Maj. Gen. Oliver de Lancey, Sr.

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Maj. Gen. Oliver de Lancey, Sr.

Also Known As: "Delancey"
Birthdate:
Birthplace: New York, New York
Death: October 27, 1785 (77)
Beverly, Yorkshire, England (United Kingdom)
Immediate Family:

Son of Etienne de Lancy - Stephen DeLancey and Anna de Lancy
Husband of Phila de Lancey
Father of Susannah Draper; Ann DeLancey; Stephen de Lancey, Governor of Tobago; General Oliver de Lancey; Charlotte Dundas and 2 others
Brother of Col. James De Lancey, Acting Governor of New York; Pieter de Lancey; Susannah Warren and Anne Watts

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About Maj. Gen. Oliver de Lancey, Sr.

Oliver DeLancey in wikipedia
~• had and estate above his sister's (Lady Warren) on the Hudson-Greenwich Village area (later) See the 1767 Ratzer map
Major-General Oliver De Lancey (1718–1785), also known as Oliver DeLancey and Oliver de Lancey, was a merchant, a Loyalist politician and soldier during the American War of Independence.

Biography

De Lancey was the son of Etienne DeLancey and Anne Van Cortland, born on September 17, 1718 in New York City. From 1754 to 1757 he served as a New York City alderman for the Out Ward and a member of the New York assembly from New York County from 1756 to 1761. During the French and Indian War he was selected by the New York Assembly, with the support from his brother James DeLancey the acting governor, to provide provisions for New York provincial units. He commanded a provincial detachment in the Ticonderoga campaign of 1758. In 1766, he was one of the judges in the Pendergast case, where the alleged leader of the Dutchess County land rebels was convicted and sentenced to death.

In 1768, he allied himself with Isaac Sears and the Sons of Liberty. He spoke out against the Boston Port Bill, but did not support non-importation. He was one of the persons responsible for the creation of the Committee of Fifty. He was a member of Governor William Tryon's executive council from 1760 until the American War of Independence.

In 1773 he was appointed colonel in chief of the Southern Military District. De Lancey was a senior Loyalist officer in the American War of Independence. He joined General Howe on Staten Island in 1776, and raised and equipped the DeLancey's Brigade of three battalions consisting of 1,500 loyalist volunteers from the state of New York, and served as commanding officer on Long Island.

His mansion was plundered in November 1777 and confiscated in October 1779. He left New York for England in 1783, and died on October 27, 1785, in Beverley, Yorkshire. He was buried in Beverley Minster, where his grave and memorial can be visited.

Family

De Lancey married Phila, daughter of Jacob and Abigail Franks of New York,[4] and had at least two sons:

Stephen (1748–1798) who became clerk of the city and county of Albany in 1785, lieutenant-colonel of the 1st New Jersey loyal volunteers in 1782, afterwards chief justice of the Bahamas, and in 1796 governor of Tobago. He married Cornelia, daughter of the Rev. H. Barclay of Trinity Church, New York. They had several children including William Howe DeLancey a British staff officer mortally wounded at the Battle of Waterloo.

Oliver (c. 1749–1822), who became a general in the British Army, and who also had a son called Oliver (1803–1837) who served as a British Army officer and was killed in action while fighting for the British Legion during the First Carlist War.

DeLanceys are included here By Lorenenzo Sabine; a more contemporary appraisal.



Major-General Oliver De Lancey, also known as Oliver De Lancey, Sr., and the Outlaw of the Bronx, was a merchant and Loyalist politician and soldier, during the American Revolutionary War. His surname is sometimes written, as de Lancey or Delancey.

The son of Etienne Delancey and Anne Van Cortland (Cortlandt), Oliver De Lancey was born on September 17, 1718, in New York City, Province of New York. Oliver was the brother of James De Lancey, of the British Loyalist unit, De Lancey's Brigade, during the American Revolutionary War. The De Lancey family was of Huguenot descent. From 1754-1757, De Lancey served as a New York alderman for the Out Ward and was a member of the New York assembly from New York County from 1756-1761.

During the French and Indian War, Oliver De Lancey was selected by the New York Assembly, with the support of his brother James De Lancey, the acting Governor, to provide provisions for New York provincial units. During the war, De Lancey commanded the New York Provincial Militia, 1755-1763, and commanded a provincial detachment in the Ticonderoga campaign of 1758. In 1766, De Lancey was one of the judges in the Pendergast case, where the alleged leader of the Dutchess County land rebels was convicted and sentenced to death.

Oliver De Lancey was a member of the provincial executive council, from 1760, until the American Revolutionary War. In 1768, he allied himself with Isaac Sears and the Sons of Liberty. De Lancey spoke out against the Boston Port Act, of 1774, but did not support non-importation. He was one of the persons responsible, for the creation of the Committee of Fifty. In 1773, he was appointed colonel in chief, of the Southern Military District.

Oliver De Lancey was a senior Loyalist officer, during the American Revolutionary War. De Lancey joined General Howe, on Staten Island, in 1776, and raised and equipped, the three battalions, with his brother, James, of DeLancey's Brigade, consisting of 1,500 loyalist volunteers from the Province of New York, and served as commanding officer on Long Island.

The house of Oliver De Lancey was plundered, by Patriots, in November, 1777 and confiscated in October, 1779.

In the fall of 1742, Oliver De Lancey secretly married Phila Franks, the daughter of a prominent and successful New York Jewish family. For six months, they kept the match secret, but in the spring of 1743, Phila announced the union and went to live with her husband. The letters of Abigail Franks, Phila's mother, to her son Naphtali in England speak of her sense of betrayal and her pain, and she never spoke to Phila again. Her husband, on the other hand, accepted the marriage.

Phila and Oliver de Lancey had at least two sons and a daughter:

Stephen (1748–1798) who became clerk of the city and county of Albany in 1785, Lieutenant Colonel of the 1st New Jersey Loyal Volunteers in 1782, afterwards Chief Justice of the Bahamas, and in 1796 Governor of Tobago. He married Cornelia, daughter of the Rev. H. Barclay of Trinity Church, New York. They had several children, including William Howe De Lancey, a British staff officer mortally wounded at the Battle of Waterloo. Oliver (c. 1749–1822), who became a general in the British Army, and who also had a son called Oliver (1803–1837) who served as a British Army officer and was killed in action while fighting for the British Legion during the First Carlist War. Susanna De Lancey who married William Draper

He left New York for England in 1783, and died on October 27, 1785, in Beverley, Yorkshire. He was buried in Beverley Minster, where his grave and memorial can be visited.

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Maj. Gen. Oliver de Lancey, Sr.'s Timeline

1708
September 1, 1708
New York, New York
1742
1742
England, United Kingdom
1744
1744
1748
1748
New York, New York, United States
1749
1749
1785
October 27, 1785
Age 77
Beverly, Yorkshire, England (United Kingdom)
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