Definition of "patroon"

Dr. Tucker accompanied us on our return; and we made a call on General Van Rensselaer. He is the Patroon, or Lord of the Manor here; and is considered the greatest landholder in the United States.

1835, Andrew Reed, James Matheson, “Letter XIX”, in A Narrative of the Visit to the American Churches, by the Deputation from the Congregational Union of England and Wales. [...] In Two Volumes, volume I, New York, N.Y.: Published by Harper & Brothers, No. 82 Cliff-Street, page 222

In the United States the labourer is a freeman, lives on good substance, and being an honest man, neither fears nor envies the richest patroon about him.

1844, “a citizen of Pennsylvania” [pseudonym; J. Churchman], A Few Plain Facts, Addressed to the People of Pennsylvania, 3rd enl. edition, Philadelphia, Pa.: J. Crissy, printer, No. 4 Minor Street, page 3

One of the earliest “schools” of American painting, the Hudson Valley patroon painters, has often been considered to have derived from seventeenth-century English portraiture. Portraits of English aristocrats appeared to Dutch patroons as displays of the kind of social status they aspired to in their new country. […] Frequently overlooked in the discussion of the appeal of British portraiture to Dutch patroons is the fact that English portraiture of the seventeenth century was, in fact, a direct descendant of the Netherlandish portrait tradition.

2008, Louisa Wood Ruby, “Dutch Art and the Hudson Valley Patroon Painters”, in Joyce D[iane] Goodfriend, Benjamin Schmidt, Annette Stott, editors, Going Dutch: The Dutch Presence in America, 1609–2009 (The Atlantic World), Leiden: Brill, page 27

Unlike other American colonies, New Netherland was founded as a commercial venture, but the Dutch West India Company soon realized that it needed people to exploit its investment. […] Jeweler Killiaen Van Rensselaer, a company founder, came up with a solution: the patroon system. Established in 1629, it granted near-feudal rights to any wealthy merchant – or patroon – who agreed to populate the valley. In exchange for taking on the costs of establishing mini-colonies of 48 or more settlers, the patroons were allowed to negotiate with the Indians for the purchase of huge tracts of land, which by law would remain in their families forever.

2008, Reed Sparling, “A Novel Way of Colonizing: The Patroon System”, in Hudson Valley Voyage: Through the Seasons, through the Years, Fishkill, N.Y.: Involvement Media, page 21