Representative Henry Bell Van Rensselaer

Henry Bell Van Rensselaer (May 14, 1810 – March 23, 1864) was an American military officer in the Union Army during the American Civil War and a politician who served in the United States Congress as a representative from the state of New York. He was born at the Van Rensselaer manor house in Albany, New York, into one of the most prominent families of the early United States. His father, Stephen Van Rensselaer III, was the last patroon of the Manor of Rensselaerswyck, a major landholder in upstate New York, and also served as a United States Representative and as founder of the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. His mother, Cornelia Paterson Van Rensselaer, was the daughter of William Paterson, a signer of the United States Constitution, Governor of New Jersey, and Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court. Through both parents, Van Rensselaer was connected to the influential King family of Massachusetts and New York City, placing him within a broad network of political and social leadership in the early republic.

Van Rensselaer received a formal military education, attending the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, from which he graduated in 1831. His training at West Point prepared him for a career that would combine military and public service, and placed him among a generation of officers who would later play significant roles in mid-nineteenth-century American conflicts. The discipline and technical instruction he received there formed the basis of his early professional life and later informed his service during the Civil War.

As a member of the Whig Party representing New York, Henry Bell Van Rensselaer contributed to the legislative process during one term in office. His service in Congress occurred during a significant period in American history, as the nation grappled with issues of economic development, sectional tension, and the evolving role of the federal government. In the House of Representatives, he participated in the democratic process and represented the interests of his constituents in New York, drawing on his family’s longstanding engagement in public affairs and his own background in military and civic matters.

Van Rensselaer married and became the father of a large family, whose members continued the tradition of public, religious, and professional service. His children included Mary Van Rensselaer (1834–1902), who married John Henry Screven (1823–1903) in 1874; Cornelia Van Rensselaer (1836–1864), who married James Lenox Kennedy (1823–1864), son of David Sproat Kennedy and nephew of philanthropist James Lenox; and Stephen Van Rensselaer (1838–1904), who married Mathilda Coster Heckscher (1838–1915). Another child, Henry Van Rensselaer, died young. His daughter Euphemia Van Rensselaer (born 1842) entered religious life as a Sister of Charity, taking the name Marie Dolores. Elizabeth Van Rensselaer (1845–1911) married George Waddington (1840–1915), son of William D. Waddington (1811–1886) and Mary Elizabeth Ogden (1810–1867). John King Van Rensselaer (1847–1909) married May Denning King (1848–1925), a granddaughter of James Gore King, further linking the family to prominent political and commercial circles. Katherine Van Rensselaer (1849–1901) married Dr. Francis Delafield (1841–1915), son of Dr. Edward Delafield, in 1870. Another son, Henry Van Rensselaer (1851–1907), joined the Society of Jesus, and Westerlo Van Rensselaer (1853–1857) died in childhood.

During the American Civil War, Van Rensselaer returned to military service as an officer in the Union Army. Drawing on his West Point training and earlier experience, he served the Union cause in a period of national crisis, contributing to the war effort as a senior military figure. His role in the Union Army placed him among those officers who bridged the antebellum and wartime eras, combining political experience with military leadership at a time when the survival of the United States was at stake.

Henry Bell Van Rensselaer died of typhoid fever in Cincinnati, Ohio, on March 23, 1864, shortly before the end of the Civil War. His death removed from the Union service a member of one of the nation’s most historically significant families at a critical moment in the conflict. He was interred in the Grace Episcopal Churchyard in Jamaica, Queens, in New York City, returning in death to the state that he had represented in Congress and where his family had long been established.