Kiliaen van Rensselaer

Kiliaen van Rensselaer (c. 1585 – 7 October 1643 (buried)), was a Dutch merchant who was heavily involved in the Colonial American trade market.

He was born near Hasselt (Overijssel), the son of Hendrick van Rensselaer and Maria Pafraet, both from Amsterdam. His father was a captain who died in January 1602 during the Siege of Ostend. Kiliaen married Hillegonda van Bijler (1598-1626) in 1616 and Anna van Wely (1601-1670) in 1627, both times in Amsterdam, where he died.

He was originally a diamond and pearl merchant, and became the director and one of the founders and major investors in the Dutch West India Company, founded in 1621. In return for his investment, Van Rensselaer acquired land in the New Netherland Colony of America as the first American patroon in 1630. [citation |title=American Wealth Classification:Patroons and Manor Lords |page=2 ]
Rensselaerwyck was the largest and only successful patroonship in the colony. Van Rensselaer never visited his holdings himself, but rather sent his cousin, Arent van Curler, to act as commissary-general (or superintendent). Van Rensselaer's second son of his second marriage, Jeremias van Rensselaer, did come to the New World and settled in Rensselaerswyck, and the prominent New York State family ultimately descends from him.

Rensselaerswyck covered most of modern-day Albany and Rensselaer Counties, and parts of modern-day Columbia and Greene Counties in New York State.

Both Rensselaer County and the City of Rensselaer are named after Van Rensselaer.

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External links

* [http://www.nnp.org/vtour/regions/Albany/rensselaerswijck.html Rensselaerswijck] at the "Virtual Tour of New Netherland", New Netherland Project of the New Netherland Institute
* [http://www.nysm.nysed.gov/albany/na/rensselaerswyck.html Rensselaerswyck] at the Colonial Albany Social History Project of the New York State Museum
* [http://purl.org/net/nysl/nysdocs/NY1937386 Contract of sale of land along the Hudson River from the Mahican Indians to Kiliean Van Rensselaer, 6 August 1630] This document includes a scan of an original parchment copy of the land title that established the Colony of Rensselaerwyck, followed by an English translation.