Philip Schuyler Van Rensselaer (April 15, 1767 – September 25, 1824) was the mayor of Albany, New York on two occasions. He has the third longest tenure of service by an Albany Mayor, after Erastus Corning 2nd and Gerald Jennings.
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 (1738–1790), a member of another prominent Albany area family.Robert Schultz, Masters of New York, 2010, page 141Publishing Society of New York, Monsieur Bossu's Treatise of the Epick Poem, 1907, page 23
He was the brother of Stephen Van Rensselaer III (1764–1839) and the grandson of Philip Livingston (1716–1778). Abraham Ten Broeck (1734–1810) was his uncle. Rensselaer Westerlo (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,The American Historical Magazine, The Van Rensselaer Family, Volume 2, January, 1907, page 23 a Trustee of Union College,Union College, General Catalogue, 1854, page 6 and a founder of The Albany Academy.Arthur James Weise, The History of the City of Albany, 1884, page 452 He owned several warehouses, extensive land along Albany's Hudson River waterfront, and flour and plaster mills on the Normans Kill at the Bethlehem town line. His mills were destroyed by fire in 1820.Joel Munsell, The Annals of Albany, Volume 7, 1856, page 142
In 1793 Van Rensselaer became an Alderman.Stefan Bielinski, New York State Museum, Biography, Philip S. Van Rensselaer, accessed January 4, 2013 He served as Mayor from 1799 to 1816, and was succeeded by Elisha Jenkins. Van Rensselaer returned to office from 1819 to 1820, and was succeeded by Charles E. Dudley.Joseph Henry, Nathan Reingold, The Papers of Joseph Henry, Volume 1, 1972, page 8Joel Munsell, The Albany annual register for 1849-1850, Part 2, page 208
During his time as Mayor, a permanent New York State Capitol building was constructed just in front of the current one, and Van Rensselaer laid the cornerstone.Architectural Record Co., Architectural Record, Volume 9, 1900, page 145 During his term, Robert Fulton's steamboat Clermont arrived in Albany at the end of its first voyage,Richard Dilworth, Cities in American Political History, 2011, page 129 and Schenectady County was created from a portion of Albany County.Joel Munsell, The Annals of Albany, Volume 5, 1854, page 25
Van Rensselaer was active as a Freemason, and served as New York's Grand Master from 1793 to 1795.Grand Lodge of the State of New York, Annual Meeting Proceedings, 1902, page 107
Personal life In 1787, he married Anne De Peyster Van Cortlandt (1766–1855), a distant cousin through the Schuyler family, daughter of Pierre Van Cortlandt, descendant of Mayor of New York City Stephanus Van Cortlandt, and sister of Philip Van Cortlandt and Pierre Van Cortlandt, Jr. They had no children.Silas Constant, Emily Warren Roebling, The Journal of the Reverend Silas Constant, 1903, page 430Colonial Dames of New York, Genealogical Records: Manuscript Entries of Births, Deaths and Marriages Taken From Family Bibles, 1581-1917, 1917, page C-256
He died in Albany on September 25, 1824. He was buried at Van Rensselaer Manor, and was later reinterred at Albany Rural Cemetery.Cuyler Reynolds, Albany Chronicles, 1906, page 390
References
External links Hudson-Mohawk Genealogical and Family Memoirs: Van Rensselaer A Guide to the Papers of Angelica Schuyler Church – University of Virginia Library