Johan van Rensselaer also Johannes van Rensselaer (Amsterdam, 4 September 1625 –

Nijkerk Nijkerk (; Dutch Low Saxon: ''Niekark'') is a Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality and a city located in the middle of the Netherlands, in the province of Gelderland. Population centres Some people state that ''Groot Corlaer'' is a ...

, 6 May 1663), second

patroon In the United States, a patroon (; from Dutch '' patroon'' ) was a landholder with manorial rights to large tracts of land in the 17th-century Dutch colony of New Netherland on the east coast of North America. Through the Charter of Free ...

of the

Manor of Rensselaerswyck Rensselaerswyck was a Dutch colonial patroonship and later an England, English Proprietary colony, manor owned by the Van Rensselaer (family), van Rensselaer family located in the present-day Capital District, New York, Capital District of New Yor ...

, was the eldest son of Kiliaen van Rensselaer, and his only son by his first wife, Hillegonda van Bylaer.

Life

Being a minor of about nineteen years when his father died in 1643, the estates in Holland and at Rensselaerswyck were placed in charge of executors, Johan's first cousin

Wouter van Twiller Wouter van Twiller (May 22, 1606 – buried August 29, 1654) was an employee of the Dutch West India Company and the fourth Director of New Netherland. He governed from 1632 until 1638, succeeding Peter Minuit, who was recalled by the Dutch ...

and Johan van Wely. The executors attempted to have Johannes confirmed as Patroon, but the partners prevented it. Van Twiller and Van Wely then appointed Brant Aertsz van Slichtenhorst as Director of Rensselaerwyck.Roper, Louis H. and Van Ruymbeke, Bertrand. ''Constructing Early Modern Empires: Proprietary Ventures in the Atlantic World, 1500-1750'', Brill, 2007
/ref> Samuel Blommaert and Joannes de Laet tried to get more influence in the

colony A colony is a territory subject to a form of foreign rule, which rules the territory and its indigenous peoples separated from the foreign rulers, the colonizer, and their ''metropole'' (or "mother country"). This separated rule was often orga ...

, as both owned one fifth and opened a legal case.

Patroon

In 1650, when he was 25 years old, Johannes became head of the family. The

States-General of the Netherlands The States General of the Netherlands ( ) is the supreme bicameral legislature of the Netherlands consisting of the Senate () and the House of Representatives (). Both chambers meet at the Binnenhof in The Hague. The States General originated i ...

decided in the same year that he was allowed to keep his title and call himself "patron" of Rensselaerswyck, and that the Patroon be more accountable to the shareholders. Among the papers of the New York Public Library is a letter from Johan Rensselaer, Patroon of Rensselaerwyck and his partners to the Burgomasters of Amsterdam seeking intervention to correct abuses by Governor Stuyvesant against the liberties of the colony, an apparent reference to the Governor's 1648 dispute with Van Slechtenhorst at

Fort Orange Fort Orange () was the first permanent Dutch settlement in New Netherland; the present-day city and state capital Albany, New York developed near this site. It was built in 1624 as a replacement for Fort Nassau, which had been built on n ...

. Johannes never visited Rensselaerswyck. His brother

Jan Baptist van Rensselaer Jan Baptist van Rensselaer (18 March 1629, in Amsterdam – 24 October 1678, in Amsterdam) was a Dutch merchant and landowner who was the second son of Kiliaen van Rensselaer, the first Patroon of the Manor of Rensselaerswyck. Early life Jan ...

and their 19-year-old brother Jeremias sailed from Amsterdam sometime after March 20, 1651, on the ''Gelderse Blom'' (Gelderland Flower) to organize the estate. With them travelled a dozen employees hired by the Patroon,Nieuwenhuis, Pim. "Abstracts from Notarial Documents in the Amsterdam Archives", New Netherland Connections recruited from places where the Van Rensselaers had other interests. In 1656, the director general and council in New Amsterdam announced plans to begin collecting tithes, which heretofore had been collected by the patroonship for the support of the Dutch Reformed minister. Jan Baptist, as Director, submitted a remonstrance in which he pointed out that under the 1629 charter, Rensselaerwyck was exempt. The patron and his partners in Amsterdam lodged a protest, but the West India Company procrastinated until the English seized control in 1664.

Personal life

In 1655 Johannes married his cousin Elizabeth van Twiller and they had two children: * Kiliaen van Rensselaer, who became the fourth Patroon. *Nella van Rensselaer, who married Johan de Swardt Johan died on May 6, 1663, and his children went under the guardianship of their uncle Jan Baptist.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rensselaer, Johan Van 1625 births 1663 deaths People from New Netherland Johan Nobility from Amsterdam Dutch West India Company people from Amsterdam