Jeremias van Rensselaer

Jeremias van Rensselaer (Amsterdam, 16 May 1632 – October 12, 1674) was the third son of Kiliaen van Rensselaer, one of the founders and directors of the Dutch West India Company who was instrumental in the establishment of New Netherland and was created the first patroon of the Manor of Rensselaerswyck. Jeremias van Rensselaer was the acting patroon of the Manor of Rensselaerswyck, and the first of his family to establish himself permanently in America. Early life Jeremias van Rensselaer was born on May 16, 1632, in Amsterdam, the second son of Kiliaen van Rensselaer (1586–1643) and Anna van Wely (1601–1670), his father's second wife. He grew up on Keizersgracht, and received a Calvinist education. Among his siblings was older half-brother Johan van Rensselaer (the eldest son from his father's first wife Hillegonda van Bylaer), who eventually became the 2nd Patroon in 1643 upon their father's death. Another older brother, Jan Baptist van Rensselaer (the first son by Jeremias' father and mother), became the 3rd Patroon in 1652. New Netherlands In 1654, he sailed from Amsterdam on the Gelderse Blom ("Gelderland Flower"), to the Dutch colony of New Netherland (present day United States). He returned to Holland by the Beaver, October 28, 1655, and sailed the second time from Amsterdam on the Gilded Otter, shortly after June 14, 1656. In 1658, his older brother Jan Baptist returned to Amsterdam and Jeremias succeeded him as Director of Rensselaerwyck on September 24, 1658. Jeremias was the first of his family to establish himself permanently in America, the remaining sixteen years of his life being devoted to the government of the colony.