[2][3][4] His father was Pedro Delgado y Matamoros, a Panamanian who later served as "Ordinary Mayor of First Vote and Alderman and Royal Ensign" of San Salvador in 1797.

Together with his nephew Manuel José Arce, he was among those who issued the first Cry for Independence in Central America on 5 November 1811 in San Salvador.

He was elected provincial deputy again in 1820, and on 15 September 1821, he was among those who signed the Act of Independence of Central America in Guatemala City.

When the Central American governmental junta voted to join the Mexican Empire (5 January 1822), Delgado (and many other Salvadorans) opposed this.

On 11 January 1822, in San Salvador, the city government, presided over by Padre Delgado, and many members of the public protested the decision.

In April 1822, Colonel Manuel Arzú, in command of Guatemalan troops, occupied the Salvadoran cities of Santa Ana and Sonsonate.

That same month, Brigadier Vicente Filísola, Captain General of Guatemala (within the Mexican Empire), marched toward San Salvador.

This entangled him in a serious and long-lasting controversy with the Archbishop of Guatemala and with Popes Leo XII and Pius VIII,[15] which lasted until his death.

As his funeral procession passed the Plaza Mayor, mourners showered his coffin with white rose petals.

The Salvadoran lawyer, educator, and journalist Rafael Reyes published the first biographical study of Delgado in December 1878.

Later, other Central American intellectuals, including Francisco Gavidia, Carlos Meléndez Chaverri, Ramón López Jiménez, Rodolfo Barón Castro, José Salvador Guandique, and Jorge Lardé y Larín did likewise.

Dr. José Matías Delgado University, whose foundation was announced on 15 September 1977, is today located in Antiguo Cuscatlán, a suburb of San Salvador.