Eilardus Westerlo (1738-1790)

Eilardus Westerlo (October 30, 1738, Kantens, Netherlands – December 26, 1790, Albany, New York) was a Dutch Reformed minister who worked in the United States. He spent his career, from October 1760 until December 1790, as pastor of the Dutch Reformed Church in Albany. During this period, the United States fought for its independence, and the Dutch Reformed Church in North America gained its independence from the mother church in the Netherlands.

Westerlo was born to Isaac Westerlo (1708-1766), a Dutch-Reformed minister, and Hillegonda Reiners (ca. 1715-1750), daughter of Dominee Eilardus Reiners. He was reared in Denekamp, and educated at the grammar school in Oldenzaal and the University of Groningen. Westerlo graduated from the University of Groningen in 1760, and he was ordained as a minister of the Dutch Reformed Church the same year.

In the year of Westerlo's ordination, Daniel Gerdes and Michaël Bertling in Groningen were asked to find an adequate successor for Theodorus Frelinghuysen as pastor in Albany, New York. Thousands of miles from Albany, unfamiliar with the local situation, faced with a limited number of candidates, these two Groningen professors selected Westerlo. He accepted the call, and arrived in Albany in October 1760.

Westerlo proved not only that he understood the issues in Albany, but also that he could come up with workable solutions. He became one of the leaders of his denomination in America. For thirty years he successfully steered his own congregation past its problems of discord. Moreover, he was instrumental in helping the Dutch Reformed Church in New York and New Jersey establish its own organization in North America. In addition to his work at Albany, he also ministered at Schaghticoke, New York, quarterly.

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