John Van Schaick Lansing Pruyn (1811-1877) [Section 53, Lot 1]
Regent and later Chancellor of State University of New York (SUNY), U.S. Minister to Japan, U.S. Congressman, lawyer, President of Albany Institute for Art and History, Commissioner for the construction of the NYS Capitol, President of the board for Dudley Observatory, President of St. Stephen’s College (Bard College)
John V. L. Pruyn was born in Albany on June 22, 1811. He is the youngest of five children to David Pruyn and Hybertie Yates Lansing. The Pruyns are one of the oldest family names in Albany. Johannes Pruyn, a Hollander, came to New Amsterdam before 1657, later settling in Albany. Pruyn is also a descendant of the Lansing family, of the largest early Albany families, which is associated with Lansingburgh, and the Van Schaick family, whose earliest member, Goosen Gerritse came to Albany in the 1630s, and whose son Anthony is the namesake for Van Schaick Island in Cohoes.
Pruyn attended Albany Academy, graduating in 1826. He studied law and at age 21 admitted to the New York Bar. In 1833 at age 22 he began practicing law, entering a partnership with Henry Martin and later John. H. Reynolds. Until age 40, he studied at numerous colleges obtaining degrees, an MA from Rutgers College in 1835; an MA from Union College in 1845; and an LL.D. from the University of Rochester in 1852.
On October 22, 1840, he married Harriet Corning Turner, niece of Erastus Corning. Together they had six children, though only two lived to adulthood; Erastus Corning Pruyn and John V. L. Pruyn Jr. In 1859 Harriet died shortly after the birth of John. While married to Harriet, he worked closely with her Erastus on legal issues regarding his business negotiating contracts, such as the railroad acquisitions which later led to the creation of the New York Central Railroad.
On September 7, 1865, he married Anna Fen Parker, daughter of Amasa Parker, an Albany lawyer and judge who later served on the New York Supreme Court. Pruyn and Anna had two girls, Harriet Langdon, and Huybertie Lansing Pruyn.
Pruyn held several public offices; his first came in 1844 when he was appointed a Regent of the University of the State of New York. He entered politics as a Democratic seeking a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives in 1854 but was unsuccessful. In 1861 he won a seat in the New York State Senate, where he gave his salary to the poor. The same year he was appointed U.S. minister to Japan by President Lincoln, which he played a large part in securing America’s rights to the East.
In 1863 Pruyn was appointed to the Congress, filling the seat previously occupied by Erastus Corning who resigned due to poor health and business issues. He held this seat until 1865 and was elected again in 1866 serving from 1867 – 1869. In 1868 Pruyn was appointed as Chancellor of the University of the State of New York. After leaving Congress, he held this position until his death while at the same time practicing law.
Pruyn was very active and served on a number of boards: Director and Vice President of the Albany City Bank; President of Albany Institute (1857 – 1882); Director, Mohawk and Hudson River Railroad; member of New-York Historical Society; Original Capitol Commissioner of New York Central Railroad; President of board of directors of Dudley Observatory; Commissioner for construction of the New York State Capitol, where he helped lay the cornerstone; President of St. Stephen’s College, an Episcopal College that later merged with Columbia University and became Bard College; and President, Albany Board of Charities – which he oversaw the trust of Harmanus Bleecker’s bequest to the City of Albany establishing the city’s first public library.
Pruyn died on November 21, 1877, of Bright’s Disease in Clifton Springs, NY at the age of 66. He is interred in the John V. L. Pruyn family plot alongside his first wife and children who preceded him. His family plot is adorned with two Meneely Bells and a large cross which says, “Until the daybreak and the shadows flee away.”
In April of 1901, the City of Albany opened its seventh public library on the southeast corner of North Pearl and Clinton Avenue. The site was the childhood home of Pruyn and was a gift from his children and his widow. Known as the Pruyn Library, it was designed by Marcus Reynolds in the Dutch style of the middle of the seventeenth century. The exterior included Harvard brick and a slate roof, which also included several stained glass windows and a weathervane that was a replica of Hudson’s Halfmoon. In February 1970, demolition approved of the Pruyn Library after a seven-year battle to save it. The site became the “Sheridan Valley Interchange of Albany’s Riverfront Arterial” now referred to as the onramp for New York 787.