VAN RENSSELAER, KILIAN
\vˈan ɹˈɛnsɪlˌe͡ə], \vˈan ɹˈɛnsɪlˌeə], \v_ˈa_n ɹ_ˈɛ_n_s_ɪ_l_ˌeə]\
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(1595-1644), was prominent in forming the Dutch West India Company. He sent an agent from Holland to the New Netherlands, who purchased a vast estate comprising the present counties of Albany, Columbia and Rensselaer. He named it Rensselaerswyck and colonized it with emigrants. Under his management through a director the colony became a powerful, almost independent, province.
By John Franklin Jameson
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Snake's-head
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