[5] His maternal grandfather, Cadwallader Colden, and his uncle, James DeLancey served as Colonial Governors of New York.

[7] Forces under Delancy ambushed and killed Colonel Christopher Greene and Major Ebenezer Flagg of the Rhode Island Regiment of the Continental Army at the Battle of Pine's Bridge on May 14, 1781.

From one account of the attack, "his body was found in the woods, about a mile distant from his tent, cut, and mangled in the most shocking way".

[8] Around the start of 1783, following the Patriot victory in the American Revolution, he moved to Nova Scotia, settling at Round Hill in Annapolis County.

A slave owner, he was thwarted by Richard John Uniacke in his efforts to have slavery legally recognized in Nova Scotia.