Solomon Van Vechten Van Rensselaer (1774-1852) [Section 56, Lot 65]
Solomon (actually, Salomo) Van Rensselaer came from the lineage of local aristocrats – an undemocratic word, but that is certainly how they saw themselves – tracing back to Kiliaen Van Rensselaer, proprietor and first Patroon of Rensselaerwyck.
Solomon was born in East Greenbush in 1774. His father Hendrick became a colonel in the Revolution, and Solomon followed his footsteps. At the age of seventeen he joined the US Light Dragoons, a sword-wielding cavalry. He saw action against Native Americans in the 1790s, and was wounded at the Battle of Fallen Timbers in 1794, serving under General “Mad” Anthony Wayne. This battle took place near modern Toledo, Ohio, in what was then the Northwest Territory. At the end of the Revolution the British had ceded to the United States land they had previously granted to Indians, a claim that a confederation of tribes refused to abandon. The Indians, to whom the British refused support at the eleventh hour, were defeated. Van Rensselaer was wounded by a bullet in the right lung. He took well over a year to recover. This relatively minor battle was a catastrophe for Native Americans, since it was decisive in persuading the British to withdraw from their southern forts, allowing the United States to move unimpeded into the western Great Lakes. Solomon’s ultimate rank was major, and he was honorably discharged after Jefferson reduced the size of the armed forces in 1799.
Solomon married a cousin, Harriet Van Rensselaer, in 1797. Her father owned Cherry Hill, the mansion that still stands as an historic site on South Pearl Street. It was then the family farm.
In 1801 Van Rensselaer was appointed Adjutant General of the New York State militia. It was at about that time that he embarked on the political career for which he is best known. Like most of his family, and like the Patroon himself, Solomon was a staunch Federalist. They were something of a political minority in Albany, and they clashed, sometime violently, with Republicans. On State Street, on April 21, 1807, Solomon attacked Elisha Jenkins, secretary of the Republican party. One account has Jenkins calling him a liar, but the consensus is that Van Rensselaer was the aggressor and actively sought Jenkins out. Using the reflexes from his days with a sword, he struck Jenkins with a cane. Solomon was pursued down State Street. A large and mainly hostile crowd gathered and Van Rensselaer was thoroughly beaten up. He crawled into the Tontine Coffee House where they tended to his injuries. A biographer indicates that he never fully recovered.
Like most Federalists of the northeast Van Rensselaer strongly opposed the War of 1812 (an opposition that contributed to the rapid decline and ultimate eclipse of the Federalists as a political force.) Nevertheless when war came Solomon went to the Niagara frontier as an aide to his cousin, the Patroon Steven Van Rensselaer. Stephen insisted; he was progressive, astute and very widely admired, but he had no military experience. Solomon – ever the hot-head – was one of the first across the Niagara River in the Battle of Queenston Heights. Many of his troops refused to follow him. He was wounded multiple times, including a musket ball in the thigh as he stepped from his boat. The Americans sustained a major defeat in this ill-fated campaign. Stephen resigned his commission. Solomon retired to Cherry Hill to recover. He had apparently acquired the manor by purchase rather than by inheritance through his wife. It served as a country retreat from their primary home at 63 North Pearl Street, though as the years went by the family spent more and more time at Cherry Hill.
Solomon lobbied for a commission in the regular army but failed to gain one, so for the second time he turned from military to political affairs. He served in House of Representatives from 1819 until 1822. Later he threw his support behind the Whig party, the conservatively-minded successors to the Federalists and sworn opponents of Andrew Jackson and all his dangerous ideas about widening the franchise. Van Rensselaer was twice appointed to the largely honorary position of Postmaster of Albany. He wrote several books, including an account of the Battle of Queenston Heights. He died in April 1852, at the age of 78. He was interred at the North Dutch Church, but was soon moved to Albany Rural.