Stephen Van Rensselaer III (1764 - 1839)

Born 1 Nov 1764 in New York City, New York

Ancestors

Husband of Cornelia (Paterson) Van Rensselaer — married 19 May 1802 in New Brunswick, Middlesex, New Jersey

Descendants

Died 26 Jan 1839 at age 74 in New York City, New York, United States

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Biography

General Stephen Van Rensselaer III served for New York in the War of 1812
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Stephen Van Rensselaer III is Notable.

STEPHEN VAN RENSSELAER III, sixth and last lord of the manor, the eldest son of Stephen and Catharine (Livingston) Van Rensselaer, was born in New York City, November 1, 1764. He was graduated from Harvard College in 1782, and, assuming the direction of his great estate, adopted a policy of energetic development of its lands. He placed the rentals so low that they yielded only one per cent, on a fair valuation, and in consequence soon had under cultivation some nine hundred farms of one hundred and fifty acres each, a number which was greatly increased later.

In 1789 he entered political life as a member of the assembly. He served in the state senate from 1791 to 1796, was elected lieutenant-governor in 1795 and 1798, was a candidate for governor in 1801, and was again in the assembly from 1808 to 1810. One of the first to advocate the construction of a canal between the Hudson River and the Great Lakes, he was appointed in 1810 a commissioner to report regarding the route, made a tour of investigation, and signed the favorable report on that subject submitted to the legislature in 1811. Owing, however, to the breaking out of the war with England, the enterprise was suspended for some years.

Previously to this conflict he was of the conservative party, which opposed hostilities, but he was prompt to offer his services to the government. His connection with military affairs began in 1786, when he was made a major of infantry in the New York militia. Two years later he was promoted to a colonelcy, and in 1801 became major-general of cavalry. Retaining the latter rank he was appointed in 1812 to command the United States forces on the Canadian frontier, instituted a strong organization of the militia, and on October 13 fought the brilliant battle of Queenstown Heights, in which the British general, Brock, was killed, the American advance being led by General Van Rensselaer's kinsman, Lieutenant-Colonel Solomon Van Rensselaer,; who was severely wounded in the attack. All the advantage of the victory was, however, lost by the refusal of the militia to move across the river and support the successful party on the Heights, which was obliged to surrender, and the whole expedition thus resulted in failure. Voluntarily resigning his command soon afterward, the general took no further part in the war.

Upon the restoration of peace the Erie Canal project was resumed, and General Van Rensselaer again became commissioner. With this great enterprise he was identified to its successful completion, and indeed continued on the board for the rest of his life, serving as its president for many years. He was once more elected a member of the assembly in 1818, was a member of the constitutional convention of 1821, and represented his district in congress from 1823 to 1829. He occupied various other positions of prominence and dignity, including those of regent and chancellor of the New York State University, and president of the State Agricultural Society, and was the first president of the Albany Savings Bank, which was incorporated in 1820 and is now the second oldest savings institution in the state.

General Van Rensselaer's name is perpetuated by the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute of Troy, the first institution of its special character established in the country. It was founded by him in 1824, with suitable buildings and equipment and a liberal endowment, as "a school to qualify teachers to instruct the application of experimental chemistry, philosophy, and natural history to agriculture, domestic economy, and to the arts and manufactures." For some fourteen years he sustained it at his own expense. He received from Yale in 1825 the degree of LL.D.

The general was the last of the family to retain in its entirety the estate of Rensselaerswyck. The liberal and enterprising policy as its proprietor which he adopted in early manhood he pursued consistently throughout life, and and as the result the population of the manor increased immensely. But, clinging to the traditions of his race, he uniformly refused to sell lands, and thus the inhabitants of a territory covering the larger part of two great counties still occupied the ancient position of tenants of a single landlord. Moreover, all the old-time conditions and customs attaching to the tenantship were preserved in full vigor. Rents were paid not in money but in produce, the annual rates ranging from ten bushels of wheat per hundred acres in the townships earlier settled to fourteen in those of later settlement; with the addition for all farms alike of four fat hens and one day's service to the landlord with horses and wagon. "Residents of Albany," said a writer in 1887, "still remember seeing the road in the vicinity of the Manor House blocked up with long lines of wagons in from the country with wheat and chickens to pay their rent, or with loads of wood, which were generally accepted in lieu of one day's labor required." Another old usage which was retained without modification was the requirement that if any tenant disposed of his leasehold to a third party he should pay the landlord either one-fourth the amount received (whence the term "quarter-sales"), or one additional year's rent.

These various conditions and customs, though well suited to a primitive age, in time came to be regarded by the tenantry with distaste, and though during the life of General Van Rensselaer no active dissatisfaction was manifested, it needed no penetration to see that a change was impending. Curiously enough, the agitation against the rent system which burst forth after his death resulted primarily from the policy of exceptional generosity and leniency to his tenants which he had uniformly practiced. One of the kindliest and most liberal of men, he never evicted delinquent debtors, and never forced or urged payments of the rental, even when long in arrears. Thus he permitted indebtedness to accumulate and multiply, which at his death aggregated the enormous total of $400,000. In his will, with his characteristic generosity, he provided expressly that the discharge of debts owing by persons in circumstances of poverty, misfortune, or inability should not be insisted on; but he did not think it just to his heirs, or right in any point of view, to remit lawful debts incurred to his estate through his magnanimous indulgence, especially as that estate was burdened with very heavy pecuniary obligations. He stipulated, consequently, that the debts due to him should be applied to liquidating his debts to others.

At his death the tenants, anxious about their debts and seeing these had not been remitted, were quick to apprehend that measures for settlement would follow. From this apprehension sprang the whole "Anti-Rent" propaganda, which soon assumed such formidable proportions.

The Van Rensselaer Manor was devised by the general to his two eldest sons, Stephen and William P., the former receiving the portion on the west side of the Hudson, and the latter that on the east side. The following figures (for the year 1846) indicate the extent of cultivation of the estate as left by him, with the annual revenues: Albany County—1,397 leasehold farms, covering 233,900 acres, and yielding an annual rent of 23,390 bushels of wheat; Rensselaer County—1,666 leasehold farms, having a total of 202,100 acres, and charged yearly with 20,210 bushels of wheat. Among his other children General Van Rensselaer divided his remaining real estate and various personal property, including lands in Saratoga and Hamilton counties, land and houses in Albany and New York City, and stocks of different kinds.

Died at the Manor House, January 26, 1839. In the public events which ensued he was always referred to as the "Old Patroon," his eldest son and principal successor, Stephen IV., being styled the "Young Patroon."

Married, 1st, 1783, Margarita Schuyler, daughter of General Philip and Catherine (Van Rensselaer) Schuyler; she was born in 1758, died 1801.

General Stephen Van Rensselaer married, 2d, May 17, 1802, Cornelia Paterson, daughter of Hon. William Paterson, justice of the United States supreme court, and his wife, Cornelia Bell. The second Mrs. Van Rensselaer was born 1780 and died 1844.

Church Records

Children's Baptisms:

1. B. Nov. 5, 1814, Bp. Apr. 13, 1815, Alexander, Stephen Van Rensselaer and Cornelia (Patterson), Albany RDC.^[1]

Sources

1. ↑ McConville, Howard A. Compiler, Baptisms of the First Dutch Reformed Church, Albany N.Y.- January 1809- August 1823, Yearbook of the Dutch Settlers Society, Vol. 36-37, 1961-1962, pg. 25, https://www.familysearch.org/library/books/viewer/263737/?offset=0#page=27&viewer=picture&o=&n=0&q= .

• Stephen Van Rensselaer article on Wikipedia
• Canadian Historic Sites: Occasional Papers in Archaeology and History No. 11, The Battle of Queenston Heights, by Carol Whitfield, Stephen and Solomon Van Rensselaer, http://parkscanadahistory.com/series/chs/11/chs11-1g.htm , accessed 23 Apr 2021.
• Americana, American historical magazine, Volume 2 By National American Society 1907
• New York Almanack, Stephen Van Rensselaer III: The Last Patroon, May 4, 2022 by Peter Hess, https://www.newyorkalmanack.com/2022/05/stephen-van-rensselaer-iii-the-last-patroon/?awt_a=eey.&awt_l=F.uRZ&awt_m=hZqIiy0JoV8Sqy. , accessed 06 May 2022.
• Hudson-Mohawk Genealogical and Family Memoirs Vol. IV, pp. 1814-1821, Published 1911 by Lewis historical publishing company in New York .
• Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/864/stephen-van_rensselaer : accessed 10 January 2022), memorial page for Stephen Van Rensselaer III (1 Nov 1764–26 Jan 1839), Find a Grave Memorial ID 864, citing Albany Rural Cemetery, Menands, Albany County, New York, USA ; Maintained by Find a Grave .
• Sources for son Alexander Van Rensselaer (1814-abt.1878)
  Birth: "New York Births and Christenings, 1640-1962", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FD5J-8XJ : 14 February 2020), Alexander Van Rensselaer, 1814.
  van Rensselaer family members: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Van_Rensselaer_family#Members
  Biographical Record of the Officers and Graduates of the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute By Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute p.76-77 https://books.google.com/books?id=9LgAAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA77

Acknowledgements

• Created by Laura Scott, Wednesday, June 18, 2014.