Jeremiah Van Rensselaer (August 27, 1738February 19, 1810), from the prominent

Van Rensselaer family The Van Rensselaer family () is a family of Dutch descent that was prominent during the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries in the area now known as the state of New York. Members of this family played a critical role in the formation of the Unit ...

, was the

lieutenant governor of New York The lieutenant governor of New York is a Constitution of New York, constitutional office in the executive branch of the Government of the State of New York. It is the second highest-ranking official in state government. The lieutenant governo ...

and a member of Congress in the

U.S. House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...

, representing

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

in the 1st

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature, legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. It is a Bicameralism, bicameral legislature, including a Lower house, lower body, the United States House of Representatives, ...

Early life

Jeremiah Van Rensselaer was born on August 27, 1738, at the main home of his family's manor, "Rensselaerswyck" in the

Province of New York The Province of New York was a British proprietary colony and later a royal colony on the northeast coast of North America from 1664 to 1783. It extended from Long Island on the Atlantic, up the Hudson River and Mohawk River valleys to ...

, in what is now the city of Watervliet. His parents were Johannes Van Rensselaer (1708–1793) 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 10 years-old and his father remarried, to Gertrude van Cortlandt. His older sister was Catherine van Rensselaer (1734–1803) who in 1755 married

Philip Schuyler Philip John Schuyler (; November 20, 1733 - November 18, 1804) was an American general in the American Revolutionary War, Revolutionary War and a United States Senate, United States Senator from New York (state), New York. He is usually known as ...

(1733–1804), a

Revolutionary A revolutionary is a person who either participates in, or advocates for, a revolution. The term ''revolutionary'' can also be used as an adjective to describe something producing a major and sudden impact on society. Definition The term—bot ...

general and

United States Senator The United States Senate consists of 100 members, two from each of the 50 U.S. state, states. This list includes all senators serving in the 119th United States Congress. Party affiliation Independent Senators Angus King of Maine and Berni ...

from

. This relationship made him the maternal uncle to Angelica Schuyler (1756–1814), who married British MP John Barker Church, Elizabeth Schuyler (1757–1854), who married

Alexander Hamilton Alexander Hamilton (January 11, 1755 or 1757July 12, 1804) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the first U.S. secretary of the treasury from 1789 to 1795 dur ...

, the first

United States Secretary of the Treasury The United States secretary of the treasury is the head of the United States Department of the Treasury, and is the chief financial officer of the federal government of the United States. The secretary of the treasury serves as the principal a ...

, Margarita Schuyler (1758–1801), who married Stephen Van Rensselaer III, the son of Jeremiah's first cousin, Stephen van Rensselaer II (1742–1769), and Philip Jeremiah Schuyler (1768–1835), who also served in the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

. His younger brother was Robert Van Rensselaer (1740–1802), a Brigadier General during the Revolutionary War, a member of the

New York Provincial Congress The New York Provincial Congress (1775–1777) was a revolutionary provisional government formed by colonists in 1775, during the American Revolution, as a pro-American alternative to the more conservative New York General Assembly, and as a repla ...

from 1775 to 1777 and later a member of the New York State Assembly in the

1st First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...

2nd A second is the base unit of time in the International System of Units (SI). Second, Seconds, The Second, or (The) 2nd may also refer to: Mathematics * 2 (number), as an ordinal (also written as ''2nd'' or ''2d'') * Minute and second of arc, ...

and 4th New York State Legislatures. Robert's son and Jeremiah's nephew was Jacob Van Rensselaer (1767–1835), a

Federalist The term ''federalist'' describes several political beliefs around the world. It may also refer to the concept of parties, whose members or supporters call themselves ''Federalists''. History Europe federation In Europe, proponents of deep ...

member of the

New York State Assembly The New York State Assembly is the lower house of the New York State Legislature, with the New York State Senate being the upper house. There are 150 seats in the Assembly. Assembly members serve two-year terms without term limits. The Ass ...

and the

Secretary of State of New York The secretary of state of New York is a cabinet officer in the government of the U.S. state of New York who leads the Department of State (NYSDOS). The current secretary of state of New York is Walter T. Mosley, a Democrat. Duties The secr ...

from 1813 to 1815. ''See also:''

Education

Van Rensselaer was

tutor Tutoring is private academic help, usually provided by an expert teacher; someone with deep knowledge or defined expertise in a particular subject or set of subjects. A tutor, formally also called an academic tutor, is a person who provides assis ...

ed at the manor house, attended private school in

Albany, New York Albany ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It is located on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River. Albany is the oldes ...

, and attended college at the College of New Jersey (now

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

) where he graduated in 1758.

Family

Jeremiah was descended from and married into "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 Rensselaerswyck was a Dutch colonial patroonship and later an English manor owned by the van Rensselaer family located in the present-day Capital District of New York in the United States. The estate was originally deeded by the Dutch West In ...

manor, and his paternal grandmother was Catharina Van Brugh, daughter of merchant Johannes Pieterse Van Brugh (1624–1697). He had many noteworthy cousins, including

Killian K. Van Rensselaer Killian Killian Van Rensselaer (June 9, 1763 – June 18, 1845) was an American lawyer and United States Federalist Party, Federalist politician who served in the United States Congress as a United States House of Representatives, Represen ...

(1763–1845), who was also a U.S. Representative that served in Congress from 1803 until 1811. His maternal grandparents were Robert Livingston Jr. (1663–1725) and Margarita Schuyler (b. 1682). His maternal great-grandparents were

Pieter Schuyler Pieter Schuyler (17 September 1657 – 19 February 1724) was the first mayor of Albany, New York. A long-serving member of the executive council of the Province of New York, he acted as governor of the Province of New York on three occasions ...

(1657–1724), the first

Mayor of Albany In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well as ...

, and Engeltie Van Schaick (d. 1689).

Career

Van Rensselaer became a land agent, merchant, and surveyor. According to the 1790 and 1800 U.S. censuses, his household included three slaves. In 1766, he was a signer of the constitution of the Albany

Sons of Liberty The Sons of Liberty was a loosely organized, clandestine, sometimes violent, political organization active in the Thirteen American Colonies founded to advance the rights of the colonists and to fight taxation by the British government. It p ...

and became a member of the Albany Committee of Safety. During the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...

he was commissioned as an ensign in the third regiment of the New York Line where he served as a paymaster. He was elected to the

First United States Congress The 1st United States Congress, comprising the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives, met from March 4, 1789, to March 4, 1791, during the first two years of George Washington's presidency, first at Federal Hall i ...

and served from March 4, 1789, to March 3, 1791, but lost his bid for reelection to the Second Congress to James Gordon. He later ran for the 7th congressional district in 1793, losing to Federalist nominee Henry Glen. In 1789, he was member of the

. In 1791, he was a member of the first board of directors of the Bank of Albany, and from 1798 through 1806, served as president of the bank. He was a

presidential elector In the United States, the Electoral College is the group of presidential electors that is formed every four years for the sole purpose of voting for the president and vice president in the presidential election. This process is described in ...

1800 As of March 1 ( O.S. February 18), when the Julian calendar acknowledged a leap day and the Gregorian calendar did not, the Julian calendar fell one day further behind, bringing the difference to 12 days until February 28 ( O.S. February 16), ...

, voting for

Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson (, 1743July 4, 1826) was an American Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the third president of the United States from 1801 to 1809. He was the primary author of the United States Declaration of Indepe ...

and

Aaron Burr Aaron Burr Jr. (February 6, 1756 – September 14, 1836) was an American politician, businessman, lawyer, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the third vice president of the United States from 1801 to 1805 d ...

. Van Rensselaer was

Lieutenant Governor of New York The lieutenant governor of New York is a Constitution of New York, constitutional office in the executive branch of the Government of the State of New York. It is the second highest-ranking official in state government. The lieutenant governo ...

from 1801 to 1804, serving under Governor George Clinton. He was curator of the

Evangelical Lutheran Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

Seminary at Albany in 1804.

Personal life

On July 3, 1760, he married Judith Bayard, the great-granddaughter of

Nicholas Bayard Nicholas Bayard (c. 1644–1707 or 1709) was a government official and slave trader in colonial New York. Bayard served as the mayor of New York City from 1685 to 1686. He is historically most notable for being Peter Stuyvesant's nephew and for ...

(1644–1707). Together, they had one son: * Johannes "John" Jeremiah Van Rensselaer (1762–1828), who married Catharina Glen (1765–1807). In February 1764, after his first wife's death of Yellow Fever, he married Helena "Lena" Lansing. He died on February 19, 1810, in Albany and was buried in the

Dutch Reformed The Dutch Reformed Church (, , abbreviated NHK ) was the largest Christian denomination in the Netherlands from the onset of the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century until 1930. It was the traditional denomination of the Dutch royal fami ...

cemetery there. His body was later moved to the

Albany Rural Cemetery The Albany Rural Cemetery was established October 7, 1844, in Menands, New York, United States, just outside the city of Albany, New York. It is renowned as one of the most beautiful, pastoral cemeteries in the U.S., at over . Many historical ...

Menands, New York Menands is a village in Albany County, New York, United States. The population was 4,554 at the 2020 census. The village is named after Louis Menand. The village lies inside the town of Colonie and borders the northern city line of Albany. ...

Descendants

Although Van Rensselaer only had one son, he had many 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 who was the first American to climb

Mont Blanc Mont Blanc (, ) is a mountain in the Alps, rising above sea level, located right at the Franco-Italian border. It is the highest mountain in Europe outside the Caucasus Mountains, the second-most prominent mountain in Europe (after Mount E ...

, who first married 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 (the daughter of Stephen Van Rensselaer II) * Archibald Van Rensselaer (b. 1803).