Cortlandt Van Rensselaer Explained

Rev. Cortlandt Van Rensselaer
Signature:	Appletons' Van Rensselaer Killian - Cortlandt signature.png
Birth Date:	May 26, 1808
Birth Place:	Albany, New York, US
Death Place:	Burlington, New Jersey, US
Parents:	Stephen Van Rensselaer III Cornelia Paterson
Spouse:	Catherine Ledyard
Children:	6, including Alexander
Relatives:	See Van Rensselaer family
Alma Mater:	Yale University Union Theological Seminary Princeton Theological Seminary

Cortlandt Van Rensselaer (26 May 1808, in Albany, New York – 25 July 1860, in Burlington, New Jersey) was a Presbyterian clergyman from the United States.

Early life

He was a son of General Stephen Van Rensselaer and Cornelia Bell Paterson, his father's second wife. He graduated from Yale in 1827, and then studied at Union Theological Seminary, Prince Edward County, Virginia, (now Union Presbyterian Seminary) and at Princeton Theological Seminary.^[1]

Career

He was a missionary to the slaves in Virginia 1833–1835. He was ordained in 1835, and became pastor of the Presbyterian church in Burlington, New Jersey, in 1837, of the 2nd Presbyterian Church, Washington, D.C., in 1841, and agent of Princeton Theological Seminary in 1844, raising $100,000 for its endowment. He was secretary of the Presbyterian board of education 1846–1860, and founded and edited the Presbyterian Magazine and The Home, the School, and the Church.

The New York University gave him the degree of D.D. in 1845. Much of his large fortune was devoted to benevolent objects and to the religious enterprises of the Presbyterian church. After his death, selections from his published writings appeared under the title of Miscellaneous Sermons, Essays, and Addresses, edited by his son, Cortlandt Van Rensselaer (Philadelphia, 1861).^[2]

Personal life

He was married to Catherine Ledyard (1811–1882), sister of Henry Ledyard. They were children of New York lawyer Benjamin Ledyard and Susan French (Livingston) Ledyard (herself the daughter of Supreme Court Justice Henry Brockholst Livingston and granddaughter of New Jersey governor William Livingston).). Together Cortlandt and Catherine had:

• Cortlandt Van Rensselaer (1838–1864), a captain in the U.S. Army,^[3] who died in Nashville, Tennessee with the 13th United States Infantry, aged 27.^[4]
• Philip Ledyard Van Rensselaer (1839–1873), who died at Vevey, Switzerland, aged 34.^[5]
• Ledyard Van Rensselaer (1843–1892), who died unmarried^[6]
• Alice Cogswell Van Rensselaer (1846–1878), who married Edward Blanchard Hodge (1841–1906) in 1868.^[7]
• Elizabeth Wadsworth Van Rensselaer (1848–1886)
• Alexander Van Rensselaer (1850–1933), who married Sarah Rozet Drexel Fell (1860–1929), daughter of Anthony Joseph Drexel (1826–1893)^[8]

Van Rensselaer died on July 25, 1860, in Burlington, New Jersey.^[9]

Notes and References

1. Web site: A sermon having some reference to the character of the late Rev. Cortlandt van Rensselaer, D.D., preached in the Second Presbyterian Church, Albany, Sabbath morning, September 16, 1860 [electronic resource] / by William B. Sprague.]. lib.utep.edu. University of Texas at El Paso Library. 31 October 2016.
2. Web site: Van Rensselaer, Cortlandt, 1808-1860 The Online Books Page. onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu. University of Pennsylvania. 31 October 2016.
3. News: Capt. Cortlandt Van Rensselaer.. 22 February 2017. The New York Times. 16 May 1863.
4. News: DIED.. 22 February 2017. The New York Times. 11 October 1864.
5. News: DIED.. 22 February 2017. The New York Times. 13 March 1873.
6. News: OBITUARY DR. LEDYARD VAN RENSSELAER. 22 February 2017. The New York Times. 26 March 1892.
7. News: DEATH LIST OF A DAY.; The Rev. Edward B. Hodge.. 22 February 2017. The New York Times. 16 June 1906.
8. News: Times. Special To The New York. VAN RENSSELAER KIN HEIRS; Stepchildren to Get Bulk of Millions Left by Philadelphia.. 22 February 2017. The New York Times. 23 July 1933.
9. News: DIED.. 22 February 2017. The New York Times. 28 July 1860.