Stephen Van Rensselaer IV

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Van Rensselaer served in the New York Militia, and retired with the title of Major General.

After his father's death in 1839, he inherited the "West Manor" of Rensselaerswyck through his father's will. He made many improvements to the Manor House, which was largely reconstructed and refitted from designs by British architect Richard Upjohn, and moved to the home from his residence in New York City on June 3, 1840. His father's will directed him and his brothers to collect and apply the back rents (approximately US$400,000 (equivalent to $10,200,000 in 2021)) toward the payment of the patroon's debts. Once the rent notices went out, the farmers organized and held public meetings in protest. Van Rensselaer refused to meet with a committee of anti-renters and turned down their written request for a reduction of rents or any other settlement. His refusal infuriated the farmers and on July 4, 1839, a meeting was called at Berne for a declaration of independence from landlord rule. Van Rensselaer and the other heirs secured writs of ejectment in suits against tenants in arrears. There were crowds of angry tenants that turned into a posse of 500 men. Governor William H. Seward was called for military assistance and issued a proclamation calling on the people not to resist the enforcement of the law. While the tenants continued refusing to pay rent, the sheriff evicted some, but was unable to dispossess an entire township.

By 1845, the anti-renters succeeded in getting the New York State Legislature to abolish the right of the landlord to seize the goods of a defaulting tenant and taxed the income which landlords derived from their rent. Soon thereafter, the Constitutional Convention of 1846 prohibited any future lease of agricultural land which claimed rent or service for a period longer than twelve years, but did not address existing leases.

Between 1846 and 1851, the anti-renters elected sheriffs and local officials who paralyzed the efforts of the landlords to collect rents and threw their weight to the candidates of either major party who would support their cause. Rivalries between and within the Whig and Democratic parties enabled the anti-renters to exert more influence than their numbers warranted. As a result, they had a small but determined bloc of anti-rent champions in the Assembly and the Senate who kept landlords uneasy by threatening to pass laws challenging land titles.

The anti-rent endorsement of John Young, the Whig candidate for governor in 1846, proved decisive. Governor Young promptly pardoned several anti-rent prisoners and called for an investigation of titles by the Attorney General. The courts eventually ruled the statute of limitations prevented any questioning of the original titles. Declaring that the holders of perpetual leases were in reality freeholders, the Court of Appeals outlawed the "quarter sales," i.e., the requirement in many leases that a tenant who disposed of his farm should pay one-fourth of the money to the landlord.

As their position became more tenuous, the landed proprietors gradually sold out their interests. In August 1845, seventeen large landholders announced that they were willing to sell. Later that year, Van Rensselaer agreed to sell his rights in the Helderberg townships. In 1848, his brother, William, who had inherited the "East Manor" in Rensselaer County, also sold out his rights in over 500 farms. Finally, in the 1850s, two speculators purchased the remaining leases from the van Rensselaers. After his widow's death, the Manor house became part of the general estate.

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