Delafield

Joseph Delafield, lawyer, soldier, and scientist, was born in New York City in 1790, the fourth child of John and Ann Hallet. As a boy, he was educated privately in New York City and later attended boarding schools in Connecticut at Stamford and New Haven. He matriculated at Yale where he was graduated in 1808 and began reading law in the office of Josiah Ogden Hoffman. By 1811, he was admitted to practice law in the Supreme Court of New York, although his interests extended beyond the legal field.

While still a student in 1810, Delafield was commissioned a lieutenant in the 5th Regiment, 1st Brigade of the New York militia. In 1812 he was appointed captain in the 1st Regiment (Van Buren's) New York militia called Joseph Delafield's Company, and with the declaration of war in that year, he raised a company of volunteers known as Delafield's Artillery.

By the end of 1812, he was commissioned a captain in the volunteers and served in this capacity until 1814 when he recruited a regiment for the 46th Infantry, in which he served as a major. With the cessation of hostilities, this regiment was disbanded and distributed among other regiments. Delafield continued to serve the government after the War of 1812 by accepting an appointment with the United States Boundary Commission as an agent to settle the northern boundary of the United States with Great Britain under the Treaty of Ghent (1814), and was given command of the field work from 1821 until 1828. It was during this time in the north, that he began to form a collection of minerals which achieved national renown.

Delafield was a member of many scientific associations in the United States including the New York Lyceum of Natural History (later known as the Academy of Science) of which he served as president from 1827-1866, the College of Physicians and Surgeons, and the Eye and Ear Infirmary, as well as scientific organizations in Europe. His scientific interests extended to the building of a continuously burning lime-kiln (1830) after the French model, at Fieldston, his country seat, which yielded large profits and served as a model for others.

In 1833 he married Julia Livingston (1801-1882) with whom he had four children including Maturin Livingston Delafield (1836-1917), the father of John Ross Delafield. He died in 1875.