GHAAHD Description

An extraordinary tome documenting the DELANO family in America entitled "The Genealogy, History and Alliances of the American House of Delano, 1621-1899" was published in 1899. It is arranged in two "books" and is commonly known as the "GHAAHD". Both "books" are available to members for viewing and/or downloading in PDF form. Please make sure you read the GHAAHD NOTES later on this page for important corrections to some of the information presented in the GHAAHD.

For your convenience, the original Index to the GHAAHD, compiled by Mrs. Mortimer Delano, is available to view or download here.

Book the First, containing the "History and Heraldry of the Maison de Franchimont & de Lannoy to Delano, 1076 to 1621", was edited by Mortimer Delano de Lannoy, then the family pursuivant-of-arms and a member of the New York Genealogical and Biographical Society, the Societe Suisse D'Heraldique and the Herold Society Zu Berlin. In this "book", Mortimer presented some European history and heraldry with a list of chevaliers de la Toison d'or (Golden Fleece). He also included various lines of royal ancestry of Lannoy with attempts to connect them to Philippe de Lanoy, based upon the belief that Jean de Lannoy (11-A) was the father of Gysbert de Lannoy, Philippe's father.

Sadly, we now know that Mortimer's proofs of these royal lineages are invalid, as it has been shown that Jean de Lannoy was not Gysbert de Lannoy's father.^[1] The various lines of descent presented on pages 89 through 93 are therefore not connected to Philippe's family. These lines are annotated as A (from Guelph), B (The Moerovingian Descent from Priam), C (The Lannoy Descent from Charlemagne), D (The Descent from William The Conqueror), E (The Two Disputed Lines from Jean-Emanuel) and F (Line from the Actii of Rome). At this time, there exists no known proof that Philippe's family might have been descended from royalty; accordingly, we must assume there is no such connection. It is an inconvenient truth that disproving Mortimer's lineage theories cannot be taken as proof of something else unless there is but one other possible alternative; that not being the case here, we yet remain without documentary proof of Philippe's true lineage.

The larger Book the Second, entitled "The Delano Genealogy From 1621 - 1899," was compiled by Major Joel Andrew Delano and arranged by Mortimer Delano de Lannoy. Although arranged in an awkward manner, it is an amazing book and a tribute to the interest of our DELANO ancestors living in an era following the U.S. Civil War who contributed information to assist in this massive genealogical effort. Besides the genealogical information of each family entity, biographical and historical information is given when known. This gives the reader an insight to that family's history during the Great Migration to the West and to Canada, Chile, Australia and other parts of the world.

Please note: Much of Mortimer's compilation in Book the First has been (and will continue to be) reexamined by our European Research Group in an effort to provide substantiating documentation as far back as possible. Some significant errors have been found and substantiating documentation continues to be a work-in-progress. Consult our newsletter "Bonnes Nouvelles" numbers 58, 59, and 60 (available on this site to members only) for the latest findings as summarized in the GHAAHD Notes below. Book the Second is in the process of being corrected and arranged in an acceptable genealogical format by Muriel C. Cushing, the DELANO KINDRED Genealogist. The results of this effort, spanning the first seven generations of Philippe's descendants, have been published in multiple volumes by the Mayflower Society under the titles of "Philip Delano of the Fortune 1621" and are available under the "SHOP" tab at the top of this page.

GHAAHD NOTES
by George B. DeLano, Editor of Bonnes Nouvelles, the Delano Kindred newsletter.

(Click here to view or download these notes as a separate file.)

The Genealogy, History and Alliances of the American House of Delano 1621 to 1899 (GHAAHD) provides an 1899 view of the DELANO family in the Americas. It is divided into two books. Significant genealogical research has been completed since then and many errors have been discovered. The reader should keep in mind this genealogy was printed 34 years after the Civil War. The first book, The Heraldic and Genealogical History of the Maison de Franchimont & de Lannoy, edited by Mortimer Delano de Lannoy of New York City, has much erroneous information in it. Some of the most significant errors in this difficult to read book are as follows: 

• Pg. 24: The American Line in Brief: Jean de Lannoy (11-A) is not the father of Gysbert (Gilbert) de Lannoy (12-A)^[1].
• Pg. 48: “general proof” by Mortimer Delano is incorrect^[2].
• Pg. 48: The paragraph about 13-A Jean de Lannoy is incorrect in several places. It is now known that Jean was baptized in Tourcoing on 9 May 1575. His father’s name is listed as Guilbert de Lanoy^[3]. He married Marie Mahieu in Leiden 13 January 1596^[4]. Jean and Marie de Lanoy’s first child was not “Esaie (Isaiah) de Lanoy baptized in the church Tournai Hanau [Belgium].”^[5]
• Pg. 48-49: Phillipe de Lannoy’s mother was not “...Marie de Lanoy who married in 1605 her second husband Jean Pesyn.” After Philippe’s father died his mother, Marie Mahieu de Lannoy, married woolcomber Robert Mannoo.^[6] Consequently, the painting shown as Illustration plate III is not Marie (le Mahieu) de Lannoy.
• Pg. 62: DNA tests of a descendant of Abraham de la Noy, mentioned as being of the “first of the Holland House of Lannoy in New Amsterdam [New York],” have shown a 99% likelihood that Abraham de la Noy (or Delanoy) and Philippe de Lanoy have a common ancestor who lived before or during 1575/6^[7].
• Pgs. 89 thru 93: Various lines of descent A, B. C, D, E, & F: because of the errors identified on pp 24 & 48 above, these lines of descent are erroneous.

The second book, The DELANO Genealogy: From 1621 –1899, was compiled by Major Joel Andrew Delano, then residing in Grove, Newaygo County, Michigan. Major Delano provides an introduction and identifies major contributors to this work (pages 96 through 98). Unfortunately, the arrangement of book two by Mortimer Delano de Lannoy makes this compilation difficult to follow in some cases^[8]. It is arranged by the line of descent from each child of Philip Delano and his wives Hester Dewsbury and Mary Pontus Glass and a listing of unknown lines. Proportionally there are fewer errors in the second book of over 430 pages than in the first book of about 90 pages. Significant errors include:

• Pg. 154: Dr. Thomas Delano married Rebecca Alden, not Mary Alden, before 30 October 1667^[9].
• Pg. 296: The children of Jonathan Delano Jr. and Amy Hatch Delano are confused and incorrect in many cases. These errors were identified and are corrected by DELANO KINDRED Genealogist Muriel C. Cushing in PHILIP DELANO of the “FORTUNE” 1621 cited in footnote 8 below. These errors also affect the accuracy of the families listed as being those of Jonathan Delano 3rd (pg 328), Jonathan Delano 4th (pg. 329) and Margaret Delano (pg 354) and others and have been also corrected in Cushing’s PHILIP DELANO of the “FORTUNE”—see Family Numbers 28, 115 through 126, 478, 479 and 480 in Cushing.

Footnotes:

1. George English, “Ancestry and History of Philip Delano, Born Philippe de Lannoy”, Mayflower Descendant, Vol. 56 No. 2, pp 173-184.
2. Ibid.
3. Dr. Jeremy Dupertuis Bangs, “De Lannoy –Le Mahieu Research”, Mayflower Descendant, Vol. 56 No.2, p 153.
4. Dr. Jeremy Dupertuis Bangs, “The Pilgrims and Other English in Leiden Records: Some New Pilgrim Documents”, The New England Historical and Genealogical Register(NEHGR),Vol. 147, pp 197-198.
5. George English, “Ancestry and History of Philip Delano, Born Philippe de Lannoy”, Mayflower Descendant, Vol. 56 No. 1, p 83.
6. Ibid. & T. N. Schelhaas, Keeper of the Records of the City of Leiden, NL ltr. to G.B. DeLano , citing Judicial Archives nr. 89, Vol. C, folio 142 and nr. 89, Vol. F, folio 20.
7. George English, “Ancestry and History of Philip Delano, Born Philippe de Lannoy”, Mayflower Descendant, Vol. 56 No. 1, p 87. Note: The DNA test was sponsored by the DELANO KINDRED, Inc. Y-DNA project.
8. The first four generations of the descendants of Philippe de Lanoy (Philip Delano) have been compiled by Muriel C. Cushing using the accepted standard genealogical format and is titled PHILIP DELANO of the “FORTUNE” 1621and his Descendants for Four Generations. Her compilation has been published by the General Society of Mayflower Descendants.
9. Plymouth Colony Records, Vol. 4, p 168.