Stephen Van Rensselaer III was born in New York City in 1764 - the first child of Stephen Van Rensselaer II and Catharina Livingston. He grew up at the Van Rensselaer Manor House - home of the most advantaged family in the Upper Hudson region. Losing his father at age five, he was looked after by his uncle, Abraham Ten Broeck - trustee or administrator the Van Rensselaer estate. In 1775, his mother married Domine Westerlo.

Raised to succeed to the title "Lord of the Manor," young Stephen was sent away to study. He graduated from Harvard in 1782.

He married Margarita, the daughter of General Philip Schuyler, on June 6, 1783. At age nineteen, he was six years younger than his bride. After bearing three children, she died in 1801. In 1802, he married Cornelia Patterson, daughter of the governor of New Jersey. She was the mother of ten children born between 1803 and 1820.

On reaching his twenty-first birthday, he took title to the family estate called Rensselaerswyck or "Van Rensselaer's Manor." His long tenure as Manor Lord spanned Albany's transformation.

In 1788, his first ward lot was valued substantially.

By 1790, he was established in the Van Rensselaer Manor House located on the road north of Albany in what was then Watervliet. At that time, he was by far the wealthiest infividual in the Albany area and his estate was served by fifteen slaves.

He served as lieutenant governor of New York State, general of the state militia, as a member of the United States House of Representatives, and was the founder of Renssselaer Polytechnic Institute.

Stephen Van Rensselaer III died in 1839 at the age of seventy-five." He is remembered in local lore as "The Last Patroon" and "The Good Patroon."

first posted: privately 7/3/01; last revised 9/25/06