Henry Rutgers
Encyclopedia
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Revolutionary War
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...
hero and philanthropist from New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
.
Biography
Born in 1745 in New York City, in the Province of New YorkProvince of New York
The Province of New York was an English and later British crown territory that originally included all of the present U.S. states of New York, New Jersey, Delaware and Vermont, along with inland portions of Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Maine, as well as eastern Pennsylvania...
, Henry Rutgers was the son of New Netherland
New Netherland
New Netherland, or Nieuw-Nederland in Dutch, was the 17th-century colonial province of the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands on the East Coast of North America. The claimed territories were the lands from the Delmarva Peninsula to extreme southwestern Cape Cod...
colonists Hendrick Rutgers and Catharine DePeyster. He graduated from King's College (now Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
) in 1766 and promptly became an advocate for independence of the American colonies from Great Britain
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. He went on to serve as a captain of American forces at the Battle of White Plains
Battle of White Plains
The Battle of White Plains was a battle in the New York and New Jersey campaign of the American Revolutionary War fought on October 28, 1776, near White Plains, New York. Following the retreat of George Washington's Continental Army northward from New York City, British General William Howe landed...
, and later as a colonel
Colonel
Colonel , abbreviated Col or COL, is a military rank of a senior commissioned officer. It or a corresponding rank exists in most armies and in many air forces; the naval equivalent rank is generally "Captain". It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...
for the New York militia. His home served as a barracks
Barracks
Barracks are specialised buildings for permanent military accommodation; the word may apply to separate housing blocks or to complete complexes. Their main object is to separate soldiers from the civilian population and reinforce discipline, training and esprit de corps. They were sometimes called...
during the British occupation of New York in 1776. Colonel Rutgers would continue to play a role in the defense of the young nation after the Revolution, presiding over a meeting held June 24, 1812 to organize American forces in New York in anticipation of a British attack in the ensuing War of 1812
War of 1812
The War of 1812 was a military conflict fought between the forces of the United States of America and those of the British Empire. The Americans declared war in 1812 for several reasons, including trade restrictions because of Britain's ongoing war with France, impressment of American merchant...
.
In 1784, Colonel Rutgers was elected to the New York Legislature
New York Legislature
The New York State Legislature is the term often used to refer to the two houses that act as the state legislature of the U.S. state of New York. The New York Constitution does not designate an official term for the two houses together...
, where he served several terms. He also served on the New York Board of Education Regents from 1802 to 1826. He was a Presidential Elector, chosen by the legislature, in 1808, 1816, and 1820.
In his later years, Rutgers, a bachelor, devoted much of his fortune to philanthropy
Philanthropy
Philanthropy etymologically means "the love of humanity"—love in the sense of caring for, nourishing, developing, or enhancing; humanity in the sense of "what it is to be human," or "human potential." In modern practical terms, it is "private initiatives for public good, focusing on quality of...
. As a landowner with considerable holdings on the island of Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
(especially in the vicinity of Chatham Square), he donated land for the use of schools, churches, and charities in the area. Both Henry Street
Henry Street
Henry Street can refer to the following streets:*Henry Street , a street in Dublin, Ireland*Henry Street , a street in Manhattan, New York, United States...
and Rutgers Street in lower Manhattan are named for him, as well as the Rutgers Presbyterian Church
Rutgers Presbyterian Church
Rutgers Presbyterian Church is a Presbyterian house of worship in New York City.The church's origins date to 1798 in Lower Manhattan. The first church building was erected on a plot of ground donated by Colonel Henry Rutgers at the corner of what would become Henry Street and Rutgers Street....
http://www.rutgerschurch.com/about_us.html (formerly the Collegiate Presbyterian Church) which was also named for Colonel Rutgers who donated the parcel of land at the corner of Henry Street and Rutgers Street on which the original church was built in 1798.
Colonel Rutgers' most lasting legacy however, is due to his donations to Queen's College
Rutgers University
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey , is the largest institution for higher education in New Jersey, United States. It was originally chartered as Queen's College in 1766. It is the eighth-oldest college in the United States and one of the nine Colonial colleges founded before the American...
in New Brunswick
New Brunswick, New Jersey
New Brunswick is a city in Middlesex County, New Jersey, USA. It is the county seat and the home of Rutgers University. The city is located on the Northeast Corridor rail line, southwest of Manhattan, on the southern bank of the Raritan River. At the 2010 United States Census, the population of...
, New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
, which at the time was suffering considerable financial difficulties and temporarily closed. The college had been founded as a seminary for the Reformed Church in America
Dutch Reformed Church
The Dutch Reformed Church was a Reformed Christian denomination in the Netherlands. It existed from the 1570s to 2004, the year it merged with the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Kingdom of the Netherlands to form the Protestant Church in the...
and appealed to Colonel Rutgers, a devout member of the church with a reputation for philanthropy, for aid. Rutgers donated a bond valued at $5000 to reopen the faltering school, and subsequently donated a bronze bell that was hung in the cupola of the Old Queens
Old Queens
Old Queens is the oldest building at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey in New Brunswick, New Jersey and the seat of the university's administration. Designed by noted architect John McComb, Jr., Old Queens is regarded by architectural experts as one of the finest examples of Federal...
building which housed the college. In gratitude, and hoping the college would be remembered in the Colonel's will, the trustees of renamed it Rutgers College on December 5, 1825. (Colonel Rutgers left nothing to the college upon his death.) The institution later became "Rutgers University," then "Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey."
Henry Rutgers died in New York City on February 17, 1830, at the age of 84. Rutgers was originally buried at the Old Middle Church Cemetery on the corner of Nassau Street and Cedar Street in Manhattan. However, as cemeteries in Manhattan were redeveloped during the 1830s and '40s, the Colonel’s body was re-interred several times. For many years, no one knew where his body was finally laid to rest, although it was long believed that he was buried in a Dutch Reformed churchyard in Belleville, New Jersey
Belleville, New Jersey
Belleville is a Township in Essex County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the township population was 35,926.-History:...
. One road running alongside this graveyard is now called Rutgers Street (signed as, but not technically part of, Route 7).
Misplaced by history for over 140 years, Henry Rutgers' final "final resting place" was rediscovered in October, 2007 by Civil War research volunteers sifting through burial records of the historical Green-Wood Cemetery
Green-Wood Cemetery
Green-Wood Cemetery was founded in 1838 as a rural cemetery in Brooklyn, Kings County , New York. It was granted National Historic Landmark status in 2006 by the U.S. Department of the Interior.-History:...
. In 1865, Rutgers' body had been finally laid to rest in an unmarked grave within the Dutch Reformed Church's plot at Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
.
The Green-Wood Historic Fund and members of the Rutgers Community honored the Colonel’s memory on Flag Day, June 14, 2008 by unveiling a bronze marker at his gravesite. Elsewhere in Green-Wood Cemetery lies the grave Mabel Smith Douglass
Mabel Smith Douglass
Mabel Smith Douglass was the first dean, in 1918 of the New Jersey College for Women. In September 1932 she retired due to ill health. On September 21, 1933, she went rowing on Lake Placid and never returned. She was last seen rowing alone across the lake by servants at a camp she owned...
, founder and first dean of the New Jersey College for Women (renamed Douglass College in her honor), the former women’s college associated with Rutgers University.