Address Delivered at the Annual Meeting of the N.Y. State Agricultural Society ... in ..
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Address Delivered at the Annual Meeting of the N.Y. State Agricultural Society ... in ..
(
This work has been selected by scholars as being cultur...)
This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work.
This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.
As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.
John Delafield was an American merchant, farmer and banker. He was a ship owner and banker Supporter of New York Historical Society, first president of New York Phlharmonic Society, and later became farmer and then president of New York State Agricultural College.
Background
John Delafield was the eldest son of John and Ann (Hallett) Delafield. He was born on January 22, 1786 in New York City three years after his father's arrival from England. The elder Delafield had become a citizen of a country that as yet had no established national government. He soon prospered in business and gave his son as good a schooling as the New York of that period afforded.
Education
Delafield's father gave his son as good a schooling as the New York of that period afforded. The boy was graduated from Columbia College at sixteen.
Career
Going as supercargo on merchant ships Delafield made several voyages from the port of New York and after a few years became himself the owner of vessels. It was in the course of a voyage on one of his own ships that he witnessed the siege of Corunna, Spain, by the French.
When the shipping in the harbor was fired he escaped, with several members of the Spanish nobility who took refuge on his ship and sailed to England. In London he engaged in banking and for some years prospered in that undertaking.
During the War of 1812 his American citizenship caused him to be technically held as a prisoner of war, but influential family friends obtained for him unusual liberties, including permission to continue his business unmolested, so long as he kept within the limits of a certain area, having its center in London.
After the war he continued for a time to accumulate wealth, but serious reverses came in 1819 through the failure of some of his investments. It was then that Washington Irving, who had become his intimate friend, wrote for the Sketch Book the story of Delafield's experiences in the chapter entitled "The Wife, " alluding to the courageous and sweet-tempered spirit in which the bride faced the loss of home and comforts.
In the following year Delafield returned to America after a twelve years' absence, taking the cashiership and later the presidency of one of the New York banks, which he held for eighteen years, in the meantime becoming interested in various enterprises outside his business. He was active in raising funds for the University of the City of New York at the time of its founding, and took part in the revival of the New York Historical Society.
In 1838 he became president of the New York Banking Company, which had only a brief career, suffering heavy losses through the failure of Western institutions. For the second time Delafield's fortune was wiped out. He left the city and engaged in farming in Seneca County, New York. Within a few years his had become one of the model farms of the state. He gave his attention to the practical problems of drainage, soil analysis, and rotation of crops. In these matters he was far in advance of his times.
Chosen president of the State Agricultural Society, he exerted much influence in his later years in behalf of progressive and scientific farming. Two books seem to have been erroneously attributed to him - A Brief Topographical Description of the County of Washington, Ohio (1834), and Inquiry into the Origin of the Antiquities of America (Cincinnati, 1839).
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Membership
Delafield was a prominent member of the New York Philharmonic Society, was active in raising funds for the University of the City of New York at the time of its founding, and took part in the revival of the New York Historical Society.
Connections
Delafield was married to his English cousin, Mary Roberts of Whitechurch, Buckshire.
His son, John Delafield Jr. , was a graduate of Columbia College, who lived in Ohio in 1831 and for many years thereafter.