Kiliaen van Rensselaer (merchant)

This article is about the Dutch merchant and first patroon of Rensselaerswyck. For other uses, see Kiliaen van Rensselaer (disambiguation).

Kiliaen van Rensselaer
1st Patroon of the Manor of Rensselaerswyck
In office
1630–1643
Preceded byCreated
Succeeded byJohan van Rensselaer
Personal details
Born1586[a]
Hasselt, Dutch Republic
DiedOctober 1643[b]
Amsterdam, Dutch Republic
Spouses
Hillegonda van Bijler
​
​
(m. 1616; died 1626)​
Anna van Wely
​
(m. 1627)​
Children11, including Johan, Jan, Jeremias and Nicholas
ParentHendrick van Rensselaer Maria Pafraet
OccupationDiamond and pearl merchant, patroon
Known forAn original director of the Dutch West India Company, founding patroon of the Manor of Rensselaerswyck
SignatureBlack on white signature, which reads "K. van Rensselaer"
No portrait of Kiliaen van Rensselaer is known to exist.[2]

Kiliaen van Rensselaer (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈkɪlijaːɱ vɑn ˈrɛnsəlaːr] ⓘ; 1586[a] – buried 7 October 1643)[b] was a Dutch diamond and pearl merchant from Amsterdam who was one of the founders and directors of the Dutch West India Company, being instrumental in the establishment of New Netherland.

He was one of the first patroons, but the only one to become successful. He founded the Manor of Rensselaerswyck in what is now mainly New York's Capital District. His estate remained throughout the Dutch and British colonial era and the American Revolution as a legal entity until the 1840s. Eventually, that came to an end during the Anti-Rent War.

Van Rensselaer was the son of Hendrick Wolter van Rensselaer,[3] a soldier from Nijkerk in the States army of the duke of Upper Saxony, and Maria Pafraet, descendant of a well-known printers' dynasty.[1] To keep from risking his life in the army like his father, he apprenticed under his uncle, a successful Amsterdam jeweler. He too became a successful jeweler and was one of the first subscribers to the Dutch West India Company upon its conception.

The concept of patroonships may have been Kiliaen van Rensselaer's; he was likely the leading proponent of the Charter of Freedoms and Exemptions, the document that established the patroon system. His patroonship became the most successful to exist, making full use of his business tactics and advantages, such as his connection to the Director of New Netherland, his confidantes at the West India Company, and his extended family members who were eager to immigrate to a better place to farm. Van Rensselaer married twice and had at least eleven children. When he died some time after 1642,[b] two succeeded him as patroons of Rensselaerswyck.

Van Rensselaer had a marked effect on the history of the United States. The American Van Rensselaers all descend from Kiliaen's son Jeremias and the subsequent Van Rensselaer family is noted for being a very powerful and wealthy influence in the history of New York and the Northeastern United States, producing multiple State Legislators, Congressmen, and two Lieutenant Governors in New York.


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  1. ^ a b Janny Venema, Kiliaen van Rensselaer (1586-1643): designing a new world, State Univ of New York Press, January 2011, ISBN 90-8704-196-9
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference vrbm32 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ "Capt Hendrik Wolter van Rensselaer". geni_family_tree. 1555. Retrieved 3 January 2024.