Prof. Edward Chandler Delano.
Article prepared by Prof. Lewis H. Clark, Historian., pub. 1899

He is the only child of Rufus Chandler Delano (one of the best known and most respected citizens of the county), and Almeda Matilda Taylor, a direct des. in the 8th generation, of John Taylor who came from England with Governor Winthrop in 1630, and settled at Windsor, Conn. in 1639. His grandfather, William Delano, removed from Madison, Me., in 1812, to the then almost unbroken wilderness of Western New York, and settled in the town of Sodus, was one of the sturdy pioneers of that prosperous region.

Acquiring knowledge quickly, and devoting himself with diligence to a course of study, the subject of our sketch early secured a thorough, practical preparation for his chosen life work, in the field of education.

He began teaching in 1874, and was for several years employed as principal of the public sch. of Sodus C. Under his management it was carefully graded, and became noted for the thoroughness of its work.

In 1881 Mr. Delano was elected School Commissioner of Wayne Co. with 118 schools under his care. This he held for six years, leaving upon the schools the distinct impress of his executive force and ability. Incompetent teachers were weeded out, schoolhouses repaired, new buildings erected, grounds graded, and trees planted, to a greater or less extent in all the towns, a work more decisive and far reaching in its beneficial effects than has been done by other school commissioners there before or since.

These services attracted attention beyond the limits of the county. He was an active member of several educational bodies, and had much to do in formulating and shaping the trend of cultivated thought in the Empire State. In 1885 he was unanimously elected President of the New York State Association of School Commissioners and City Superintendents, a position that he filled with ability.

He was active in urging the necessity of a state system of uniform examinations, and led in the successful movement to secure the pledges of school officers throughout the state, to voluntarily accept such a system, although the first legislative enactment establishing it had been vetoed by the Governor.

As a result the State Superintendent of Public Instruction, Dr. Andrew Sloan Draper, (Pres. of Ill. State Un.) in 1888, invited Mr. Delano to become the head of the newly created Bureau of Examinations, in the State Department of Public Instruction, at Albany. As first incumbent of that responsible position, he established and popularized the work, not only by his practical knowledge of the subject, and skill in organizing; but with his pleasant, intelligent, affable manner in meeting and disarming adverse criticism in all parts of the state.

At the change of political administration, in 1893, he delivered to his successor an office which he had largely created and wisely developed, and which through succeeding years continues to give evidence of his clear foresight and thorough ability.

Well informed, promoting literary and moral culture around him, having a large circle of acquaintances among the educators of the state, an acute and intelligent observer of public affairs, he enjoys the respect and confidence of all.