Van Rensselaer, Cortlandt, 1808-1860

Courtlandt Van Rensselaer (1808-1860) was the son of Stephen and Cornelia Patterson Van Rensselaer. After graduating from Yale in 1823 and studying law, he attended Union Seminary at Hampden-Sydney, Va., and was ordained in April 1835. He gave religious instruction to slaves on Virginia plantations for about a year before opposition to him increased to such an extent that he went back to the North in August 1836. He spent the rest of his career in the North as a Presbyterian fund raiser, chief of the Presbyterian Board of Education, lecturer, and writer.

[For further information see the Dictionary of American Biography .]

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