“I have established a school … for the purpose of instructing persons, who may choose to apply themselves, in the application of science and the common purposes of life.” This is an excerpt from a letter from Stephen Van Rensselaer III to the first president of RPI, Rev. Samuel Blatchford. Most people here know that Van Rensselaer is the man that provided the land to create this great school, but nothing more about him.
So who really was Van Rensselaer? One would think that the online archives would have plenty of information on the subject. Nope, at least none that I could find. Next stop, every college student’s best friend —Google— after reading through a few articles (especially a very helpful article on Wikipedia, a college student’s second-best friend), I now have a better idea of who Van Rensselaer was.
Van Rensselaer was a landowner, as most people know, in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. At the age of 21, Van Rensselaer inherited his family estate, Rensselaerswyck, a 1,200-square-mile estate located in upstate New York on the Hudson River. This area encompassed modern day Albany, Colombia, Greene, and Rensselaer counties. Van Rensselaer was known as “The Last Patroon” and “The Good Patroon,” for his kindhearted methods regarding tenants. Instead of forcing tenants to purchase tracts of land up front, he granted leases at affordable rates. This allowed tenants to focus their resources on developing land. These practices led to high productivity by his tenants in the area, thereby benefiting the whole Albany area.
In addition to his benevolence as a landowner, Van Rensselaer was very involved in politics. Rensselaer served as a New York State assemblyman from 1789–1791, and as a New York State Senator from 1791–1796. He eventually reached the position of lieutenant governor. In his political career, Van Rensselaer was a reformer, voting for issues such as suffrage even though most of his peers in the upper class were against it. Van Rensselaer finally reached national politics and served in the United States House of Representatives for four terms.
In his later years, Van Rensselaer turned to education, serving as a regent for the State University of New York. During his time as a regent, Van Rensselaer did create what we all know him for: In 1824, along with Amos Eaton, created the Rensselaer School for the reasons mentioned above. This school grew into what we now know as Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and has made a lasting impression on generation of students.
Now, you may be wondering why I have chosen to write about this in my weekly article. The reason is simple. This Saturday, November 1, marks Van Rensselaer’s 243rd birthday. On Friday in the Rensselaer Union’s McNeil Room there will be a celebratory birthday cake to mark this momentous occasion. Therefore, when you are in the Rensselaer Union this Friday, stop by, grab a piece of cake, and wish happy birthday to a man who not only made a big difference in his time but still continues to make a difference in our lives today.
