... John Delafield, Sr., the founder of the well-known New York family of that name, was born at Aylesbury, Bucks, England, March 16, 1748, hereditary count of the Holy Roman Empire and the oldest lineal representative of the Delafields, who for centuries had been large landed proprietors in the shires of Buckingham and Oxford. In 1783 he emigrated to this country, taking passage upon the Vigilante. This ship carried letters of marque, and captured a French vessel on the way over. Young Delafield volunteered in the fight, and received L100 as his share of the prize money. Upon reaching New York he was welcomed as the bearer of a manuscript copy of the treaty of peace, which had been entrusted to him by an officer in the British service at the moment of sailing. The official copy had been forwarded, but the vessel bearing it did not arrive for several days. Mr. Delafield became on of the merchant princes of that period, retiring in 1798 with a large fortune. He was a founder and director of the Mutual Insurance Co., established in 1787, the first company of the kind organized after the revolution. In 1792 he became a director of the New York branch of the U.S. Bank, and in 1796 he was one of the forty gentlemen who subscribed $10,000 each and funded the united Insurance Co., of which he was president for many years. He was at the head of private underwriters, and during the period when American sea traffic suffered from British and French aggression, sacrificed his entire capital to make good the losses thus incurred, though not legally bound to do so. He also mortgaged his country mansion, "Sunswick," opposite Blackwell's island, where Ravenswood, Long Island, now stands. This was then one of the handsomest and most spacious private houses near New York City. Mr. Delafield died on July 3, 1824. ...
