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Van Cortlandt family

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Full article adapted from Wikipedia revision 1361212615 by Wikipedia contributors. Text is available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Formatting has been adapted; article text and references are retained. Snapshot imported 2026-09-25.
New York political family of Dutch origin

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Van Cortlandt
Coat of arms of Olav Van Cortlandt
Current region
New York
Place of origin
Netherlands
Connected families

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 Cortlandt 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 or Stevenszen (he originally used this patronymic, "son of Steven," as his name), who was born in Wijk bij Duurstede, Netherlands, arrived in New Amsterdam in 1637. Initially, he was 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] As he prospered in business and rose in society, he adopted the formal surname, "Van Cortlandt,"[2] meaning "from Courtland" or "short land" (kort land) in Dutch, likely denoting a specific place or estate of his birth. His descendants became involved in politics and married into the leading political families of colonial America, including the Van Rensselaers, Schuylers, and Livingstons.

Van Cortlandt Park in the 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 in the Bronx is on the National Register of Historic Places. The Van Cortlandt Manor house in Westchester is a National Historic Landmark.

Family tree

Van Cortlandt Manor, Croton-on-Hudson, New York
Van Cortlandt House Museum, in the Bronx, New York City
Mahogany table brought from Holland in 1668 by Olof Stevense Van Cortlandt
Pierre Van Cortlandt family plot in Hillside Cemetery, Cortlandt, NY

Living descendants

Van Cortlandt descendants are scattered throughout the US, with many dropping the "Van" aspect to Americanize their names and simplify documentation. Noticeable direct descendants include a family in Boca Raton, which includes Enrique Cortlandt and Lourdes Cortlandt, with their four children: Adrian Cortlandt, Henry Cortlandt, Genoveva Cortlandt, and Esteban Cortlandt.

See also

References

  1. ^ Allaben, Frank (1908). John Watts de Peyster, Volume 1. Frank Allaben Genealogical Co. pp. 42–43. Retrieved January 21, 2012.
  2. ^ Williams, Gray (2003). Picturing Our Past: National Register Sites in Westchester County. Westchester County Historical Society. p. 10. ISBN 978-0-915585-14-4.
  3. ^ a b Fraser, Sir William (1897). The Elphinstone Family Book of the Lords Elphinstone, Balmerino and Coupar. T. and A. Constable at the Edinburgh University Press. p. 149. Retrieved May 21, 2019.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Reynolds, Cuyler (1914). Genealogical and Family History of Southern New York and the Hudson River Valley: A Record of the Achievements of Her People in the Making of a Commonwealth and the Building of a Nation. New York: Lewis Historical Publishing Company. p. 1158. Retrieved August 29, 2016.
  5. ^ a b c d Reynolds, Cuyler (1906). Albany Chronicles: A History of the City Arranged Chronologically, from the Earliest Settlement to the Present Time; Illustrated with Many Historical Pictures of Rarity and Reproductions of the Robert C. Pruyn Collection of the Mayors of Albany, Owned by the Albany Institute and Historical and Art Society. Albany, New York: J. B. Lyon Company, printers. p. 110. Retrieved September 7, 2016.
  6. ^ Benjamin, Aline (October 30, 1977). "From Rags to Riches in 1686". The New York Times. Retrieved July 31, 2019.
  7. ^ "The History of Van Cortlandt House and Museum". vchm.org. Van Cortlandt House Museum. Retrieved July 31, 2019.
  8. ^ Reynolds, Cuyler (1911). Hudson-Mohawk Genealogical and Family Memoirs: A Record of Achievements of the People of the Hudson and Mohawk Valleys in New York State, Included Within the Present Counties of Albany, Rensselaer, Washington, Saratoga, Montgomery, Fulton, Schenectady, Columbia and Greene. Lewis Historical Publishing Company. p. 32. Retrieved September 8, 2017.
  9. ^ Moffat, R. Burnham (1904). The Barclays of New York: who They are and who They are Not,-and Some Other Barclays. R. G. Cooke. p. 103. Retrieved July 29, 2019.
  10. ^ Saint Nicholas Society of the City of New York (1905). The Saint Nicholas Society of the City of New York: History, Customs, Record of Events, Constitution, Certain Genealogies, and Other Matters of Interest. V. 1-. p. 84. Retrieved January 14, 2018.
  11. ^ "William Astor Is Dead; Stricken Suddenly at the Hotel Liverpool, Paris. He Leaves a Fortune of Many Mill- Ions -- John Jacob Astor Will Inherit It -- the Body Will Be Brought Home for Burial" (PDF). The New York Times. April 27, 1892. Retrieved January 14, 2018.
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