Vermilye, Thomas E. A Funeral Discourse, occasioned by the death of Hon. Stephen Van Rensselaer, delivered in the North Dutch Church, Albany, on Sabbath Evening, Feb. 3, 1839. Albany: Printed by J. Munsell, 1839. First Edition. [12103]
Removed, no wrapper, 8 1/4 x 5 1/4 inches, vertical crease from being folded, 43 pages. Good. Pamphlet.
The text is Genesis 49:18, "I have waited for thy salvation, O Lord."
Two points: 1. The release of a saint from this mortal state by death is represented and is to be regarded as his salvation; 2. The believer waits for this release by death as for a consummation devoutly to be wished. Then follows a review of the life of Stephen Van Rensselaer.
Stephen Van Rensselaer (1764-1839), b. & d. in New York City. He inherited extensive land holdings, and was remembered as being kind and fair to his tenants. He was the brother-in-law to Alexander Hamilton, a major-general of New York militia who saw action in the War of 1812, the Lieutenant Governor of New York under John Jay, and a Representative from New York in the US Congress from 1822 to 1829. He served in several important capacities in his home state, advocating for what became the Erie Canal and serving for many years on the Canal Commission, as a member of the New York State Constitutional Convention, and casting a key vote in Congress for the 1824 election of John Quincy Adams. He was active as a board member and administrator in several educational institutions, a member of the New York State Board of Regents, and a trustee of Rutgers College. He was a deacon and elder of the First Reformed Church of Albany, took an active part in the American Home Missionary Society, a manager of the Albany Bible Society, and an active member of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions.
The author was the Hon. Van Rensselaer's pastor. Dr. Thomas E. Vermilye was for over fifty years the pastor of the Reformed Protestant Dutch Church, Albany.
