Mary ann van rensselaer strong
Kiliaen van Rensselaer (merchant)
Dutch merchant (1586–1643)
This article is about the Dutch merchant and first patroon of Rensselaerswyck. For other uses, see Kiliaen van Rensselaer (disambiguation).
Kiliaen van Rensselaer (Dutch pronunciation:[ˈkɪlijaːɱvɑnˈrɛnsəlaːr]ⓘ; 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 Sta Online biography for kids.