Philip Kiliaen van Rensselaer

He was a merchant by trade, and his experience in transporting cargo may have helped qualify him as keeper of the Albany arsenal.

The letter also includes a list of his duties, such as arranging the repair of service muskets and transporting the overload.

He was elected alderman for the second ward of Albany in 1782. van Rensselaer leased a tavern five miles west of the Hudson as he developed the Cherry Hill farm.

[1] His family house was on the east side of Pearl Street when he built Cherry Hill in 1768 for his wife Maria, daughter of Robert Sanders[1][6] and granddaughter of Pieter Schuyler.

This general area was the location of military stores and quarters during the American Revolution lending to an ironic contrast of imagery to 'their romantic spot'.