Historic Cherry Hill.

Cherry Hill was built in 1787 for Philip Van Rensselaer (1747-1798), a successful merchant-farmer, and his wife Maria Sanders (1749-1830). Philip was a cousin of the Patroon, Stephen Van Rensselaer; Maria was the great granddaughter of Pieter Schuyler, first mayor of Albany, and the daughter of Robert Sanders, a merchant and Albany major (1750-1754). As with other Hudson River Valley patrician families, the responsibilities of the Cherry Hill Van Rensselaers were numerous. These included an active merchant trading business, the 900-acre Cherry Hill farm, a townhouse on North Pearl Street in Albany, and the concerns of a large family of 13 children, nine of whom survived to adulthood.

One of Philip and Maria's daughters, Arriet (1775-1840) , married her cousin, Solomon Van Rensselaer (1774-1850); and in 1833 they became the second generation to own Cherry Hill. Solomon was a noted political and military figure in New York State, while Arriet assumed management of two households: the Cherry Hill farm and a townhouse on Broadway in Albany. Solomon and Arriet had 12 children, eight of whom lived to adulthood. Because he died intestate, Solomon's property was divided among his five daughters and a granddaughter.

In 1872 sole title to Cherry Hill passed to Solomon's eleventh child, Harriet Maria (1816-1896) and her husband, Dr. Peter Elmendorf (1816-1881). Dr. Elmendorf was an apothecary and druggist in Albany from 1844-1847. He may also have had a medical office at Cherry Hill. The Elmendorfs had two children: a son, Jacob, who died very young and a daughter, Harriet (1844-1920). They also were legal guardians of a second cousin, Catherine Bogart Putman, "Kittie," (1857-1948) whom they raised at Cherry Hill. The Elmendorf family and Kittie Putman are the focus of this resource packet.

In 1884, Catherine "Kittie" Putman married Edward Watkinson Rankin (1850-1932), a lawyer, and they gained joint ownership of the house with its accompanying land in 1884. The Rankins had three children. A son, Herbert, died in 1918 during World War I. Cherry Hill passed to their two surviving children: Edward and Emily.

Edward Elmendorf Rankin (1885-1961) attended Albany Academy, Princeton University and Harvard Law School. In 1913 he joined his father's law firm in Albany. Emily Rankin (1889-1963) went to Miss Cooper's School in Albany, the Northampton School for Girls, and Smith College. Neither Emily nor Edward married, and they continued to live at Cherry Hill until their deaths. It was Emily Rankin's wish, carried out by her will in 1963, that Cherry Hill be preserved and maintained with the family collections as a public museum, known today as Historic Cherry Hill.

Cherry Hill is a unique resource for studying family life in our community. From 1787 to 1963, it was the home of five generations of an Albany family. Each generation left their influence on the house and grounds with alterations to the structure and additions of personal belongings such as: furniture, dishes, pots and pans, silver, books and clothing. Today, the house and its contents are preserved as an historic house museum to show the changes and continuities in family life in America from the 18th to the 20th centuries.