US Congressman, Presidential Cabinet Secretary. Born in Vermont but raised in Ohio, he was a lawyer and Whig party loyalist who represented the Buckeye State in Congress from 1845 to 1847. When the Whig Party folded he became a Republican actively backing Abraham Lincoln's 1860 presidential run. In 1862 he lost, by two votes, a bid to become a member of the United States Senate. However he successfully ran again for the United States House of Representatives, serving in Congress from 1865 to 1869. He was commissioner of Internal Revenue from 1869 to 1870 and was appointed Secretary of Interior by President Ulysses S. Grant in November of 1870. Although he served in this position longer than any other nineteenth century incumbent, the scandals which plagued the Grant administration forced him to resign his position in 1875. He returned to Mount Vernon, Ohio where for the next twenty years he practiced law, served as a bank president and promoted higher education. The town of Delano, California was named in his honor in 1873. (bio by: Bigwoo)

Mr. Delano was Prosecuting Attorney of Knox County, Ohio. He was a delegate to the National Convention, which nominated Abraham Lincoln for President. He was appointed Commissary General of Ohio, was elected to the House of Representatives, was a member of the 29th, 39th and 40th Congresses, was appointed Commissioner of Internal Revenue by President Grant. The Mount Vernon Nazarene College Administration Building was his former home, “Lakehome”.

Burial: Mound View Cemetery Mount Vernon Knox County Ohio, USA

Sources:

• http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=12928735
• http://www.findagrave.com/php/famous.php?FScemeteryid=42228&page=cem
• http://www.hiawathagolf.com/assets/moundviewwalkingtour.pdf