Representative Jeremiah Van Rensselaer

Jeremiah Van Rensselaer (August 27, 1738 – February 19, 1810), from the prominent Van Rensselaer family of colonial New York, was a land agent, merchant, surveyor, lieutenant governor of New York, and a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, representing New York in the 1st United States Congress. He was born on August 27, 1738, at the main house of his family’s manor, “Rensselaerswyck,” in the Province of New York, in what is now the city of Watervliet. His parents were Johannes Van Rensselaer (1708–1793), director of the eastern portion of the manor, and Engeltie “Angelica” Livingston (1698–1747), who married in 1734. He was the third of six children—Catherine (b. 1734), Margarita (b. 1736), Jeremiah, Robert (b. 1740), Hendrick (b. 1742), and James (b. 1747). His mother died before he was ten years old, and his father later married Gertrude Van Cortlandt, further linking the family to other leading New York dynasties.

Van Rensselaer’s lineage placed him among “the best provincial families” in New York, including the Livingstons, Schuylers, Van Cortlandts, Van Schaicks, and Bayards. His paternal grandfather was Hendrick Van Rensselaer (1667–1740), director of the eastern patent of the Rensselaerswyck manor, and his paternal grandmother was Catharina Van Brugh, daughter of merchant Johannes Pieterse Van Brugh (1624–1697). His maternal grandparents were Robert Livingston Jr. (1663–1725) and Margarita Schuyler (b. 1682), and his maternal great-grandparents included Pieter Schuyler (1657–1724), the first mayor of Albany, and Engeltie Van Schaick (d. 1689). Through his sister Catherine Van Rensselaer (1734–1803), who married Revolutionary War general and later U.S. Senator Philip Schuyler (1733–1804), he was the maternal uncle of Angelica Schuyler Church (1756–1814), Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton (1757–1854), Margarita “Peggy” Schuyler Van Rensselaer (1758–1801), and Philip Jeremiah Schuyler (1768–1835), who also served in the United States House of Representatives. His younger brother Robert Van Rensselaer (1740–1802) became a brigadier general during the Revolutionary War, a member of the New York Provincial Congress from 1775 to 1777, and later a member of the New York State Assembly in the 1st, 2nd, and 4th New York State Legislatures. Among his many notable relatives was his cousin Killian K. Van Rensselaer (1763–1845), who served as a U.S. Representative from New York from 1803 to 1811, and his nephew Jacob Van Rensselaer (1767–1835), a Federalist member of the New York State Assembly and Secretary of State of New York from 1813 to 1815.

Educated in keeping with his family’s status, Van Rensselaer was first tutored at the manor house and then attended private school in Albany, New York. He went on to study at the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University), from which he graduated in 1758. His Princeton education, combined with his extensive family connections, prepared him for a career in commerce, land management, and public affairs in the rapidly changing political environment of late colonial and early national New York.

After completing his education, Van Rensselaer became a land agent, merchant, and surveyor, occupations closely tied to the management and development of the vast Rensselaerswyck holdings. According to the 1790 and 1800 United States censuses, his household included three enslaved persons, reflecting the entrenched system of slavery in New York during that period. He became active in the patriot cause well before the outbreak of the American Revolution. In 1766, he was a signer of the constitution of the Albany Sons of Liberty and later served as a member of the Albany Committee of Safety, bodies that coordinated local resistance to British policies. During the Revolutionary War, he was commissioned as an ensign in the Third Regiment of the New York Line, where he served as a paymaster, contributing to the logistical and financial administration of the Continental forces.

Van Rensselaer’s political career developed alongside the formation of the new nation. In 1789, he served as a member of the New York State Assembly, participating in state-level governance as New York adjusted to its role within the federal union. That same year he was elected to the First United States Congress as a Representative from New York, serving one term in the U.S. House of Representatives from March 4, 1789, to March 3, 1791. As a member of Congress representing New York in the 1st United States Congress, he contributed to the legislative process during a formative period in American history, participating in the establishment of the new federal government and representing the interests of his constituents. Although later associated with the emerging Democratic-Republican alignment, his early service occurred before the full crystallization of formal party structures, and in some records his affiliation is not specified. He was unsuccessful in his bid for reelection to the Second Congress, losing to James Gordon, and again in 1793 when he ran for a seat from New York’s 7th congressional district, losing to Federalist nominee Henry Glen.

In addition to his legislative service, Van Rensselaer was active in New York’s financial and civic institutions. In 1791, he became a member of the first board of directors of the Bank of Albany, one of the early banking institutions in the state. He later served as president of the Bank of Albany from 1798 through 1806, overseeing its operations during a period of expanding commerce and credit in the post-Revolutionary economy. In the presidential election of 1800, he was chosen as a presidential elector from New York and cast his electoral votes for Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr, aligning himself with the Jeffersonian Republican movement that was then gaining ascendancy in state and national politics.

Van Rensselaer reached the pinnacle of his political career when he was elected lieutenant governor of New York. He served as lieutenant governor from 1801 to 1804 under Governor George Clinton, one of the leading figures in early New York and national politics. In this role, he was part of the state’s executive leadership during a period marked by the consolidation of Republican power and ongoing debates over federal and state authority. In 1804, he also served as a curator of the Evangelical Lutheran Seminary at Albany, reflecting his engagement with religious and educational institutions in the region.

Van Rensselaer married twice. On July 3, 1760, he married Judith Bayard, the great-granddaughter of Nicholas Bayard (1644–1707), thereby reinforcing ties to another influential New York family. They had one son, Johannes “John” Jeremiah Van Rensselaer (1762–1828), who married Catharina Glen (1765–1807). After Judith’s death from yellow fever in February 1764, Van Rensselaer married Helena “Lena” Lansing, further extending his connections among prominent Hudson Valley families. Although he had only one son, he had numerous grandchildren, including Catharina Glen Van Rensselaer (1785–1866), who married Nanning Visscher; John Jeremiah Van Rensselaer (b. 1790), who died young; Jeremias “Jeremiah” Van Rensselaer (1796–1871), a well-known physician and the first American to climb Mont Blanc, who married first Charlotte Foster and later Anne F. Waddington; Glen Van Rensselaer (b. 1795); Elizabeth Bayard Van Rensselaer (b. 1797); Cornelius Glen Van Rensselaer (1801–1871), who married Catharine Westerlo Bleecker, daughter of John Bleecker and Elizabeth Van Rensselaer (herself a daughter of Stephen Van Rensselaer II); and Archibald Van Rensselaer (b. 1803).

Jeremiah Van Rensselaer died on February 19, 1810, in Albany, New York. He was originally buried in the Dutch Reformed cemetery in Albany, a customary resting place for members of the old Dutch families of the region. His remains were later reinterred in Albany Rural Cemetery in Menands, New York, where many members of the extended Van Rensselaer and allied families are buried. His life and career, spanning from the colonial era through the early decades of the republic, reflected both the persistence of traditional family influence and the new political and institutional structures of the United States.