Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1889, volume 6).djvu/271

Rh VANDERHEYDEN, Dirk, owner of the site of Troy, N. Y., b. in Albany, N. Y., about 1680 ; d. there in October, 1738. The first of the name in Albany came to this country from Holland about 1590. Dirk was an innkeeper in his native town and a specula- tor in lands. In 1720 he ob- tained a grant of 490 acres of land in fee. at a yearly rent of fiveschepels of wheat and four fat fowls. This grant, called the " Poesten Bouwery," was afterward known as Van- derheyden 's ferry, and in 1789 was named Troy. The Vanderheyden mansion, which was bought by Dirk's descendant, Jacob, in 1778, was built in 1725 by Johannes Beeckman, a burgher of Albany. The bricks were imported from Holland, and it was one of the best specimens of Dutch architecture in the state. Its dimensions were fifty feet front by twenty in depth, with a hall and two rooms on a floor, the massive beams and braces projecting into the rooms. It is described by Washington Irving in the story of Dolph Heyliger, in " Bracebridge Hall," as the residence of Heer Anthony Vanderheyden. The weather-vane, a horse going at full speed, was placed by Mr. Irving above the turret of the door- way at Sunnyside, when in 1833 the Vanderheyden house was demolished and a Baptist church was built on its site. The Vanderheyden mansion is shown in the accompanying illustration.

VANDERLYN, John, artist, b. in Kingston, Ulster co., N. Y., 15 Oct., 1775 ; d. there, 24 Sept., 1852. After receiv- ing an education at Kingston acad- emy, he went to New York, where he engaged in busi- ness, and devot- ed his leisure to art, attending the drawing-school of Archibald Robert- son. Subsequently he went to Phila- delphia, where he spent some time in the studio of Gil- bert Stuart, and copied his por- traits of Aaron Burr and Egbert Benson. Through the generosity of Aaron Burr, who heard of the young artist's difficulties. Vanderlyn was enabled to continue his studies. In 1796 he went to France, where he remained for five years. After his return in 1802 he painted two views of Niagara falls, which were engraved and published (London, 1804), and portraits of Burr and his daughter. The following year he went abroad again, and spent several years in England and Paris, where he painted for Joel Barlow the " Death of Miss McCrea." In 1805 he visited Rome, and there painted, in 1807, his " Ma- rius amid the Ruins of Carthage." On his return to Paris the following year he exhibited it at the salon, where it gained for him the Napoleon gold medal. This painting belongs now to Bishop Kip, of California. He also executed various copies after the old masters, and in 1812 painted his famous " Ariadne." This picture was subsequently bought and engraved by Asher B. Durand, and is now in the Pennsylvania academy of fine arts. He re- turned to the United States in 1815, and painted portraits of various eminent men, including Wash- ington (for the National house of representatives), James Monroe, John C. Calhoun, Gov. Joseph C. Yates, Gov. George Clinton, Andrew Jackson, and Zachary Taylor. At this time he projected also a panoramic exhibition, and erected in New York the " Rotunda." He exhibited there panoramas of Paris, Athens, Mexico, Versailles (by himself), and some battle-pieces; but the enterprise was not successful, and the building passed out of his hands. This, and the want of appreciation for the arts in this country, seem to have dispirited and embittered him. His last large composition- picture, " The Landing of Columbus," painted in Paris for one of the panels in the capitol at Wash- ington, is hardly more than respectable. It was engraved for the United States five-dollar bank- notes. Vanderlyn will always be known as the painter of " Marius " and " Ariadne," which latter, though scarcely showing great originality, is a noble work. The New York historical society owns his portraits of Aaron Burr. Robert R. Livingston (1804), Roger Strong, and Henry Benson (1823).

VANDERPOEL, Aaron, congressman, b. in Kinderhook, N. Y., 5 Feb., 1799; d. in New York city, 18 July, 1871. He was carefully educated, studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1820, and began practice in his native town. He was in the assembly in 1826-'30, and in congress in 1833-'7 and 1839-'41, having been chosen as a Demo- crat. He then retired from political life, settled in New York city, and was a judge of the superior court in 1842-50. During his congressional ser- vice he acquired the soubriquet of the "Kinder- hook roarer," on account of the power of his voice and his oratorical flights. — His nephew, Aaron J, lawver, b. in Kinderhook, N. Y., 18 Aug., 1825 ; d. in Paris, France, 23 Aug., 1887, was the son of Dr. John Vanderpoel, a successful physician, and the personal and political friend of Martin Van Buren, Aaron was graduated at the University of New York in 1842, studied law under William Curtis Noyes, settling in Kinderhook, and subsequently in New York city. He formed a partnership with A. Oakey Hall and Augustus L. Brown in 1853, under the name of Brown, Hall, and Vanderpoel, The firm had a large practice, especially as counsel for the city in many municipal affairs. In 1873, by the withdrawal of Mr. Hall, the firm was re- organized as Vanderpoel, Green, and Coming. Mr. Vanderpoel was in constant practice before the courts for more than thirty years, and perhaps ap- peared in more cases than any other lawyer at the New York bar. He was an authority on corpora- tion law, for many years was sheriff's counsel, counsel for the police commissioners, and engaged in many important railroad suits. He declined a nomination to the bench of the court of appeals in 1885. In 1880 the University of New York gave him the degree of LL. D. At the time of his death he was president of the Manhattan club.

VANDERPOEL, Ann Priscilla, philanthropist, b. in London, England, 25 June, 1815 ; d. in New York city, 4 May, 1870. Her father, Robert O. Barnes, came to this country with his family in 1833. She married Dr. Edward Vanderpoel in 1837, and for many years was identified with phil- anthropic work in New York city. She founded