Stephen Van Rensselaer - Menands NY
Posted by: Don.Morfe
N 42° 42.407 W 073° 43.907
18T E 603860 N 4729034
US Congressman, Lieutenant Governor of New York, New York State Senator, Educator. He was the fifth and last Dutch Patroon in direct descent from the first Patroon Kiliaen Van Rensselaer.
Waymark Code: WM12VQD
Location: New York, United States
Date Posted: 07/21/2020
Views: 0
He is buried in Albany Rural Cemetery in Section 14, Lot 1.
Description: From Find A Grave: Stephen Van Rensselaer-US Congressman, Lieutenant Governor of New York, New York State Senator, Educator. He was the fifth and last Dutch Patroon in direct descent from the first Patroon Kiliaen Van Rensselaer. He inherited a vast landed estate in Rensselaer and Albany counties when he was only five years old. His marriage to Cornelia Bell Paterson, daughter of polititian William Paterson, helped form a transition from the old order to the politics of the young nation. After being graduated from Harvard he served the New York state assembly from Albany County followed by the state senate and Lieutenant Governor of New York from 1795-1801. He was in the US Army during the War of 1812. Following the war he was elected in 1821 as the US Representative from New York and would serve in Congress until 1929. His vision and support enabled Amos Eaton to found the Rensselaer School in 1824 which later became Rensselaer Polytechinic Institute. It was “...the first school of science and school of civil engineering, which has had a continuous existence, to be established in any English-speaking country” according to Palmer C. Ricketts in his preface to the second edition of his History of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (1914). He was known to be a lenient landlord for over 3000 tenants. His son Henry Bell Van Rensselaer followed him to also become a US Congressman. He was first buried in the family vault at the Van Rensselaer Manor House, but was later reinterred in the family lot at Menands when that home was demolished.
Date of birth: 11/01/1764
Date of death: 01/26/1839
Area of notoriety: Politics
Marker Type: Monument
Setting: Outdoor
Fee required?: No
Web site: [Web Link]
Visiting Hours/Restrictions: Not listed
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