Philip Schuyler Van Rensselaer (April 15, 1767 – September 25, 1824) was the

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...

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 City ...

on two occasions. He has the third longest tenure of service by an Albany Mayor, after

Erastus Corning 2nd Erastus Corning 2nd (October 7, 1909 – May 28, 1983) was an American politician. A Democrat, Corning served as the 72nd mayor of Albany, New York from 1942 to 1983, when Albany County was controlled by one of the last classic urban political ...

and

Gerald Jennings Gerald David "Jerry" Jennings (born July 31, 1948) is an American former politician from the state of New York who was the 74th mayor of Albany. A Democrat, Jennings won five terms as mayor of Albany and served in that capacity for 20 years. ...

Life and career

Philip S. Van Rensselaer was born in Albany on April 15, 1767. A son of Stephen Van Rensselaer II (1742–1769) and Catharina (or Catharine) Livingston (1745–1810), he was raised and educated at Van Rensselaer Manor. After his father's death his mother married

Eilardus Westerlo Eilardus Westerlo(; October 30, 1738, Kantens, Netherlands – December 26, 1790, Albany, New York) was a Dutch Reformed minister who worked in Colonial New York. He spent his career, from October 1760 until December 1790, as pastor of the Dutch ...

(1738–1790), a member of another prominent Albany area family. He was the brother of

Stephen Van Rensselaer III Stephen Van Rensselaer III (; November 1, 1764January 26, 1839) was an American landowner, businessman, militia officer, and politician. A graduate of Harvard College, at age 21, Van Rensselaer took control of Rensselaerswyck, his family's mano ...

(1764–1839) and the grandson of

Philip Livingston Philip Livingston (January 15, 1716 – June 12, 1778) was an American merchant and statesman from New York City. He represented New York at the October 1774 First Continental Congress, where he favored imposing economic sanctions upon Great Bri ...

(1716–1778).

Abraham Ten Broeck Abraham Ten Broeck (May 13, 1734 – January 19, 1810) was a New York politician, businessman, and militia Brigadier General of Dutch descent. He was twice Mayor of Albany, New York and built one of the largest mansions in the area, the Ten ...

(1734–1810) was his uncle.

Rensselaer Westerlo Rensselaer Westerlo (May 6, 1776April 18, 1851) was a United States representative from New York and a member of the Livingston family. Early life Rensselaer Westerlo was born on May 6, 1776 at the Van Rensselaer Manor House in Albany in the P ...

(1776–1851) was his half-brother.

Career

As an adult, Van Rensselaer lived in Albany and became a successful businessman and banker. Among his activities, he was the President of the Bank of Albany, a Trustee of

Union College Union College is a private liberal arts college in Schenectady, New York. Founded in 1795, it was the first institution of higher learning chartered by the New York State Board of Regents, and second in the state of New York, after Columbia Co ...

, and a founder of

The Albany Academy The Albany Academy is an independent college preparatory day school for boys in Albany, New York, USA, enrolling students from Preschool (age 3) to Grade 12. It was established in 1813 by a charter signed by Mayor Philip Schuyler Van Rensselae ...

. He owned several warehouses, extensive land along Albany's

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 ...

waterfront, and

flour Flour is a powder made by grinding raw grains, roots, beans, nuts, or seeds. Flours are used to make many different foods. Cereal flour, particularly wheat flour, is the main ingredient of bread, which is a staple food for many culture ...

and

plaster Plaster is a building material used for the protective or decorative coating of walls and ceilings and for Molding (decorative), moulding and casting decorative elements. In English, "plaster" usually means a material used for the interiors of ...

mills Mills is the plural form of mill, but may also refer to: As a name *Mills (surname), a common family name of English or Gaelic origin * Mills (given name) *Mills, a fictional British secret agent in a trilogy by writer Manning O'Brine Places Unit ...

on the

Normans Kill The Normans Kill is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed October 3, 2011 creek in New York's Capital District located in Schenectady and Albany counties. It flows southeas ...

at the

Bethlehem Bethlehem (; ar, بيت لحم ; he, בֵּית לֶחֶם '' '') is a city in the central West Bank, Palestine, about south of Jerusalem. Its population is approximately 25,000,Amara, 1999p. 18.Brynen, 2000p. 202. and it is the capital o ...

town line. His mills were destroyed by fire in 1820. In 1793 Van Rensselaer became an

Alderman An alderman is a member of a Municipal government, municipal assembly or council in many Jurisdiction, jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council membe ...

. He served as Mayor from 1799 to 1816, and was succeeded by

Elisha Jenkins Elisha Jenkins (1772 – May 18, 1849) was an American politician who served as New York Secretary of State and Mayor of Albany. Life He was born to a Providence, Rhode Island, Quaker family, who in 1784 came to settle at Hudson, New York. He la ...

. Van Rensselaer returned to office from 1819 to 1820, and was succeeded by

Charles E. Dudley Charles Edward Dudley (May 23, 1780January 23, 1841) was an American businessman and politician. A member of Martin Van Buren's Albany Regency, Dudley served as mayor of Albany, New York, a member of the New York State Senate, and a U.S. Sen ...

. During his time as Mayor, a permanent

New York State Capitol The New York State Capitol, the seat of the Government of New York State, New York state government, is located in Albany, New York, Albany, the List of U.S. state capitals, capital city of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. The seat o ...

building was constructed just in front of the current one, and Van Rensselaer laid the

cornerstone The cornerstone (or foundation stone or setting stone) is the first stone set in the construction of a masonry foundation. All other stones will be set in reference to this stone, thus determining the position of the entire structure. Over time ...

. During his term, Robert Fulton's steamboat ''Clermont'' arrived in Albany at the end of its first voyage, and

Schenectady County Schenectady County () is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 158,061. The county seat is Schenectady, New York, Schenectady. The ...

was created from a portion of Albany County. Van Rensselaer was active as a

Freemason Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...

, and served as New York's Grand Master from 1793 to 1795.

Personal life

In 1787, he married Anne De Peyster Van Cortlandt (1766–1855), a distant cousin through the

Schuyler family The Schuyler family ( /ˈskaɪlər/; Dutch pronunciation: xœylər was a prominent Dutch family in New York and New Jersey in the 18th and 19th centuries, whose descendants played a critical role in the formation of the United States (especiall ...

, daughter of

Pierre Van Cortlandt Pierre Van Cortlandt (January 10, 1721 – May 1, 1814) was an American politician who served as the first Lieutenant Governor of New York. He was first elected to the New York Assembly in March 1768 and served in that body as the representative ...

, descendant of Mayor of

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

Stephanus Van Cortlandt Stephanus van Cortlandt (May 7, 1643 – November 25, 1700) was the first native-born mayor of New York City, a position which he held from 1677 to 1678 and from 1686 to 1688. He was the patroon of Van Cortlandt Manor and was on the governor's ...

, and sister of

Philip Van Cortlandt Philip Van Cortlandt (September 1, 1749 – November 5, 1831) was an American surveyor, landowner, and politician from Westchester County, New York. Van Cortlandt was the son of Pierre Van Cortlandt and brother of Pierre Van Cortlandt, Jr. He ...

and

Pierre Van Cortlandt, Jr. Pierre Van Cortlandt Jr. (August 29, 1762July 13, 1848) was a United States representative from New York. A member of New York's Van Cortlandt family, he was the son of Pierre Van Cortlandt, an early New York political figure, and brother of Ph ...

They had no children. He died in Albany on September 25, 1824. He was buried at Van Rensselaer Manor, and was later reinterred at

Albany Rural Cemetery The Albany Rural Cemetery was established October 7, 1844, in Colonie, New York, United States, just outside the city of Albany, New York. It is renowned as one of the most beautiful, pastoral cemeteries in the U.S., at over . Many historical Am ...

.Cuyler Reynolds
Albany Chronicles
1906, page 390

References

External links

* ttp://ead.lib.virginia.edu/vivaxtf/view?docId=uva-sc/viu00003.xml A Guide to the Papers of Angelica Schuyler Church– University of Virginia Library {{DEFAULTSORT:Van Rensselaer, Philip S 1767 births 1824 deaths Philip S. Livingston family Schuyler family Van Cortlandt family American Freemasons American bank presidents 18th-century American businesspeople 19th-century American businesspeople Mayors of Albany, New York Burials at Albany Rural Cemetery