Thank You to the Fairhaven Historical Commission
On behalf of the Delano Kindred, I thank the Town of Fairhaven, especially Doug Brady of the Historical Commission, who championed the effort to replace the deteriorating Delano Cemetery sign with a new bold one. (See FNN 5/28/26.) Thanks also to Brian Messier, Historical Commission member, and Keith Silvia, Select Board member, who, along with Doug did the physical labor of installing the new sign at the southern end of Sconitcut Neck Road.
For the last few Delano Reunions in Fairhaven many wondered about the three lonely headstones there with only death dates inscribed and names barely readable after more than 200 years. The Millicent Library website had photos only of the headstones but with no information about birthdates or anything more about these early settlers.
Now, because of Muriel Cushing’s research, as a genealogist and historian for the Mayflower Society, we know the vital statistics of the first seven generations of Delanos in North America starting with Philippe De Lannoy (anglicized Philip Delano) who arrived at Plymouth Colony on the ship Fortune in 1621 following his uncle and cousin, Francis and John Cooke, who arrived on the Mayflower in 1620. Philip was part of the Dartmouth land purchase from the Indian Sachems Wosamequrn and Wamsutta in 1652. Philip’s grandson, Jonathan, and his descendants settled in what is now Fairhaven.
Captain Joshua, we now know, was Jonathan’s grandson and it is his cemetery that is located at 898 Sconticut Neck Road at Palmer Street near the southernmost part of the Neck. We learned that Captain Joshua Delano (b. 29 Jan. 1746 d. 20 May 1819) and his wife Patience Snow (b. 1751 d. 15 Oct. 1829) had 12 children. One of their youngest daughters, Silvia (b. 4 May 1792 d. 31 Oct. 1807), was the first headstone because, sadly, she died young, preceding her parents. We learned that Joshua was involved in farming, saltworks, whaling and had a warfe[sic]. We learned that a large part of his property called “Angelico” was washed into the sea and destroyed by the “great gale” (hurricane) of 1815. We also learned what we now call Wilbur Point at the southern tip of the Neck was originally 90 acres sold by the Delano family to Edwin Wilbur in 1877 with the idea of building summer cottages.
But mostly, we now have a fuller appreciation of these early settlers who contributed to shaping our nation well before the founding of the republic. They lived through the American Revolution with their land rooted in the same place as the area evolved from being called Dartmouth to New Bedford to the formation of the Town of Fairhaven in 1812. We are inspired by all that they endured and accomplished through sheer force of will, persistence, and hard work.
And, as we celebrate our 250th anniversary as a nation, let us remember our forebears and contemplate the world we are leaving for future generations.
So, thank you to the Historical Commission for the signposts that give us pause, stimulate our curiosity, and cause us to recognize and value those that went before us.
Cathy Delano, Fairhaven
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