Some Early Texas DELANOs

by George B. DeLano

We have at least 10 families of Texas DELANOs who are currently members of our Society, but how many DELANOs came to Texas before 1900? We scanned the GHAAHD (the second book of the 1899 DELANO Genealogy) and found about 10 entries of DELANOs who are listed as being in Texas before 1899. We also checked the Republic of Texas Army and Claims listings and other sources to find more Early DELANOs. As some say, "I wasn't born in Texas, but I got here as soon as I could."

1830 -1850 The earliest DELANOs settled in the eastern portion of the Texas Republic in what are now Jasper, Polk, Tyler, Jefferson and Orange Counties; located north and east of Beaumont. Brothers Marvin DELANO, Oliver H. DELANO and Norman DELANO all emigrated from Ohio to Texas in the 1830s (GHAAHD pgs 427 and 428). Texas land grants show that Oliver was granted land in Jasper County in 1835 and Marvin was granted land in the same county on 21 August 1845. Marvin and Norman also received land grants in Jefferson and Orange counties in the period from 1837 to 1848. Republic of Texas Army records show that Marvin served as a private and Oliver was promoted to 1^st Lieutenant. There is no record to document the GHAAHD assertion that Oliver held the rank of Lt. Colonel. After the War for Texas Independence Oliver was the Surveyor for Jasper County. Thomas DELANO (probably Thomas Cornelius DELANO, GHAAHD pg 408) was born in Wilkes Barre, PA. He arrived in Texas in the 1830s and also served in the Republic of Texas Army. He purchased land in Bell County (south of Killeen and Temple) in 1850. In 1851 he purchased land in Karnes County (southeast of San Antonio). The GHAAHD indicates he married and died in Texas.

1850-1860 John DELANO (GHAAHD pg 430) was born in Clinton OH in 1824. He served in the 1^st Kentucky Infantry in the Mexican-American War (1846-1848). He married Elizabeth J. Stanton in Georgetown Texas (north of Austin) in 1850. They had three children settling in Copperas Cove (just west of Killeen), Adina in Lee County (east of Austin) and Houston. John DELANO died in Houston in 1858. Horace Frank DELANO (GHAAHD pg 385-386), a graduate of West Point in 1849, was a 2^nd Lt. in the 2^nd Regiment Dragoons. After graduating he married Marie Covert of Shrewsbury, New Jersey in 1849. He was later stationed in Albuquerque, New Mexico on ?frontier duty. Apparently he had a health problem and traveled south along the Rio Grande River to Ft. Bliss in El Paso, Texas. He died there in 1854.

1860-1870 Oliver Joseph DELANO (GHAAHD pg 428--son of Oliver H. DELANO) served in Company G of the 13^th Texas Confederate Cavalry, with his brother-in-law James Haralson. A Charles DELANO (possibly a son of Marvin DELANO) served in Company I of the same cavalry organization.

1870-1899 There is a record of another Thomas DELANO who married Sophia Chasson in Orange County in 1893. Although not mentioned in the GHAAHD, according to the Orange County Texas Marriage Records there were four DELANO marriages there between 1870 and 1918.