Edgar Prince (1931–1995) was an American engineer and entrepreneur who founded Prince Manufacturing in Holland, Michigan. His company became a major supplier of automotive components, particularly die-cast parts and lighted sun visors, before being sold to Johnson Controls.
Erik Prince (b. 1969) is an American businessman and former U.S. Navy SEAL best known as the founder of the private military contractor Blackwater Worldwide (later Xe Services and Academi). His company became a major security contractor for the U.S. government during the Iraq War.
John Van Schaick Lansing Pruyn (1811–1877) was a New York lawyer, politician, and educator who served in the U.S. House of Representatives during the Civil War era and later became Chancellor of the University of the State of New York.
Albertus Christiaan Van Raalte (1811–1876) was a Dutch Reformed minister and immigrant leader who founded Holland, Michigan, and led nineteenth-century Dutch settlement in western Michigan.
Sarah Rapalje (1625–1685) was the first recorded European female child born in New Netherland. Born at Fort Orange (later Albany), she became the matriarch of a large colonial family, marrying twice and bearing fifteen children whose descendants spread widely throughout early New York society.
Henry Bell Van Rensselaer (1809–1864) was a U.S. congressman, farmer, and Union Army officer during the Civil War. A graduate of West Point and son of patroon Stephen Van Rensselaer III, he later served as a brigadier general and inspector general before his death in 1864.
Maria Van Cortlandt Van Rensselaer (1645–1688) effectively governed the vast Rensselaerswyck estate after the death of her husband, Jeremias Van Rensselaer. For thirteen years she managed the patroonship’s farms, mills, finances, and tenants, preserving the estate for the Van Rensselaer family during a difficult period in colonial New York.
Stephen Van Rensselaer III (1765–1839) was the eighth patroon of Rensselaerswyck, a prominent New York politician, militia general in the War of 1812, and a leading supporter of education and infrastructure, including the Erie Canal and the founding of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
Jeremiah Van Rensselaer (1738–1810) was an early American politician, merchant, and banker who served in the First U.S. Congress and later as Lieutenant Governor of New York. A member of the prominent Van Rensselaer family, he was also active in Revolutionary War service and Albany civic life.
Henry Kiliaen Van Rensselaer (1744–1816), also known as Hendrick Kiliaen Van Rensselaer, was a Revolutionary War officer who served as a colonel in the New York militia and played a key role in the 1777 fighting near Fort Anne during the Saratoga campaign.
