Rev. Cortlandt Paterson Van Rensselaer

Rev. Cortlandt Van Rensselaer

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cortlandt_Van_Rensselaer
• https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/99486115/cortlandt-van_rensselaer

Rev. Van Rensselaer was a Presbyterian clergyman from the United States.

Early Life

He was a son of General Stephen Van Rensselaer and Cornelia Bell Paterson, his father's second wife. He graduated from Yale in 1827, and then studied at Union Theological Seminary, Prince Edward County, Virginia, (now Union Presbyterian Seminary) and at Princeton Theological Seminary.

Career

He was a missionary to the slaves in Virginia 1833–1835. He was ordained in 1835, and became pastor of the Presbyterian church in Burlington, New Jersey, in 1837, of the 2nd Presbyterian Church, Washington, D.C., in 1841, and agent of Princeton Theological Seminary in 1844, raising $100,000 for its endowment. He was secretary of the Presbyterian board of education 1846–1860, and founded and edited the Presbyterian Magazine and The Home, the School, and the Church.

The New York University gave him the degree of D.D. in 1845. Much of his large fortune was devoted to benevolent objects and to the religious enterprises of the Presbyterian church. After his death, selections from his published writings appeared under the title of Miscellaneous Sermons, Essays, and Addresses, edited by his son, Cortlandt Van Rensselaer (Philadelphia, 1861).

Personal Life

He was married to Catherine Ledyard, sister of Henry Ledyard. They were children of New York lawyer Benjamin Ledyard and Susan French (née Livingston) Ledyard (herself the daughter of Supreme Court Justice Henry Brockholst Livingston and granddaughter of New Jersey Governor William Livingston).

Together Cortlandt and Catherine had:

• Cortlandt Van Rensselaer (1838–1864), a captain in the U.S. Army, who died in Nashville, Tennessee with the 13th United States Infantry, aged 27.
• Philip Ledyard Van Rensselaer (1839–1873), who died at Vevey, Switzerland, aged 34.
• Ledyard Van Rensselaer (1843–1892), who died unmarried
• Alice Cogswell Van Rensselaer (1846–1878), who married Edward Blanchard Hodge (1841–1906) in 1868.
• Elizabeth Wadsworth Van Rensselaer (1848–1886)
• Alexander Van Rensselaer (1850–1933), who married Sarah Rozet Drexel Fell (1860–1929), daughter of Anthony Joseph Drexel (1826–1893)
• Van Rensselaer died on July 25, 1860, in Burlington, New Jersey.

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His mother was the daughter of Chief Justice Paterson of New Jersey. His father’s first wife had been Margaret Schuyler, daughter of General Philip and Catherine Schuyler (Van Rensselaer)

General Stephen was the last to stand by the old European tradition of progeniture; he left the estate of Rensselaerwyck as well as the Patroonship with accompanying insignia to his son, Stephenus, only surviving child of his first wife, Margaret Schuyler.

The seventh of twelve children, Cortlandt was born in the Manor House in Albany. He was a graduate of Yale College, Class of 1826. He was admitted to the bar in 1830, however, he later studied for and was ordained in the Presbyterian ministry in 1833. During the following two years he devoted his time to missionary work with the slaves of Virginia.

He received the degree of Doctor of Divinity from the University of New York in 1845.

In 1836 he assisted in the organization of the Presbyterian Church in Burlington and he also raised an endowment of over $100,000 for the Princeton Theological Seminary.

*The Ledyard Family in America, pg. 100

Siblings:

• Catherine Schuyler Van Rensselaer (1784 - 1787)**
• Stephanus Van Rensselaer (1786 - 1787)**
• Stephen van Rensselaer (1789 - 1868)**
• William Paterson Van Rensselaer (1805 - 1872)*
• Philip Stephen Van Rensselaer (1806 - 1871)*
• Cortlandt Van Rensselaer (1808 - 1860)
• Henry Bell Van Rensselaer (1810 - 1864)*
• Euphemia White Van Rensselaer Cruger (1816 - 1888)*
• Westerlo Van Rensselaer (1820 - 1844)*

Half-sibling **

Burial:
Albany Rural Cemetery
Menands Albany County New York, USA
Plot: Sec. 41 Lot 40