Francis Roach Delano

In January 1870, the Minnesota Legislature passed a bill to rename the town of Crow River station, on the St. Paul and Pacific Railroad, to Delano in honor of F. R. Delano, the general superintendent of the railroad. Just who was F. R. Delano, and what did he do to have the town of Crow River named after him?

Francis Roach “F.R.” Delano was born on November 20, 1823, in central Massachusetts town of New Braintree. F.R.’s parents, Gideon and Betsy Delano were farmers, and both descended from the earliest settlers in Massachusetts. F.R.’s great, great, great grandfather, Philip Delano, arrived in Plymouth in November 1621 on the Fortune with other Pilgrims from Leiden. Francis Rotch, whom F.R. was named after, was a friend of Gideon’s and was owner of the ship Dartmouth, one of the ships from which tea was thrown from in the 1774 Boston Tea Party. F.R.’s Delano ancestors were ardent patriots and active participants in the American Revolution.

F. R.’s father, Gideon Delano. This photo was taken in 1835.

In 1833, Gideon and Betsy moved their family to Amherst, MA in order to improve their children’s education. Then in 1844, they moved part of their family west, to Bunker Hill, Illinois, just outside of St. Louis where F.R worked in milling.

F.R. and his wife, Calista Cavender Delano, arrived in St. Anthony, MN in 1848 where F.R. ran the government mill at the falls. In 1851 F.R. and Calista moved to Stillwater, MN and F.R. worked in logging and lumbering. Later that year, F.R., partnered with the firm Jesse Taylor & Co. to design and build the territorial prison in Stillwater. Once the territorial prison was built, F.R. became the first warden serving from March 1853 to March 1858.

After a brief time back in lumbering F.R. became the general superintendent of the First Division of the St. Paul and Pacific Railroad in 1862. At this same time, the Dakota Upraising took place and F.R. was made a colonel and given command of five companies and deployed to Pine County, MN to prevent any attack down the St. Croix River.

As general superintendent, F.R. was responsible for both building the railroad west from St. Paul and increasing railroad traffic. He immediately set out to do both these things. By 1864 the road had reach St. Anthony (soon to be renamed Minneapolis) and Elk River. In 1867 it had reached beyond Wayzata and St. Cloud and by 1871 the road reached Breckenridge and Sauk Rapids. After 10 years as general superintendent, F.R. retired in 1872.

F.R. then went on to participate in other business ventures and do volunteer work over the next 15 years. For example, he was elected to single term in the Minnesota Legislature in 1874; he was on the Minnesota Historical Society committee to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the discovery of St. Anthony Falls; and he was president of the St. Paul Board of Fire Commissioners.

Warden’s House in Stillwater was designed by F.R. and he and his family were the first occupants.

F. R’s commission during the 1862 Dakota Upraising

F.R. in the cab of the William Crooks in 1864 in Elk River.

The William Crooks was the first steam locomotive in Minnesota.

A typical advertisement for the St. Paul and Pacific Railroad service in 1871.

F. R. in later life

F.R.’s walking stick with the gold handle.

Calista Cavender Delano, F.R. wife of 41 years.

This photo was taken in 1875 in St. Paul.

F.R. passed away on February 6, 1887, from typhoid pneumonia at his home in St. Paul. F.R. funeral was held 3 days later, and it was a large gathering for a pioneering man who had a large impact on Minnesota’s first 40 years as a territory and a state.

The memorial to F.R on Feb. 9, 1887, in his St. Paul home. The four-foot ladder with the broken wrung and the pillow it rests upon were given by the St. Paul Fire Department. The words on the pillow were “Fire Out.”