Cornelius Peter Van Ness (January 26, 1782 – May 2, 1852) was an American politician and diplomat who served as the tenth governor of Vermont from 1823 to 1826 and Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to the Kingdom of Spain from 1829 to 1836.

[1] Van Ness was born in Kinderhook, New York, on January 26, 1782, to a family of Dutch Americans.

He was made collector of customs for the district of Vermont in 1813 and in 1816 President James Madison named Van Ness one of the federal commissioners who negotiated with commissioners from Great Britain to settle the northeastern boundary between the United States and Canada.

William T. Barry was appointed to the post in April, 1835, but died in Liverpool on August 30, without assuming his duties in Spain.

[7] Cornelius Van Ness later married a Spanish woman, Madalena (or Magdalena) Allus, who survived him.