|
Anna
D.P. Van Cortlandt Van Rensselaer
Anne De Peyster Van Cortlandt was the wife of Albany mayor Philip Van Rensselaer.
She
was born on the family estate in Westchester County
in 1766, the youngest child of future New York State
Lieutenant Governor Pierre Van Cortlandt and his
wife, Joanna Livingston Van Cortlandt. Growing up
on Van Cortlandt manor, Anne's childhood experience
might have been similar to that of her future husband
- a Rensselaerswyck native.
She
married Van Rensselaer in 1787. However, the marriage
produced no children. Anna was a member and pewholder
of the Albany Dutch church. Anticipating a large
family, he built an urban mansion on upper State
Street. In 1790, their home was attended by five
slaves. Her personal servant was Bet, who was blamed
for setting the fire that burned a core part of the
city in 1793.
Philip
S. Van Rensselaer was mayor of Albany from 1798 to
1817 and again from 1819 to 1821. Van Rensselaer
died in 1824. As his only heir, she inherited Van
Rensselaer's property and continued to live in their
comfortable home on the north side of State Street
at the corner of Chapel.
Anne
De Peyster Van Cortlandt Van Rensselaer died at home
on January 10, 1855. A newspaper obituary characterized
her as "generous and hospitable" and possessed of "an unfailing and ever ready charity." Her will passed probate in February. This childless widow had lived almost eighty-nine years!
~ ~ ~
Notes: The
life of Anne De Peyster Van Cortlandt Van Rensselaer
is CAP biography number 2009. This profile is derived
chiefly from family and community-based resources.
By Stefan Bielinski, Colonial Albany Social History Project [http://www.nysm.nysed.gov/albany]
|
