Henry Bell Van Rensselaer (May 14, 1810 – March 23, 1864) was an American military man, an officer in the

Union Army During the American Civil War, the Union Army, also known as the Federal Army and the Northern Army, referring to the United States Army, was the land force that fought to preserve the Union of the collective states. It proved essential to th ...

during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states ...

, and a politician who served in the

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washing ...

as a

Representative Representative may refer to: Politics * Representative democracy, type of democracy in which elected officials represent a group of people * House of Representatives, legislative body in various countries or sub-national entities * Legislator, som ...

from the

state of New York New York, officially the State of New York, is a state in the Northeastern United States. It is often called New York State to distinguish it from its largest city, New York City. With a total area of , New York is the 27th-largest U.S. state ...

Early life

Henry Van Rensselaer was born at the manor house in

Albany, New York Albany ( ) is the capital of the U.S. state of New York, also the seat and largest city of Albany County. Albany is on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River, and about north of New York C ...

. His father was Stephen Van Rensselaer III, the

patroon In the United States, a patroon (; from Dutch '' patroon'' ) was a landholder with manorial rights to large tracts of land in the 17th century Dutch colony of New Netherland on the east coast of North America. Through the Charter of Freedoms ...

of the Manor of Rensselaerswyck, who was also a United States Representative and founder of the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. The Van Rensselaers belong to the King family of Massachusetts and New York City. His mother, Cornelia Paterson, was the daughter of William Paterson, who served as

Governor of New Jersey The governor of New Jersey is the head of government of New Jersey. The office of governor is an elected position with a four-year term. There is a two consecutive term term limit, with no limitation on non-consecutive terms. The official r ...

and an Associate Justice of the

United States Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...

. He graduated from the

United States Military Academy The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known metonymically as West Point or simply as Army, is a United States service academy in West Point, New York. It was originally established as a fort, since it sits on strategic high groun ...

West Point, New York West Point is the oldest continuously occupied military post in the United States. Located on the Hudson River in New York, West Point was identified by General George Washington as the most important strategic position in America during the Ame ...

in 1831.

Career

He was appointed a

brevet Brevet may refer to: Military * Brevet (military), higher rank that rewards merit or gallantry, but without higher pay * Brevet d'état-major, a military distinction in France and Belgium awarded to officers passing military staff college * Aircre ...

Second Lieutenant of the Fifth Regiment, United States Infantry on July 1, 1831, and resigned January 27, 1832. He then engaged in agricultural pursuits near

Ogdensburg, New York Ogdensburg ( moh, Kaniatarahòn:tsi) is a city in St. Lawrence County, New York, United States. The population was 10,436 at the 2019 census. In the late 18th century, European-American settlers named the community after American land owner and de ...

, and served as a military aide to Governor

William H. Seward William Henry Seward (May 16, 1801 – October 10, 1872) was an American politician who served as United States Secretary of State from 1861 to 1869, and earlier served as governor of New York and as a United States Senator. A determined oppon ...

from 1839 to 1840. Upon his father's death in 1839, Van Rensselaer, as the fifth son, inherited the wild lands in St. Lawrence County along the

St. Lawrence River The St. Lawrence River (french: Fleuve Saint-Laurent, ) is a large river in the middle latitudes of North America. Its headwaters begin flowing from Lake Ontario in a (roughly) northeasterly direction, into the Gulf of St. Lawrence, connecting ...

. His eldest brother, Stephen Van Rensselaer IV inherited the manor on the Albany side of the

Hudson River The Hudson River is a river that flows from north to south primarily through eastern New York. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York and flows southward through the Hudson Valley to the New York Harbor between N ...

. Van Rensselaer was elected as a Whig to the

Twenty-seventh United States Congress The 27th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. between March 4, ...

, and served from March 4, 1841 to March 3, 1843. He was subsequently president of several mining companies, including the American Mineral Company and the Consolidated Franklinite Company. He was a director of the Northern Railroad (later the

Rutland Railroad The Rutland Railroad was a railroad in the northeastern United States, located primarily in the state of Vermont but extending into the state of New York at both its northernmost and southernmost ends. After its closure in 1961, parts of the ...

), but resigned to help found the Ogdensburg, Clayton and Rome Railroad.

U.S. Civil War

Upon the outbreak of the

, he reentered the military service with the rank of

colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge o ...

in the Union Army, and was appointed chief of staff to General

Winfield Scott Winfield Scott (June 13, 1786May 29, 1866) was an American military commander and political candidate. He served as a general in the United States Army from 1814 to 1861, taking part in the War of 1812, the Mexican–American War, the early s ...

as a

brigadier general Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointed ...

. After Scott's retirement, Van Rensselaer was reappointed as a colonel, and from November 1861 until his death, he served as an inspector general of several

corps Corps (; plural ''corps'' ; from French , from the Latin "body") is a term used for several different kinds of organization. A military innovation by Napoleon I, the formation was first named as such in 1805. The size of a corps varies great ...

and departments including the 1st Army Corps, Department of the Rappahannock, 3rd Army Corps and

Department of the Ohio The Department of the Ohio was an administrative military district created by the United States War Department early in the American Civil War to administer the troops in the Northern states near the Ohio River. 1st Department 1861–1862 Gener ...

Personal life

On August 22, 1833, Van Rensselaer married Elizabeth Ray King (1815–1900), daughter of

John Alsop King John Alsop King (January 3, 1788July 7, 1867) was an American politician who was Governor of New York from 1857 to 1858. Life John Alsop King was born in the area now encompassed by New York City on January 3, 1788, to U.S. Senator Rufus King ( ...

(1788–1867), the Governor of New York, and Mary Ray. Elizabeth's maternal grandfather was

U.S. Senator The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and powe ...

Rufus King (1755–1827) and her great-grandfather was

John Alsop John Alsop Jr. (1724 – November 22, 1794) was an American merchant and politician from New York City. As a delegate for New York to the Continental Congress from 1774 to 1776, he signed the 1774 Continental Association. Early life Alsop wa ...

(1724–1792), a prominent New York City merchant. Together, they had: * Mary Van Rensselaer (1834–1902), who married John Henry Screven (1823–1903) in 1874 * Cornelia Van Rensselaer (1836–1864), who married James Lenox Kennedy (1823–1864), son of David Sproat Kennedy and nephew of philanthropist

James Lenox James Lenox (August 19, 1800 – February 17, 1880) was an American bibliophile and philanthropist. His collection of paintings and books eventually became known as the Lenox Library and in 1895 became part of the New York Public Library. Early ...

. * Stephen Van Rensselaer (1838–1904), who married Mathilda Coster Heckscher (1838–1915) * Henry Van Rensselaer, who died young * Euphemia Van Rensselaer (1842–), who became a

Sister of Charity Many religious communities have the term Sisters of Charity in their name. Some ''Sisters of Charity'' communities refer to the Vincentian tradition, or in America to the tradition of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton, but others are unrelated. The ...

and took the name Marie Dolores. * Elizabeth Van Rensselaer (1845–1911), who married George Waddington (1840–1915), a son of William D. Waddington (1811–1886) and Mary Elizabeth Ogden (1810–1867). * John King Van Rensselaer (1847–1909), who married May Denning King (1848–1925), granddaughter of James Gore King. * Katherine Van Rensselaer (1849–1901), who married Dr. Francis Delafield (1841–1915), son of Dr. Edward Delafied, in 1870. * Henry Van Rensselaer (1851–1907), who joined the

Society of Jesuits The Society of Jesus ( la, Societas Iesu; abbreviation: SJ), also known as the Jesuits (; la, Iesuitæ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

* Westerlo Van Rensselaer (1853–1857), who died young. Van Rensselaer died of

typhoid fever Typhoid fever, also known as typhoid, is a disease caused by '' Salmonella'' serotype Typhi bacteria. Symptoms vary from mild to severe, and usually begin six to 30 days after exposure. Often there is a gradual onset of a high fever over several ...

Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wi ...

shortly before the end of the War. He was interred in the Grace Episcopal Churchyard, in Jamaica, Queens in New York City.

Descendants

Through his son, John King Van Rensselaer, he was the grandfather of John Alexander Van Rensselaer (b. 1872), who married Helen F. Galindo in 1896, and who was arrested in 1908 for attempting to extort $5,000 from his mother. Through his granddaughter, Julia Floyd Delafield, Henry was the great-grandfather of

Floyd Crosby Floyd Delafield Crosby, A.S.C. (December 12, 1899 – September 30, 1985) was an Academy Award-winning American cinematographer, descendant of the Van Rensselaer family, and father of musicians Ethan and David Crosby. Early life Crosby was b ...

(1899–1985), himself the father of

David Crosby David Van Cortlandt Crosby (born August 14, 1941) is an American singer, guitarist, and songwriter. In addition to his solo career, he was a founding member of both the Byrds and Crosby, Stills & Nash. Crosby joined the Byrds in 1964. They got ...

and

Jane Wyatt Jane Waddington Wyatt ( ; August 12, 1910 – October 20, 2006) was an American actress. She starred in a number of Hollywood films, such as Frank Capra's ''Lost Horizon'', but is likely best known for her role as the housewife and mother Marga ...

References

Notes

Sources

* Retrieved on 2008-11-21 {{DEFAULTSORT:Van Rensselaer, Henry Bell 1810 births 1864 deaths 19th-century American politicians Henry Bell Military personnel from Albany, New York People of New York (state) in the American Civil War Politicians from Albany, New York Henry Bell Union Army generals United States Military Academy alumni Henry Bell Whig Party members of the United States House of Representatives from New York (state) Deaths from typhoid fever