New York State History

It will be noticed that the ancestors of these old families had each his trade.

One of the great charms of the Dutch life was its simplicity. They did not ma­terially alter their modes of living with the increase of wealth, and they found their happiness in quiet and unostentation. You would have found among them refinement of feeling and cultivated minds, with a due appreciation of things necessary to a higher life. They were as they seemed, simple and true.

Lord Bacon says, ''If it be a pleasant sight to behold a fair round timber tree, sound and perfect, or a fine old mansion, not in decay, how much more an old fam­ily that has stood against the weather and the winds!^"
 

Most families die out in two hundred years, but the Van Rensselaers have proved an exception. The founder of the family, old Killiaan Van Rensselaer, was a rich pearl merchant in Amsterdam, who in 1631 availed himself of an offer made by the Dutch West India Com­pany to grant lands to any one who should fairly pur­chase them from the Indians and form a permanent settle­ment. The medium of com­merce was seawant, better known as wampum, which was simply a number of strung shell beads. If black, these beads counted three to a, stuiver (two cents); if the in­terior was white, six. 

The tract of land granted was on the west bank of the Hudson, including Fort  Or­ange, and a large number of agriculturists and mechanics were  sent  out to people  it. Seven years later Van Rens­selaer purchased from the In­dians for a mere trifle an im­mense tract on the east side of the river. It extended twen­ty-four miles along the Hud­son, and forty-eight miles from east to west, including the greater part of Albany, Rensselaer, and Columbia counties, and was called the Colonie of Rensselaerwyck, of which Van Rensselaer was Patroon.  That purchase made his descendants very rich, and much of the land still remains in the fam­ily. In 1664 the colony passed into Eng­lish hands, who confirmed the right of soil to the Patroon, but transferred the sovereignty to the British government. There have been few better transfers of real estate in the Old or New World, and it was almost as good as buying the whole of Manhattan Island for twenty-four dol­lars. 

The privileges of a patroon were simi­lar to those of an old English baron, and "were an odious form of feudal govern­ment." 

De Heer Van Rensselaer was descend­ed from a long and honorable line of an­cestors, and was himself a refined and educated gentleman of the old school. He never saw his vast estate, but intrust­ed it to his agent and nephew, Wouter (Walter) Van Twiller. The Van Rens­selaer name is closely interwoven with the history of the State, and of all the patroons De Heer is the one especially known as the ancestor of stanch patriots and true philanthropists. The manor-house was erected in exact counterpart of the Holland residence, and here were stored for generations the massive furniture, richly carved in quaint designs, the silver, and portraits of Dutch ancestry. De Heer Van Rensselaer, "bewindhebber," died in Amsterdam in 1645. His son Jan Baptiste then took charge of the affairs of the Colonie, and was succeeded by his brother Jeremias in 1658, who ad­ministered its affairs for sixteen years, and died greatly lamented. His wife was the daughter of the Hon. Oloff Stevensen Van Cortlandt, of Nieuw Amsterdam. 

His son Killiaan Van Rensselaer mar­ried his cousin Maria Van Cortlandt, and from them was descended Stephen Van Rensselaer, known as the "old Patroon." He was born soon after the accession of George III., and graduated at Cambridge in 1782. His father, who erected the manor-house, died soon after, and his widow married Dominie Westerlo, who had come from Holland to take charge of the Dutch Church. The "old Patroon" was a member of the Congress that elect­ed John Quincy Adams President. By his first wife, a daughter of General Schuyler, he had a son Stephen, called the "young Patroon," and the last to bear the title. His second wife was a daughter of the Hon. William Patterson. He sustained Madison in the war of 1812, and, as a general on the Niagara frontier, made his name renowned for courage and gallantry. He owned over 600,000 acres in Albany and Rensselaer counties, be­sides 350,000 acres in St. Lawrence Coun­ty, which, together with valuable estates in New York, Philadelphia, and New Or­leans, made him at the time of his death, in 1839, one of the richest men in the country. He was benevolent and greatly given to hospitality, but his tender point was early hours. No matter how distin­guished a guest was beneath his roof, when nine o'clock struck he took his flat silver candlestick from the hall table and went to bed. 

Hendrick Van Rensselaer, the sixth child of Jeremias Van Rensselaer, married a granddaughter of the celebrated Anneke Jans. His son, Colonel Killiaan, was the grandfather of the brave old patri­ot General Solomon Van Rensselaer, and father of Colonel Nicholas Van Rensselaer, who was with General Montgomery at the storming of Quebec, and engaged in the disastrous battle before the city's beleaguered walls on the memorable December 31, 1775; he was also the father of Major-General Henry K. Van Rensselaer. 

As an example of the ability which marked the career of this family, it can be stated that during the first forty years following the organization of the Federal Government, the district embracing Alba­ny was represented for twenty-two years by those bearing the Van Rensselaer name. 

While we recollect with honest pride the industry, integrity, enterprise, love of freedom, and the heroism of old Beverwyck, let us not forget that the truest way to honor our Dutch ancestry is to follow the example of those who knew no fear where liberty or honor was at stake; and let me ask indulgence on the plea that "I am a Dutchman, and so think nothing which concerns the Dutch of unconcern to me."