Career
In 1662, he founded the city of Schenectady on land he purchased from the Mohawks. He was known for his fair dealings with the Indians, negotiating disputes and arranging for captives to be freed. Foreign many years the Mohawks called the governors of New York "Corlaer", using his name as a title, because of the high regard in which they held him.
In 1666 he aided De Courcelle, governor of New France, who ran into difficulties while on an expedition to the Mohawk Valley.
In 1667, on a trip to Quebec at the invitation of Governor de Tracy he drowned in Lake Champlain when his boat overturned in a storm. The Hotel Van Curler in Schenectady, built in 1925 – now Elston Hall of Schenectady County Community College – is named after Arent van Curler.
Van Corlaer Elementary School, built in 1914 on Guilderland Avenue in Schenectady, is also named after him.