Background
Kiliaen Van Rensselaer was born in Amsterdam, probably in 1580. His early life is obscure.
(Excerpt from Van Rensselaer Bowier Manuscripts: Being the...)
Excerpt from Van Rensselaer Bowier Manuscripts: Being the Letters of Kiliaen Van Rensselaer, 1630-1643, and Other Documents Relating to the Colony of Rensselaerswyck Freedoms and Exemptions granted to those who will plant colonies in New Netherland. (printed in Dutch and English) About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
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Kiliaen Van Rensselaer was born in Amsterdam, probably in 1580. His early life is obscure.
He entered the employ of a jeweler uncle who eventually retired in his favor, and by 1614 he was a leading Amsterdam diamond and pearl merchant. Prospering in East Indian trade, Van Rensselaer helped promote and found the West India Company, which was chartered in 1621 as a trading monopoly in Africa and America. As one of its directors, on two occasions he advanced sums to maintain the company's credit.
From the outset Van Rensselaer urged the company's fellow directors to develop New Netherland's agriculture rather than rely solely on the lucrative fur trade. When the company experienced difficulty securing settlers, Van Rensselaer utilized the Charter of Freedom and Exemptions, authorizing feudal estates for responsible Dutchmen promising to bring 50 adults to live on assigned tracts purchased from the Native Americans. Obtaining permission for such a patroonship in November 1629, he purchased land on the Hudson River near Albany from the Algonquin Indians. Later purchases expanded the area to approximately 700, 000 acres on both sides of the river.
After patent to the manor of Rensselaerswyck was confirmed on Aug. 6, 1630, the first settlers soon arrived. Van Rensselaer zealously developed his New World estate, securing the most substantial group of settlers recruited by any patroon. He provided stock and farm tools for his colonists, purchased cattle, organized a manorial court, and sent a Calvinist pastor to care for the settlers' spiritual needs.
Anxious to develop agriculture in his barony, Van Rensselaer also sought benefits from fur trading. He advocated company restriction of this commerce to concession-aires, with his own agents controlling that in the Rensselaerswyck area. Vast correspondence shows his continued attention to administrative details (and probably price-rigging for settlers' supplies). However, company-licensed traders resisted efforts to forcibly collect tolls and restrict Indian commerce. Before his death in Amsterdam in October 1643, Van Rensselaer was plagued by settlers' disobedience to his appointed authorities and by agents' attempts to secure manors for themselves. Nevertheless, Rensselaerswyck proved the only successful patroonship during the Dutch era in New York.
Van Rensselaer is also the source of the names of the town of Rensselaerville, city of Rensselaer, and county of Rensselaer in upstate New York. Additionally, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy was founded in 1824 by Stephen Van Rensselaer III as the Rensselaer School. It is now a world-renowned technical and engineering school.
(Excerpt from Van Rensselaer Bowier Manuscripts: Being the...)
Van Rensselaer married twice and had at least eleven children.
He married his cousin Hillegonda van Bijler, on July 23, 1616. Hillegonda van Bijler is presumed to have died in late December 1626, since she was buried on January 1, 1627, three days before her third child Maria. She was around the age of 28 and the couple had been married less than eleven years.
Van Rensselaer re-married on December 14, 1627 to Anna van Wely, daughter of Van Rensselaer's former business partner.
He was the eldest son of Kiliaen van Rensselaer, and his only son by his first wife, Hillegonda van Bylaer.
He was the second son of Kiliaen van Rensselaer, the first Patroon of the Manor of Rensselaerswyck.
He was a Reformed Dutch Church clergyman, and one time director of the Manor of Rensselaerwyck.
He was the third son of Kiliaen van Rensselaer, one of the founders and directors of the Dutch West India Company who was instrumental in the establishment of New Netherland.
