Vander Veer Family
Papers, 1860-1935, bulk dates 1880-1927

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Historical and Biographical Note:

The Vander Veer Family Papers document the lives and professional activities of members of the family of Albert Vander Veer, a prominent Albany physician and professor of surgery at Albany Medical College during the latter part of the nineteenth century and the early decades of the twentieth century.

Albert Vander Veer was born on July 10, 1841 in Root, New York (Montgomery County).  At age 18 he began to study medicine under his first preceptor, Dr. Simeon Snow of Currytown, New York (Montgomery County). In May 1862 he enlisted in the United States Medical Corps, one of the original hundred men commissioned as United States medical cadets. His medical training continued throughout the Civil War and in the years immediately following before Albert returned to Albany in 1867 to begin building his practice there. He married Margaret Snow, the daughter of Dr. Snow, on June 5, 1867, and together they had six children, three of whom lived to adulthood. These sons, Edgar, James, and Albert, Jr., also became noted physicians in their own right. (A full biography of Albert Vander Veer can be found in Box 21 Folder 4.  See also Dictionary of American Biography, 1943)

Albert was an energetic advocate for his profession. He lectured, taught, and wrote extensively on medical subjects, and was a strong proponent of licensing for physicians. He was an ardent supporter of the medical department of the New York State Library, and was involved in the effort to rebuild it following the 1911 fire. He also served on the Board of Regents of the University of the State of New York from 1895 to1905 and from 1906 to 1927, holding the office of Chancellor in 1921. He died at the age of 88 on December 19, 1929.

James Newell Vander Veer, one of Albert's sons, is also well represented in this collection. He was born December 12, 1877, and received his medical training at Albany Medical College.  During the World War I he served as a lieutenant in the medical corps with the American Expeditionary Force. Upon returning to Albany he built a practice for himself, specializing in urology.  At various times he also served as director for both Bender Laboratory and St. Peter's Hospital.  He married Ada Holt in December 3, 1908, and had a son by her named Adrian Holt Vander Veer, who was born November 4, 1909.  It is not known whether this marriage was terminated by death or divorce, but James did marry again on April 22, 1935, to Ellen (or Ellyn) Randall Becker. This second marriage did not last long as James himself died after a prolonged illness on May 15, 1937.

Housed in this collection also is a small number of papers belonging to Norman L. Snow, Albert Vander Veer's brother-in-law (Norman Leslie Snow was a son of Dr. Simeon Snow and a brother of Margaret E. Snow Vander Veer). Dr. Snow was also a colleague of Dr. Vander Veer at the Albany Medical College. Additional material from Norman L. Snow can be found in Manuscripts and Special Collections' Single Accession 20173. During the Civil War, Snow was a surgeon with 153rd New York Infantry, and the letters that make up Single Accession 20173 provide information on medical care provided to soldiers injured in battle and comment upon the crowded, unsanitary conditions of army hospitals.

The Vander Veer family has deep roots in eastern New York State, having descended from Cornelise Janse Vander Veer who emigrated to New Amsterdam (now New York City) in 1659 and moved into the Mohawk Valley in 1753. The Vanderveer Family Land Papers, 1773-1859 (SC13998), in Manuscripts and Special Collections contains deeds, leases and agreements for land in the Town of Glen belonging to relatives of Albert Vander Veer's direct family.

A detailed genealogy of Albert's branch of the Vander Veer family can be found at
http://www.schenectadyhistory.org/families/hmgfm/vanderveer-1.html (as of September 12, 2007).

Scope and Content Note:

This collection contains the professional and personal papers of Dr. Albert Vander Veer and other members of his family, as well as family correspondence, postcards and photographs.

Records relating to Albert's practice of medicine predominate, and include patient records as well as articles he wrote and lectures he presented to medical students and colleagues. Other facets of Albert's public life are documented in this collection, such as his activity on the Board of Regents of the University of the State of New York and various medical societies, and his advocacy for the medical department of the New York State Library. He was eager to share his medical knowledge with the general public, writing articles published in newspapers and popular magazines and speaking on health and medicine topics to non-medical groups such Y.M.C.A. chapters.  Proud of his Dutch heritage, Albert was an active member in the Holland Society of New York, which is represented in a large amount of correspondence and communications from that group.

The Vander Veer Family Papers preserves a small amount of James Newell Vander Veer's personal and professional papers, and a smaller amount of papers from Norman L. Snow.  Surgery clinics presented by Dr. Snow are also recorded in a number of the reports in the Clinic Reports series.

Other Vander Veer family members are addressed in personal correspondence and pictured in photographs, and some of Edgar Vander Veer's professional work in medicine is documented in this collection.

The collection is divided into three series:

• Clinic Reports
• Papers
• Photographs

Clinic Reports-A major part of a medical student's training at the Albany Medical College was the practical clinics.  Students were apparently expected to write up each case they saw in the clinics, and turn these reports in to their instructors.  The notations "First Prize" and "Second Prize" that appear in a few of these volumes indicate that the reports may have been judged in an academic competition.

Albert taught surgical clinics, as did Dr. Norman L. Snow, along with other faculty members.  Albert is presumed to be the "Dr. Vander Veer" referred to in the reports, although James N. Vander Veer is named as a surgical clinic instructor in a report for 1913 (Box 9, Folder 4).

Where the student authors' names are known they are listed, but many used pseudonyms-often Latin words and phrases such as "Chirugus Incipiens." "Solicitudo," "Nitere succedere," "Pax vobiscum," or "Sine labor nihil agitur," or the names of ancient physicians such as Galen or Hippocrates.

Although the clinic reports are listed here in chronological order, the actual volumes are of such disparate sizes that they could not be efficiently packed and filed in order. Boxes 1-9 contain the volumes in chronological order that fit in a letter-size box, Boxes 10-12 contain the volumes fitting in a legal size box, and Box 13 contains one legal-size and one folio-size item.

Papers-The bulk of the collection is taken up by the personal and professional papers of Dr. Albert Vander Veer, although other family members are represented, particularly in the correspondence.  The professional activities of Dr. James Newell Vander Veer and Dr. Norman L. Snow are also represented to a smaller extent, as described above.

Photographs-Many family and travel pictures, a few portraits of Albert Vander Veer, and one believed to be of James.  This series also contains a small number of medical photographs and plates to accompany articles or presentations and illustrate examples of disease or injury.

Processing Notes:

The following items were removed from this collection and cataloged separately:

Contes choisis la fantasie et l'histoire par Alphonse Daudet avec deux eaux-fortes de Edmond Morin (1916) inscribed to James N. Vander Veer "From your friends of France. Very sincerely and faithfully / G. Chaillous / Maurice Chaillous / Angers January 1921" (alternatively, the last name might be Chaillons or similar).  Transferred to Rare Books.

Catalog for Clayton Machine Type "M" for Disinfecting and Fumigating, a Product of the Clayton Fire Extinguishing and Disinfecting Company Ltd. of London.  Removed from the papers of James N. Vander Veer which document his career as an Army surgeon.  Transferred to Rare Books.

"Spokane: The Greatest Railroad Center of the Pacific Coast, with Statistical Data Pertaining to Its Growth and the Resources of its Surrounding Country," map and information about the region around Spokane, Wash. (2 copies).  ca. 1893.  Transferred to the Broadsides Collection.

The items listed below have been transferred into SC16580:

PRI0955-9, "A. Vander Veer [picture]," is now in Box 24/P-6, Folder 1.

PRI0955-10, "Sincerely yours, Albert Vander Veer [picture]," is now in Box 24/P-6, Folder2.

PRI0955-11 PIECE 1, "[Photograph of Albert Vander Veer]," is now in Box 24/P-6, Folder 3.

Single Accession 10870, "James N. Vander Veer's notes on army correspondence courses-medical, advanced course," is now in Box 22, Folder 10.

Single Accession 13963, Certificate from New York State Governor Martin H. Glynn naming James N. Vanderveer [sic] a delegate at the National Rivers and Harbors Congress, is now in Box 22, Folder 11.

613-67 Pam, Manual for the Medical Department, United States Army, 1916: Corrected to April 15, 1917 (Changes nos. 1 and 2), is now in Box 22, Folder 7.  This copy has been heavily annotated by James N. Vander Veer.

Clinic Reports

Papers

Photographs