Career
He was appointed Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Italy on October 20, 1893, but declined the appointment. He was the son of James Henry Van Alen (1819—1886) who served as a brigadier general in the Union Army during the Civil War. James and Emily had three children.
Van Alen was one of several very rich men who leased - but did not buy - Rushton Hall in Northamptonshire, England, from the Clarke-Thornhill family.
He was the grandfather of socialite and tennis enthusiast Jimmy Van Alen.