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Kiliaen van Rensselaer (c. 1585 – 1643) was a Dutch merchant who was heavily involved in the Colonial American trade market. He was originally a diamond and pearl merchant, and became the director, one of the founders and a major investors in the Dutch West India Company, founded in 1621. In return for his investment, Van Rensselaer acquired land in the New Netherland Colony of America as the first American patroon in 1630. * Rensselaerwyck was the largest and only successful patroonship in the colony. Kiliaen van Rensselaer never visited his holdings himself, but rather sent his cousin, Arent Van Curler, to act as commissary-general (or superintendent). Van Rensselaer's son, Jeremias Van Rensselaer, did come to the New World and settled in Rensselaerwyck, and the prominent New York State family is ultimately from him. Rensselaerwyck covered most of modern-day Albany and Rensselaer Counties, and parts of modern-day Columbia and Greene Counties in New York State. Both Rensselaer County, New York and the City of Rensselaer are named after Van Rensselaer.
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