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Van Cortlandt family

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 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. As he prospered in business and rose in society, he adopted the formal surname, "Van Cortlandt," 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

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