Historical records matching Rev. Henry Van Rensselaer, S.J.
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About Rev. Henry Van Rensselaer, S.J.
Rev. Henry Van Rensselaer
- https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/171525748/henry_van_rensselaer
- https://www.abebooks.co.uk/Life-Letters-Henry-Rensselaer-Priest-Soc...
Revered Priest Dead. Father Henry Van Rensselaer Expires at St. Vincent's Hospital.
The Rev. Henry Van Rensselaer died at St. Vincent's Hospital. Death was due to Bright's disease. He first showed signs of failing health last June.
Father Van Rensselaer was one of the best known Roman Catholic priests in this city. For the last ten years he was assistant pastor of St. Francis Xavier's Church, in West 16th Street, Manhattan.
He was educated for the Episcopal ministry, until he renounced that faith to enter the Roman Catholic Church. On October 31, 1878, he entered the Jesuit order at St. Francis Xavier College. Then he was sent to Loyola College, Baltimore, where his first five years as a novitiate was spent. From there he became a student of theology in the Jesuit Seminary, at Woodstock. Maryland, where he finished his education as a priest.
After teaching at Fordham College, Father Van Rensselaer was formally ordained a priest at the Jesuit church where he remained until his death. Although Father Van Rensselaer had considerable wealth, he declined to use it for himself. When he became converted to the Roman Catholic faith all of his property was deeded to the Church. Shortly after he entered the Catholic seminary one of his sisters also became a convert and entered the order of the Sisters of Charity, she assumed the name of Sister Dolores and is at present in charge of the Nazareth Nursery, in West 15th street, which was founded by Father Van Rensselaer several years ago.
The Van Rensselaer family is one of the oldest in this state, Steven Van Rensselaer, the grandfather of the priest, contributed toward the building of the first Roman Catholic church in Albany, although he was an Episcopalian. During the Revolution the Van Rensselaer estate was the largest in the vicinity of Albany, and when Henry Van Rensselaer, the father of the priest, married Miss Elizabeth King, he came into control of a large estate in Ogdensburg. Father Van Rensselaer was the oldest son and to him came a large part of the family fortune.
His first absence from the hospital was Iast June, when he was seized with a convulsion in Union Square. After several days in the New York Hospital he went to one of the country homes of the Jesuit order, where he stayed until month, when he was so much improved that he again resumed the active work which undermined his health. A second attack seized him while in the hospital on the 18th(?). Then he was induced to stay in the Institution, but he pleaded to be permitted to direct the various charitable enterprises which he had founded. Every morning he said mass until a week ago Sunday, when he officiated at the 8 o'clock mass in the hospital. The night before he had heard confession, there being more than a hundred men who came to him for solace. This ordeal resulted in a breakdown after the mass and Father Van Rensselaer became a bed patient. Several days ago his condition became so serious that a consultation of physicians was held.
On Wednesday his sister was called to his bedside, and Dr. Francis Delafield, his brother-in-law, who is one of the visiting physicians of St. Vincent's Hospital, joined the doctors in attendance. Early yesterday morning his condition improved slightly but his death was sudden.
The body was buried in the Jesuit plot at Fordham. Besides Sister Dolores, Father Van Rensselaer leaves two other sisters, Mrs. George Waddington and Mrs. Francis Delafield, and a brother, John Van Rensselaer, who has been staying at the hospital since the priest was taken seriously ill.
Father Van Rensselaer was a member of the Knights of Columbus and the Ancient Order of Hibernians, a director of the Men's Sodality, the Young Men's Sodality, the St. Vincent d« Paul's Society and the Xavier Club.
Obituary in New York Daily Tribune, Fri., October 4, 1907
Sources:
- Life and Letters of Henry Van Rensselaer, by Edward Peter Spillane (1908).
- https://ia800308.us.archive.org/15/items/LifeAndLettersOfHenryVanRe...
- "Revered Priest Dead", New York Tribune, October 4, 1907, p6.
- "Labor of Love for Souls", Boston Globe, March 24, 1902, p7.
- "Fortune For Society of Jesus", Wilkes Barre Record, August 24, 1897, p2.
- "Coverts to Romanism", Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, June 1, 1887, p1.
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Rev. Henry Van Rensselaer, S.J.'s Timeline
| 1851 |
October 21, 1851
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Ogdensburg, St. Lawrence County, New York, United States
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| 1907 |
October 3, 1907
Age 55
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New York, New York County, New York, United States
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| ???? |
Fordham College Cemetery, The Bronx, Bronx County, New York, United States
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