Solomon Van Rensselaer
American politician and soldier (1774-1852)
Solomon van Vechten van Rensselaer (August 9, 1774 – April 23, 1852) was a United States representative from the state of New York, a lieutenant colonel during the War of 1812, and postmaster of Albany for 17 years.
Early life
Solomon van Rensselaer was born on August 9, 1774, in Greenbush in the Province of New York, the son of Hendrick Kiliaen "Henry" Van Rensselaer (1744–1816) and Alida Bratt. He completed preparatory studies in East Greenbush.
Career
He appointed as a cornet in the United States Army in 1792, was promoted to captain in July 1793, and then to major in January 1799, before being honorably discharged in June 1800. He succeeded David Van Horne as Adjutant General of New York in 1801 and served until 1809. He served again from 1810 to 1811 and 1813 to 1821. He served in the War of 1812 as a lieutenant colonel of New York State Militia.
He was elected as a Federalist to the Sixteenth and Seventeenth United States Congresses, and served from March 4, 1819, to January 14, 1822, when he resigned. He was postmaster of Albany, New York from 1822 to 1839, and from 1841 to 1843 and a delegate from New York at the opening of the Erie Canal on November 4, 1825. Though he was opposed to the extension of slavery into newly-acquired territories, Van Rensselaer owned slaves until New York's gradual emancipation law ended the practice in 1827.
“Solomon Van Rensselaer” enters the record as american politician and soldier (1774-1852). Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Solomon, Rensselaer and American can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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Biographical claims are most persuasive when dates, appointments and relationships can be traced to records created close to the events described. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 24, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1108131. VIAF identifies the subject as 6671313. The Library of Congress control number is n97006094. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1774, 1852, 1812 and 1744.
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This entry incorporates text from “Solomon Van Rensselaer” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.