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William C. Van Alstyne, son of Thomas W. and Sarah E. (Pease) Van Alstyne, was born in Albany, N. Y., December 7, 1846. He is a lineal descendant of Henry Van Alstyne who was knighted by Otho II, emperor of Germany, and who assisted at the coronation of Otho III, by Pope Gregory V, in A. D. 983, and whom he served in the wars against Henry III of France. Henry remained in Flanders and his descendants have lived in Belgium and Holland to the present time. A branch became Protestants, represented in this country first by John Martense Van Alstyne, who left Gand (Ghent), Belgium, in 1635 and finally settled the village of Ghent, near Kinderhook, Columbia county. One of Mr. Van Alstyne's ancestors was the first president of the Board of Trustees of the village of Kinderhook, and a cousin of his now (1896) occupies the same position. The original grant in heraldry was by Otho II, and a regrant was published by Marie Therese, empress of Austria, January 17, 1771. The father of the subject of this sketch, Thomas W. Van Alstyne. was a merchant and sheriff of Albany county from 1858 to 1861.
William C. Van Alstyne was educated at the State Normal School at Albany and graduated from the Albany Academy in 1864. He was assistant treasurer of the Albany and Susquehanna Railroad, and was for a time in the employ in a similar capacity of the Delaware & Hudson Canal Company's Railroad. In 1872 he moved to Chicago to accept an official position with the Michigan Central Railroad; in 1880 he was obliged to return east on account of illness, and he accepted the position of general manager of the Lebanon Springs Railroad, which position he resigned in 1880. Since then he has been engaged in the manufacturing business as secretary and manager of the Standard Emery Wheel Company. Mr. Van Alstyne is also a dealer in emery and kindred supplies.
He is a member of the Holland Society of New York, the Camera Club of Albany, Masters Lodge No. 5, F. & A. M., Beaverwyck Lodge No. 361, I. O. O. F., the Albany Institute, and of the Emmanuel Baptist church of Albany. In 1869 he married Mary Warren Carter, of Albany.
