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 86,000-acre (35,000ha) 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.
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.[1] As he prospered in business and rose in society, he adopted the formal surname, "Van Cortlandt,"[2] 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.
Margaret Kemble (1734–1824) m. British General Thomas Gage (1718/19–1787); descendants in the United Kingdom include the Bertie family, the Gage family, and the Foley family.
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.
↑Williams, Gray (2003). Picturing Our Past: National Register Sites in Westchester County. Westchester County Historical Society. p. 10. ISBN978-0-915585-14-4.
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