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Stephen van Rensselaer

Stephen Van Rensselaer
StephenVanRensselaerIIIPortrait.jpg
Stephen van Rensselaer III,
c. 1790s, by Gilbert Stuart
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from New York's 10th district
In office
March 4, 1823 – March 3, 1829
Preceded by John D. Dickinson
Succeeded by Ambrose Spencer
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from New York's 9th district
In office
March 12, 1822 – March 3, 1823
Preceded by Solomon Van Rensselaer
Succeeded by James L. Hogeboom
2nd Lieutenant Governor of New York
In office
1795–1801
Governor John Jay
Preceded by Pierre Van Cortlandt
Succeeded by Jeremiah Van Rensselaer
Member of the New York State Senate from the Western District, at-large
In office
1791–1796
Member of the New York State Assembly from the Albany County district, at-large
In office
1789–1791
Grand Master of the Masonic Grand Lodge of New York
In office
1825–1829
Preceded by Joseph Enos
Succeeded by Morgan Lewis
9th Patroon and 6th Lord of the Manor of Rensselaerswyck
In office
1769–1839
Preceded by Stephen Van Rensselaer II
Succeeded by Stephen Van Rensselaer IV
Personal details
Born (1764-11-01)November 1, 1764
New York City, New York
Died January 26, 1839(1839-01-26) (aged 74)
New York City, New York
Political party Federalist
Adams Republican
Spouse(s) Margarita "Peggy" Schuyler
(m. 1783; her death 1801)

Cornelia Paterson
(m. 1802)
Children 12
Relatives See Van Rensselaer family
Alma mater Harvard College
Profession Landowner
Businessman
Net worth USD $3.1 billion at the time of his death (equivalent to $101 billion in 2014)

Stephen Van Rensselaer III (November 1, 1764 – January 26, 1839) was a New York landowner, businessman, militia officer, and politician.

A graduate of Harvard University, at age 21, Van Rensselaer took control of Rensselaerswyck, his family's manor. He developed the land by encouraging tenants to settle it, and granting them perpetual leases at moderate rates, which enabled the tenants to use more of their capital to make their farms and businesses productive.

Active in politics as a Federalist, Van Rensselaer served in the New York State Assembly and New York State Senate, and as Lieutenant Governor of New York. After the demise of the Federalist Party, Van Rensselaer was a John Quincy Adams supporter, and served in the United States House of Representatives for one partial term and three full ones.

Van Rensselaer was a supporter of higher education; he served on the board of trustees for several schools and colleges, and was the founder of the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. He was also a civic activist and philanthropist, and was a founder of Albany's public library and the city's Institute of History & Arts.

Long active in the militia, Van Rensselaer attained the rank of major general; he commanded troops on the New York-Canada border during the War of 1812, but resigned his commission after defeat at the Battle of Queenston Heights.

After Van Rensselaer's 1839 death, efforts by his sons to collect past due lease payments led to the Anti-Rent War, and the break up and sale of the manor. As the heir to and then owner of one of the largest estates in New York, Van Rensselaer's holdings made him the tenth richest American of all time, based on the ratio of his fortune to contemporary GDP.


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