Stephen Van Rensselaer
Stephen Van Rensselaer III (November 1, 1764 – January 26, 1839) was Lieutenant Governor of New York as well as a statesman, soldier, and land-owner, the heir to one of the largest estates in the New York region at the time, which made him the tenth richest American of all time, based on the ratio of his fortune to contemporary GDP. This figure was put at $68 billion, which also makes him the twenty-second richest person in history. He founded the institution which became Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
Read more about Stephen Van Rensselaer: Early Life, Politics and The War of 1812, Later Life, Family
Famous quotes containing the words stephen, van and/or rensselaer:
“I forsak the, Kyng Herowdes, and thi werkes alle;
Ther is a chyld in Bedlem born is beter than we alle.’”
—Unknown. St. Stephen and King Herod (l. 6–8)
“The first day that we landed upon that fatal shore
The planters they came round us full twenty score or more,
They rank’d us up like horses, and sold us out of hand
Then yok’d us unto ploughs, my boys, to plow Van
Dieman’s Land.”
—Unknown. Van Dieman’s Land (l. 9–12)
“Let us shun self-analyzation, self-consciousness, morbidness, affectation, attitudinizing. Let us look ahead as little as possible, keeping our eyes on our brushes and on the world of beauty around us.”
—Mariana Griswold Van Rensselaer (1851–1934)