Frederic Adrian Delano II (September 10, 1863 – March 28, 1953) was an American railroad president who served as the first Vice Chair of the Federal Reserve from 1914 to 1916. After his term as vice chairman, Delano continued to serve as a member of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors until 1918.

Early life

Delano was born in

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

on September 10, 1863. He was a member of the

Delano family In the United States, members of the Delano family include U.S. presidents Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Ulysses S. Grant and Calvin Coolidge, astronaut Alan B. Shepard, and writer Laura Ingalls Wilder. Its progenitor is Philippe de Lannoy (1602� ...

as a son of

Warren Delano Jr. Warren Delano Jr. (July 13, 1809 – January 17, 1898) was an American merchant and drug smuggler who made a large fortune smuggling illegal opium into China. He was the maternal grandfather of U.S. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Early ...

and Catherine Robbins Lyman. He was a brother of

Warren Delano IV Warren Delano IV (July 11, 1852 – September 9, 1920) was an American horseman and coal tycoon. Early life Delano was born at Algonac, the family estate in Balmville near Newburgh, New York in 1852. He was a member of the Delano family as a s ...

and

Sara Ann Delano Sara Ann Roosevelt ( Delano; September 21, 1854 – September 7, 1941) was the second wife of James Roosevelt I (from 1880), the mother of President of the United States Franklin Delano Roosevelt, her only child, and subsequently the mother ...

, and uncle of U.S. President

Franklin Delano Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...

. Like his older brother Warren, he graduated from

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

in 1885.

Career

After his graduation from Harvard, Delano was employed by the Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy Railroad in various capacities, rising from the position of

civil engineer A civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering – the application of planning, designing, constructing, maintaining, and operating infrastructure while protecting the public and environmental health, as well as improving existing ...

to be general manager at

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

. For a time he was consulting engineer to the

United States War Department The United States Department of War, also called the War Department (and occasionally War Office in the early years), was the United States Cabinet department originally responsible for the operation and maintenance of the United States Army, a ...

in respect to the railroads of the Philippine Islands. In 1905, he became president of the Wheeling and Lake Erie Railroad, of the

Wabash Pittsburgh Terminal Railway The Pittsburgh and West Virginia Railway was a railroad in the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and Wheeling, West Virginia, areas. Originally built as the Wabash Pittsburgh Terminal Railway, a Pittsburgh extension of George J. Gould's Wabash Railroad, ...

, and of the

Wabash Railroad The Wabash Railroad was a Class I railroad that operated in the mid-central United States. It served a large area, including track in the states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, and Missouri and the province of Ontario. Its primary con ...

. Delano was appointed one of the receivers for the Wabash in 1911, and in 1913, he was elected president of the Monon Railroad (succeeding

Fairfax Harrison Fairfax Harrison (March 13, 1869 – February 2, 1938) was an American lawyer, businessman, and writer. The son of the secretary to Confederate President Jefferson Davis, Harrison studied law at Yale University and Columbia University befor ...

). He was vice president of the American Unitarian Association in 1907. His addresses were published under the titles ''Questions of the Hour'' (1911) and ''Are Our Railroads Fairly Treated?'' (1913). He was also the chairman of the influential National Capital Park and Planning Commission and helped approve and oversee the building of

the Pentagon The Pentagon is the headquarters building of the United States Department of Defense. It was constructed on an accelerated schedule during World War II. As a symbol of the U.S. military, the phrase ''The Pentagon'' is often used as a metony ...

Legacy

His

philanthropic Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives, for the public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private good, focusing on material ...

work through the Commercial Club of Chicago, which has been said to have strongly impacted his nephew's presidential policies. Delano was Chairman of the Committee on the Regional Plan for New York and Its Environs, which released the regional plan for New York on May 27, 1929. He was also a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago which affected the development of Chicago in the 19th and 20th centuries. Delano was the first vice-chairman of the

Federal Reserve The Federal Reserve System (often shortened to the Federal Reserve, or simply the Fed) is the central banking system of the United States of America. It was created on December 23, 1913, with the enactment of the Federal Reserve Act, after a ...

and the National Resources Planning Board. His house on 2244 S Street NW in the Kalorama neighborhood of

Washington DC ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, designed by Waddy Butler Wood in 1924, survives as the Residence of the Irish Ambassador.

Personal life

In 1888, Frederic was married to Matilda Anne Peasley (1867–1953). Together, they were the parents of five children, all daughters, including: * Catherine Lyman Delano (1889–1951), who married Alexander Galt Grant. * Louise Delano (1891–1923), who married

Sherwood Cheney Sherwood Alfred Cheney (August 24, 1873 – March 13, 1949) was an American military engineer who served as a brigadier general in the US Army Corps of Engineers during World War I and as an aide to President Calvin Coolidge. Early life and e ...

(1873–1949), Commandant of the

U.S. Army Engineer School The United States Army Engineer School (USAES) is located at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. It was founded as a School of Engineering by General Headquarters Orders, Valley Forge on 9 June 1778. The U.S. Army Engineer School provides training that de ...

. * Laura Delano (1893–1978), who married James Lawrence Houghteling (1883–1962). His sister Josephine Houghteling was married to financier

Frank Gray Griswold Frank Gray Griswold (December 21, 1854 – March 30, 1937) was an American financier and writer who was a prominent member of New York society during the Gilded Age. Early life Griswold was born on December 21, 1854 at the family home, 91 Fifth A ...

. * Matilda Delano (1899–1911), who died young. * Alice Delano (1903–1904), who died young. Delano died in Newburgh, New York on March 28, 1953.

References

External links

Statements and Speeches of Frederic A. DelanoCollection of various works and letters written by Adrian Delano
{{DEFAULTSORT:Delano, Frederic Adrian 1863 births 1953 deaths 20th-century American railroad executives American Unitarians Frederic Adrian Harvard University alumni People from Kalorama (Washington, D.C.) Progressive Era in the United States Vice Chairs of the Federal Reserve Woodrow Wilson administration personnel