- Henry Van Rensselaer
Henry Bell Van Rensselaer (
May 14 ,1810 –March 23 ,1864 ) was a General in theUnion Army during theAmerican Civil War , and apolitician who served in theUnited States Congress as a Representative from the state of New York.Henry Van Rensselaer was born at the manor house in
Albany, New York . He was the son of Stephen Van Rensselaer, who was also a Representative and founder of theRensselaer Polytechnic Institute . Henry graduated from theUnited States Military Academy atWest Point, New York in 1831. He was commissioned brevet Second Lieutenant of the Fifth Regiment, United States Infantry onJuly 1 ,1831 , and resignedJanuary 27 ,1832 . He then engaged in agricultural pursuits nearOgdensburg, New York .Van Rensselaer was elected as a Whig to the
Twenty-seventh United States Congress , and served fromMarch 4 ,1841 toMarch 3 ,1843 . He was then associated withmining enterprises. Upon the outbreak of the American Civil War he reentered the military service with the rank of brigadier general in the Union Army, and was appointed chief of staff under GeneralWinfield Scott . He served asinspector general with the rank ofcolonel from 1862 until his death. He was a director of the Northern Railroad (later theRutland Railroad ), but resigned to help found theOgdensburg, Clayton and Rome Railroad . [cite book|title=Rails Into Racquetteville|author=Susan Lyman|date=1976|publisher=The Norwood Historical Association|url=http://www.norwoodny.org/railroads.html]Van Rensselaer died in
Cincinnati, Ohio . He was interred in the Grace Episcopal Churchyard, inJamaica, Queens inNew York City .Van Rensselaer's wife was Elizabeth Ray King, a granddaughter of
Rufus King . The couple were the great-grandparents of bothFloyd Crosby andJane Wyatt .References
*CongBio|V000052
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.