Delino Dexter Calvin (May 15, 1798 – 18 May 1884) was a naturalized Canadian citizen, former resident of New England, successful Ontario businessman and political figure.

In 1836, he became involved in the Kingston Stave Forwarding Company with John Counter and an American, Hiram Cook, (later, in 1838 it became, Calvin and Cook) and, in 1844, moved to Garden Island in Canada West because the location was the most ideal to collect and raft timber that was to be forwarded down the St. Lawrence River.

[4] The company owned between twelve and fifteen ships which transported timber, mostly oak and pine, from the Great Lakes to Garden Island, where the logs were built into rafts that were floated down the Saint Lawrence to Quebec City for transportation to Britain to company offices in Liverpool and Glasgow.

They acted as general merchants, shipbuilders and manufacturers, transported other goods and operated a tugboat service.

[4] By 1862, he became sole owner of Garden Island and looked after the small community of approximately 750 people who mainly consisted of company workers, serving as reeve when it was incorporated as a village in 1866.

With considerable generosity for his employees, his company subsidized a school, an excellent library for the timeframe, post office, and several fraternal societies.

In 1855, Calvin's company that he co-owned with Ira Breck, known as Calvin and Breck was commissioned by the Province of Canada to maintain and operate a flotilla of tug boats in the St. Lawrence Seaway to tow vessels between the ports of Lachine and Kingston.

This commission position he shared with Hugh Allan and Casimir Stanislaus Gzowski, a famous Canadian engineer and military officer, born in Russia.

[9] Calvin was preceded as representative of Frontenac by Speaker of the House, Sir Henry Smith.

[10] Later, he ran against Byron Moffatt Britton and won an easy victory as most of the residents of Garden Island voted for Calvin.

This showed a considerable objectivity of his, as his personal financial interests would have required him to side with the lumber industry.

[12] His son Hiram Augustus took over the operation of the business on his father's death and later served in the House of Commons.

His daughter Minerva Edna married Nelson Gordon Bigelow who served in the Ontario legislative assembly.