Macdonald (1896). [*Leaders of Thought in the English Church*](https://books.google.com/books?id=Bx1JAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA301). Hodder and Stoughton. p. 301. Retrieved 21 November 2024.

1. Delafield, John Ross (1945). [*Delafield, The Family History, by Brig. Gen. John Ross Delafield*](https://archive.org/details/delafieldfamilyh00dela). New York: Private Printing. Retrieved 21 November 2024.

1. Wilson, James Grant; Fiske, John; Dick, Charles; Homans, James Edward; Fay, John William; Linen, Herbert M.; Dearborn, L. E. (1926). [*The Cyclopædia of American Biography*](https://books.google.com/books?id=SJmdsje6DakC&pg=PA329-IA1). Press association compilers, Incorporated. Retrieved 21 November 2024.

1. Browning, Charles Henry (1891). [*Americans of Royal Descent: A Collection of Genealogies of American Families Whose Lineage is Traced to the Legitimate Issue of Kings*](https://books.google.com/books?id=dIUaAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA171). Porter & Costes. p. 171. Retrieved 21 November 2024.

1. ["Harriet Tallmadge Delafield"](https://ledger.litchfieldhistoricalsociety.org/ledger/students/6561). *ledger.litchfieldhistoricalsociety.org*. Litchfield Ledger. Retrieved 21 November 2024.

1. [*The Saint Nicholas Society of the City of New York: History, Customs, Record of Events, Constitution, Certain Genealogies, and Other Matters of Interest. V. 1-*](https://books.google.com/books?id=U8kpAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA45). [Saint Nicholas Society of the City of New York](/source/Saint_Nicholas_Society_of_the_City_of_New_York). 1905. p. 45. Retrieved 21 November 2024.

1. Pelletreau, William Smith (1907). [*Historic Homes and Institutions and Genealogical and Family History of New York*](https://books.google.com/books?id=5WxoOvnQgMQC&pg=PA273). Lewis Publishing Company. p. 273. Retrieved 21 November 2024.

1. ["Celebrating our Local History… Through the Eyes of Julia Floyd Delafield – Mastics-Moriches-Shirley Community Library"](https://www.communitylibrary.org/blog/2021/03/04/celebrating-our-local-history-through-the-eyes-of-julia-floyd-delafield/). *www.communitylibrary.org*. Mastics-Moriches-Shirley Community Library. Retrieved 21 November 2024.

1. Baldwin, Charles Candee (1889). [*The Baldwin Genealogy Supplement*](https://books.google.com/books?id=IbowAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA1056). Cleveland leader. print. p. 1056. Retrieved 21 November 2024.

1. Helffenstein, Abraham Ernest (1911). [*Pierre Fauconnier and His Descendants: With Some Account of the Allied Valleaux*](https://archive.org/details/pierrefauconnie00helfgoog). Press of S. H. Burbank & Company. p. [95](https://archive.org/details/pierrefauconnie00helfgoog/page/n139). Retrieved 12 August 2019.

1. ["Henry Parish (1788-1856)"](https://americanaristocracy.com/people/henry-parish). *americanaristocracy.com*. American Aristocracy. Retrieved 21 November 2024.

1. Talmadge, Arthur White (1909). [*The Talmadge, Tallmadge and Talmage genealogy; being the descendants of Thomas Talmadge of Lynn, Massachusetts, with an appendix including other families*](https://archive.org/details/talmadgetallmadg00intalm). New York: The Grafton press. Retrieved November 10, 2016.

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