Edward Henry Delafield
American politician
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Edward Henry Delafield (December 23, 1880 – December 2, 1955) was a Connecticut politician and prominent landowner.[1]
Edward Henry Delafield | |
|---|---|
| Member of the Connecticut House of Representatives | |
| In office 1945–1948 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | December 23, 1880 |
| Died | December 2, 1955 (aged 74) |
| Spouse |
Winifred Folsom
(m. 1904; died 1927) |
| Children | 4 |
| Parent(s) | Francis Delafield Katherine Van Rensselaer |
| Relatives | Floyd Delafield Crosby (nephew) |
| Education | St. Paul's School |
| Alma mater | Yale University |
Early life
Delafield was born in New York City on December 23, 1880. He was the son of Dr. Francis Delafield (1841–1915)[2] and Katherine Van Rensselaer (d. 1901), a granddaughter of Stephen Van Rensselaer III, the patroon of Rensselaerwyck.[2][3] Edward Henry Delafield's sister Julia Floyd Crosby (b. 1874) was the grandmother of musician David Crosby.
Delafield graduated from St. Paul's School in Concord, New Hampshire,[4] and later, Yale University, in 1902,[5] where his father also graduated from in 1860.[6]
Career
In 1921, at the age of 41, Edward Henry Delafield inherited a large farm in Darien, Connecticut. He retired as a broker, from the New York Stock Exchange, in 1930, and entered the real estate and insurance business.[1]
In 1944, he was elected as a Representative to the Connecticut State Legislature and was reelected in 1946.[1][7] He developed the Darien Theater block, the first Seagate subdivision and the early North Stamford properties.[8]
He founded Delafield Island and the Delafield Island Association.[9] He was president of the Weeburn Country Club, and Darien Deputy Sheriff.[10] His summer home was called Sunswick.[11]
Personal life
In October 1904, he married Winifred Folsom (1882–1927), a descendant of Peter Stuyvesant, who was the fifth daughter of George Winthrop Folsom (1846–1915)[12] of Lenox, Massachusetts, and the granddaughter of George Folsom.[13][14] They lived in Darien, Connecticut, and the marriage produced four daughters:[15][4]
- Winifred Folsom Delafield (1906-1983), who first married Donald McL. Frothingham in 1926.[16] They divorced in 1934, and later that same year, she married Francis Ernest Gay.[17]
- Elizabeth Van Rensselaer Delafield (1908-1983), who first married Robert H. Spurgeon in 1929.[18][11] She later married Frank A. Zunino Jr. (d. 1975)[19]
- Frances Katherine Delafield (1913-1995), who first married Edgar L. Stone in 1933.[20] She later married W. W. Johns[1]
- Georgette Winthrop Delafield (b. 1914), who first married Lawrence Logan Bevans in 1935.[10][21] After their divorce in October 1938, she married Floyd W. Jefferson, Jr. in 1939. He was previously married to Eleanor J. Alsop.[22] Richard Barrett[1]
Delafield died on December 2, 1955, in Stamford, Connecticut.[1]