Overview
Stephen Van Rensselaer (March 29, 1789 – May 28, 1868), known as the "Young Patroon" and sometimes the "last of the patroons" was the last patroon of Rensselaerswyck.
Early life
Van Rensselaer was born on March 29, 1789, in Albany, New York. He was the son of Stephen Van Rensselaer III (1765–1839), and Margarita "Peggy" Schuyler (1758–1801). His father served as Lieutenant Governor of New York from 1795 to 1801, elected with Governor John Jay.
He was one of three children, and the only to live to adulthood, born to his parents before his mother's premature death in 1801. Shortly thereafter in 1802, his father married Cornelia Paterson, daughter of William Paterson, the 2nd Governor of New Jersey, and later, an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. Through his father's second marriage, Van Rensselaer became a half-brother to Cortlandt Van Rensselaer (1808–1860), and Henry Bell Van Rensselaer (1810–1864), a United States representative in the House of Representatives and brigadier general in the Union Army during the American Civil War.
Stephen graduated from Princeton University in 1808.
From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).