Henry Bell Van Rensselaer

Henry Bell Van Rensselaer
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New York's 14th congressional district
In office March 4, 1841 – March 4, 1843
Preceded by	John Fine
Succeeded by	Charles Rogers
Personal details
Born	(1810-05-14)May 14, 1810 Albany, New York
Died	March 23, 1864(1864-03-23) (aged 53) Cincinnati, Ohio
Resting place	Grace Episcopal Churchyard, Jamaica, Queens, New York City, New York
Spouse(s)	Elizabeth Ray King (m. 1833; his death 1864)
Children	10
Parents	Stephen Van Rensselaer III Cornelia Paterson
Relatives	See Van Rensselaer family
Military service
Allegiance	United States of America Union
Service/branch	Union Army
Years of service	1831–1832, 1861–1864
Rank	Colonel
Battles/wars	American Civil War

Henry Bell Van Rensselaer (May 14, 1810 – March 23, 1864) was an officer in the Union Army during the American Civil War, and a politician who served in the United States Congress as a Representative from the state of New York.

Early life

Henry Van Rensselaer was born at the manor house in Albany, New York. He was the son of Stephen Van Rensselaer III (1764–1839), who was also a Representative and founder of the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and Cornelia Paterson,^[1] the daughter of William Paterson, the 2nd Governor of New Jersey, and later, an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States.^[2]

Henry graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York in 1831.^[3]

Career

He was appointed a brevet Second Lieutenant of the Fifth Regiment, United States Infantry on July 1, 1831, and resigned January 27, 1832. He then engaged in agricultural pursuits near Ogdensburg, New York, and served as a military aide to Governor William H. Seward from 1839 to 1840.^[3]

Van Rensselaer was elected as a Whig to the Twenty-seventh United States Congress, and served from March 4, 1841 to March 3, 1843. He was subsequently president of several mining companies. He was a director of the Northern Railroad (later the Rutland Railroad), but resigned to help found the Ogdensburg, Clayton and Rome Railroad.^[4]

U.S. Civil War

Upon the outbreak of the American Civil War, he reentered the military service with the rank of colonel in the Union Army, and was appointed chief of staff to General Winfield Scott. He served as an inspector general of several corps and departments from March 1862 until his death.^[3]

Personal life

On August 22, 1833, Van Rensselaer married Elizabeth Ray King (1815–1900),^[5] daughter of John Alsop King (1788–1867), the Governor of New York, and Mary Ray.^[6] Elizabeth's maternal grandfather was U.S. Senator Rufus King (1755–1827) and her great-grandfather was John Alsop (1724–1792), a prominent New York City merchant.^[6] Together, they had:^[7]

• Mary Van Rensselaer (1834–1902), who married John Henry Screven (1823–1903) in 1874^[7][8]
• Cornelia Van Rensselaer (1836–1864), who married James Lenox Kennedy (d. 1864)^[7]
• Stephen Van Rensselaer (1838–1904), who married Mathilda Coster Heckscher (1838–1915)^[7]
• Henry Van Rensselaer, who died young^[7]
• Euphemia Van Rensselaer (1842–), who became a Sister of Charity and took the name Marie Dolores.^[7]
• Elizabeth Van Rensselaer (1845–1911), who married George Waddington (1840–1915),^[7] a son of William D. Waddington (1811–1886) and Mary Elizabeth Ogden (1810–1867).^[9][10]
• John King Van Rensselaer (1847–1909), who married May Denning King (1848–1925), granddaughter of James Gore King.^{[7][11][12][13]}
• Katherine Van Rensselaer (1849–1901), who married Dr. Francis Delafield (1841–1915), son of Dr. Edward Delafied, in 1870.^[7]
• Henry Van Rensselaer (1851–), who joined the Society of Jesuits^[7]
• Westerlo Van Rensselaer (1853–1857), who died young.^[7]

Van Rensselaer died in Cincinnati, Ohio. He was interred in the Grace Episcopal Churchyard, in Jamaica, Queens in New York City.

Descendants

Through his son, John King Van Rensselaer, he was the grandfather of John Alexander Van Rensselaer (b. 1872), who married Helen F. Galindo in 1896,^[14] and who was arrested in 1908 for attempting to extort $5,000 from his mother.^[15]

Through his granddaughter, Julia Floyd Delafield, Henry was the great-grandparents of Floyd Crosby (1899–1985), the father of David Crosby and Jane Wyatt.^[16]

See also

• List of American Civil War generals

References

Notes

Sources

• United States Congress. "Henry Bell Van Rensselaer (id: V000052)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.  Retrieved on 2008-11-21
• Service Profile

Van Rensselaer family
This list is not complete, and should be taken as a rough guideline depending on the notability of a respective family member.
1st generation	Hendrick Wolter van Rensselaer
2nd generation	Issue of Hendrick Wolter Kiliaen van Rensselaer
3rd generation	Issue of Kiliaen Hendrick van Rensselaer Johan van Rensselaer
4th generation	Issue of Hendrick Kilian van Rensselaer† Maria (van Rensselaer) van Twiller
5th generation	Issue of Kilian Johan van Rensselaer† Jan Baptist van Rensselaer† Jeremias van Rensselaer† Nicholas van Rensselaer (minister)†
6th generation	Issue of Johan Kiliaen van Rensselaer† Issue of Jeremias Johannes (John) Van Rensselaer Kilian van Rensselaer† Hendrick van Rensselaer†
7th generation	Issue of Kilian Jeremias van Rensselaer† Stephen van Rensselaer I†
8th generation	Issue of Stephen I Stephen van Rensselaer II†
9th generation	Issue of Stephen II Stephen van Rensselaer III†
10th generation	Issue of Stephen III Stephen van Rensselaer IV Henry van Rensselaer
†Served as patroon or director of Rensselaerswyck