Cortlandt Van Rensselaer
| Cortlandt Van Rensselaer | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born |
May 26, 1808 Albany, New York |
| Died |
July 25, 1860 (aged 52) Burlington, New Jersey |
| Alma mater |
Yale University Union Theological Seminary Princeton Theological Seminary |
| Spouse(s) | Catherine Ledyard |
| Children | 5 |
| Parent(s) |
Stephen Van Rensselaer Cornelia Paterson |
| Signature | |
 | |
Cortlandt Van Rensselaer (born in Albany, New York, 26 May 1808; died in Burlington, New Jersey, 25 July 1860) 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. Together Cortlandt and Catherine had:
- Cortlandt Van Rensselaer (1838–1864)
- Philip L. Van Rensselaer (1839–1873)
- Ledyard Van Rensselaer (1843–1892)
- Alice Cogswell Van Rensselaer (1846–1878), who married Edward Blanchard Hodge (1841–1906)
- Elizabeth Van Rensselaer (1848–1886)
Van Rensselaer died on July 25, 1860 in Burlington, New Jersey.
References
- ↑ "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. Retrieved 31 October 2016.
- ↑ "Van Rensselaer, Cortlandt, 1808-1860 | The Online Books Page". onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu. University of Pennsylvania. Retrieved 31 October 2016.
References
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Cabell, Isa Carrington (1889). "Van Rensselaer, Killian". In Wilson, James Grant; Fiske, John. Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography. New York: D. Appleton.