Born in New Braintree, Massachusetts, Delano moved with his parents to Amherst in 1833.
He attended the common schools and graduated from Amherst College in 1840, where he studied law. Delano was admitted to the bar in 1842 and commenced practice in Amherst. He moved to Northampton in 1848 and continued the practice of law. He served as Treasurer of Hampshire County from 1849 to 1858.
Delano was elected as a Republican to the Thirty-sixth and Thirty-seventh Congresses. He was not a candidate for renomination in 1862, and resumed the practice of law.
Delano was appointed by Governor Alexander H. Rice in 1878 to act as special counsel for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in matters relating to the Hoosac Tunnel and the Troy and Greenfield Railroad, and served in this capacity until his death in Northampton on January 23, 1883. He was interred in Bridge Street Cemetery.