Vanderpoel was a Democratic party mainstay and from 1866 to 1869, had a law partnership with the eventual U.S. President Grover Cleveland.
Isaac's great-grandfather emigrated from Holland as early as 1609 and settled on Long Island, becoming one of the earliest residents of what is now the State of New York.
[1] He was educated at Kinderhook Academy where his classmates and friends included the Isaac A. Verplanck of Buffalo and H. H. Van Dyck of Albany.
After four years, he went to New York City to complete his legal studies and was admitted to the office of Price & Sears, a well known firm at the time.
In 1871, Cleveland was Sheriff of Erie County, mayor of Buffalo in 1882, Governor of New York in 1883 and finally the 22nd and 24th President of the United States in 1885 and 1893, respectively.