irst of the patroons, Killiaen van
Rensselaer (1580-1645), never came to this country, but he sent
over numerous settlers as tenants. The Manor was called
Rensselaerswyck, and comprised all of the present counties of
Albany and Rensselaer, and part of Columbia.

This was the first manorial grant in New Netherlands and was destined to
endure the longest. The colonists sent to this country by van Rensselaer
were industrious and the town prospered, although in 1644, it was
described by Father Jogues, a Jesuit priest, as "a miserable little fort
called Fort Orange, built of logs, with four or five pieces of Breteuil
cannon and as many swivels; and some 25 or 30 houses built of boards,
and having thatched roofs." On account of its favorable commercial and
strategic position at the head of navigation on the Hudson and at the
gateway of the Iroquois country and the far west, it maintained its
importance among colonial settlements for a century and a half. Its
early name, Beverwyck, was changed to Albany--one of the titles of the
Duke of York, afterwards James II.--when New Netherlands was transferred
to the English (1644). Albany was granted a charter in 1686, and the
first mayor (appointed by Gov. Dongan) was Peter Schuyler, who was
likewise chairman of the Board of Indian Commissioners.

Peter Schuyler (1657-1724) was a son of Philip Pieterse Schuyler
(d. 1683), who migrated from Amsterdam in 1650. The family was
one of the wealthiest and most influential in the colony, and it
was closely related by marriage to the van Rensselaers, the van
Cortlandts and other representatives of the old Dutch
aristocracy.

Representatives of Mass., R.I., N.H., Conn., N.Y., Pa., and Md., met in
Albany in June, 1754, for the purpose of confirming and establishing a
close league of friendship with the Iroquois and of arranging for a
permanent union of the colonies. This was the first important effort to
bring about a Colonial confederation.

The Indian affairs having been satisfactorily adjusted, the
convention, after considerable debate, in which Benjamin
Franklin, Stephen Hopkins and Thomas Hutchinson took a leading
part, adopted a plan for a union of the colonies on the basis of
a scheme submitted by Franklin. This plan provided for a
representative governing body to be known as the Grand Council,
to which each colony should elect delegates for a term of three
years