Van Cortlandt (Family)

Pierre Van Cortlandt (1721-1814) was one of the aristocrats of the Hudson Valley, presiding from his estate near Croton, N.Y. His marriage to Joanna Livingston united two of the Valley's elite lineages, and his connections to the Schuylers and other prominent families ensured his standing.

Despite British efforts to win his support during the Revolution, Van Cortlandt sided with the colonists, accepting a commission as Colonel of the 3rd Regiment, Westchester Militia. Following the war, he was rewarded for this prescient choice, becoming the first Lieutenant Governor of New York state, and for many years thereafter, he was a loyal supporter of the political titan, George Clinton. Van Cortlandt was noted for his graciousness and hospitality.

The Van Cortlandt family was an influential political dynasty from the seventeenth-century Dutch origins of New York through its period as an English colony, then after it became a state, and into the nineteenth century. It rose to great prominence with the award of a Royal Charter to Van Cortlandt Manor, an 86,000-acre (35,000 ha) tract in today's Westchester County sprawling from the Hudson River to the Connecticut state line granted as a Patent to Stephanus Van Cortlandt in 1697 by King William III.

Among the Van Cortland family tree are members of the Philipse family, van Rensselaer family, Schuyler family, Livingston family, the de Peyster family, the Gage family, the Jay family (including John Jay, the Founding Father and first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court), and the Delanceys.

Its legacy includes Van Cortlandt Park and the Van Cortlandt House Museum in the Bronx, New York; the town of Cortlandt in northern Westchester County, New York; Van Cortlandt Upper Manor House in the hamlet of Cortlandt Manor, New York; Van Cortlandt Manor in the village of Croton-on-Hudson to its south; and the namesake for Cortland County, New York and the State University of New York College at Cortland.

History
Captain Olof Stevense Van Cortlandt, who was born in Wijk bij Duurstede, Netherlands, arrived in New Amsterdam in 1637. He was originally a soldier and bookkeeper who rose to high colonial ranks in service of the Dutch West India Company, serving many terms as burgomaster and alderman.[1] His descendants became involved in politics and married into the best American political and influential families including the Van Rensselaers, Schuylers, and Livingstons.

Van Cortlandt Park in Bronx, New York derives its name from the family, as well as Manhattan's Cortlandt Street and Cortlandt Alley. The town of Cortlandt to the north, in Westchester County, New York carries the family name as well. The Van Cortlandt House Museum was initially the residence of Frederick Van Cortlandt.

Members of the Van Cortlandt family were major Westchester County landowners and New York politicians from the seventeenth to the nineteenth century, and Revolutionary War soldiers. The Van Wyck family was related to them by marriage.