Jan Baptist van Rensselaer (18 March 1629, in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...

– 24 October 1678, in Amsterdam) was the second son of Kiliaen van Rensselaer, the first Patroon of the Manor of Rensselaerswyck.

Early life

Jan Baptist van Rensselaer was born in Amsterdam. He was the second son of Kiliaen van Rensselaer (1586–1643), and his first son by his second wife, Anna van Wely (c. 1601–1670). His father was a successful

diamond Diamond is a solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. Another solid form of carbon known as graphite is the chemically stable form of carbon at room temperature and pressure, ...

and

pearl A pearl is a hard, glistening object produced within the soft tissue (specifically the mantle) of a living shelled mollusk or another animal, such as fossil conulariids. Just like the shell of a mollusk, a pearl is composed of calcium carb ...

merchant from

who was one of the founders and directors of the Dutch West India Company, instrumental in the establishment of

New Netherland New Netherland ( nl, Nieuw Nederland; la, Novum Belgium or ) was a 17th-century colonial province of the Dutch Republic that was located on the east coast of what is now the United States. The claimed territories extended from the Delmarva P ...

Manor of Rensselaerswyck

In the spring of 1651, Jan Baptist sailed from Amsterdam on the ''Gelderse Blom'' (Gelderland Flower). With him travelled twelve employees hired by the Patroon, recruited from places where the Van Rensselaers had other interests. Jan Baptist was the first Van Rensselaer to visit the colony.Spooner, Walter Whipple (January 1907)
"The Van Rensselaer Family"
''American Historical Magazine'', Vol. 2, No. 1, p. 207. In May 1652, he was appointed Director of the Manor of Rensselaerswyck representing his brother

Johan van Rensselaer Johan van Rensselaer also Johannes van Rensselaer (Amsterdam, 4 September 1625 – Nijkerk , 6 May 1663), second patroon of the Manor of Rensselaerswyck, was the eldest son of Kiliaen van Rensselaer, and his only son by his first wife, Hillegon ...

(1625–1663), the second Patroon. During his residence on the estate, he lived in a style befitting his position, having brought furniture, silverware, and other personal property of much value from Holland, including portraits of the members of the van Rensselaer family. In 1656, he provided the window pane representing the van Rensselaer

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldic visual design on an escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the full heraldic achievement, which in its ...

in the Dutch Church of

Beverwyck Beverwijck ( ; ), often written using the pre-reform orthography Beverwyck, was a fur-trading community north of Fort Orange on the Hudson River in New Netherland that was renamed and developed as Albany, New York, after the English took cont ...

. Not long afterward he returned to Holland, becoming one of the leading merchants of

. When he returned to Holland in 1658, he was succeeded as Director of the Manor by his brother

Jeremias van Rensselaer Jeremias van Rensselaer (Amsterdam, 16 May 1632 – October 12, 1674) was the third son of Kiliaen van Rensselaer, one of the founders and directors of the Dutch West India Company who was instrumental in the establishment of New Netherland ...

Personal life

Jan Baptist married Susanna van Wely, and together they had: *Kiliaen van Rensselaer, who died without issue.''Hudson-Mohawk Genealogical and Family Memoirs'', Cuyler Reynolds, ed., Lewis Historical Publishing Company, New York, 1911
/ref> Van Rensselaer died in Amsterdam, Holland, October 24, 1678

Gallery

File:Rensselaerswyck Original Map Small.png, Original Map of Rensselaerswyck, c. 1632, alt=A short, wide parchment map shows the "Noord Rivier" (North River) traveling from right to left along the center of the parchment, in addition to the proposed locations of small settlements. Another river is also shown, at the very right, traveling from the top of the parchment to its connection at the Noord. The map is entitled "RENSELAERSWYCK" icin large letters and the contains two shields and two scrolls containing Dutch text. File:Van_Rensselaer_Stained_Glass_Rectangular.jpg, Van Rensselaer Stained Glass File:Rensselaer Stained Glass Round.png, Stained glass installed in the Manor House of

Rensselaerswyck The Manor of Rensselaerswyck, Manor Rensselaerswyck, Van Rensselaer Manor, or just simply Rensselaerswyck ( nl, Rensselaerswijck ), was the name of a colonial estate—specifically, a Dutch patroonship and later an English manor—owned by the va ...

by Jan Baptist van Rensselaer

References

;Notes ;Sources :''This article incorporates text from an article in
American Historical Magazine
'' by W. W. Spooner (1907), a publication now in the

public domain The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work to which no exclusive intellectual property rights apply. Those rights may have expired, been forfeited, expressly waived, or may be inapplicable. Because those rights have expired, ...

.'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Rensselaer, Jan Baptist van 1629 births 1678 deaths Dutch West India Company people from Amsterdam Jan Baptist People of New Netherland Businesspeople from Amsterdam