In 1861 a brewer with this last name gave $408,000 to the trustees at a Poughkeepsie women's college
It was chartered by its 
namesake, brewer Matthew Vassar, in 1861 in the Hudson Valley, about 70 mi (
115 km)... [DOC] [TLE] | The Pride and Joy of Po'keepsie: A Vassar College History [PAR] [My parents] were the first of the Family name that left their Fatherland and were 
... Matthew's uncle, a brewer named Thomas Vassar, also came along, but he 
forgot ... was elected a trustee of the village of Poughkeepsie and, later, its 
president.