Robert Livingston (1718–1775) Explained
Robert Robert Livingston,[1] also called The Judge (August 1718 – December 9, 1775),[2] was a prominent colonial American politician, and a leading Whig in New York in the years leading up to the American Revolution.[3]
Early life
Robert R. Livingston was born in August 1718 at Clermont Manor in what was then the Province of New York, a part of British America.[4] He was the only child of Robert Livingston (1688–1775), known as "Robert of Clermont" and Margaret Howarden (1693–1758). His mother was the daughter of a wealthy English merchant in New York and granddaughter of Captain Isaac Bedlow, a Huguenot after whom Bedloe's Island is named.[5]
His paternal grandparents were Robert Livingston the Elder (1654–1728) and Alida (née Schuyler) Van Rensselaer Livingston (1656–1727), daughter of Philip Pieterse Schuyler (1628–1683) and widow of Nicholas Van Rensselaer.[6] His uncle was Philip Livingston (1686–1749), the second Lord of Livingston Manor. His great-grandfather was Reverend John Livingston, a Church of Scotland minister who died in exile in 1673.[7]
Career
Livingston, known as 'Judge Livingston' to distinguish him from his eponymous father and other prominent Livingstons, was a member of the New York Provincial Assembly from 1759 to 1768. He served as judge of the admiralty court from 1760 to 1763. He was a delegate to the Stamp Act Congress of 1765,[7] and, in 1775, a member of the Committee of One Hundred,[8] which briefly governed New York City.
From 1763 until 1775, he served as a Justice of the New York Supreme Court of Judicature.[9]
Family
In 1742, he married Margaret Beekman (1724–1800), daughter of Col. Henry Beekman and Janet Livingston (his second cousin), a descendant of Wilhelmus Beekman and heir to immense tracts of land in Dutchess and Ulster counties. Their children included:[10]
- Janet Livingston (b.1743-1824), who married Gen. Richard Montgomery (1738–1775) in 1773.[11]
- Robert R. Livingston (1746–1813), the Chancellor of New York who married Mary Stevens, daughter of John Stevens, in 1770.[12]
- Margaret Livingston (1749–1823), who married Thomas Tillotson (1750–1832), an army surgeon who became New York Secretary of State.
- Henry Beekman Livingston (1750–1831), who commanded the 4th New York Regiment at the Battles of Saratoga and Monmouth and during the winter at Valley Forge.[13] He married Ann Hume Shippen, daughter of Prof. Dr. William Shippen and Alice Lee of Philadelphia, in 1781.[10]
- Catharine Livingston (1752–1849), who married Freeborn Garrettson (1752–1827) in 1791 and helped to bring Methodism to the Hudson River Valley.[13] [14]
- John R. Livingston (1755–1851), a merchant who took over his father's gunpowder mill during the Revolutionary War.[15] [16] [17] He married, first, to Margaret Sheafe in 1779. After her death, he married Eliza McEvers, the daughter of Charles McEvers and Mary Bache, in 1789. Eliza was the sister of his brother Edwards's first wife Mary.[10]
- Gertrude Livingston (1757–1833), who married Gov. Morgan Lewis (1754–1844), son of Francis Lewis (1713–1802), a signer of the United States Declaration of Independence.
- Joanna Livingston (1759–1827), who married Peter R. Livingston (1766–1847), acting Lieutenant Governor of New York.
- Alida Livingston (1761–1822), who married John Armstrong Jr. (1758–1843), a U.S. Senator, U.S. Secretary of War, and U.S. Minister to France who was the son of Gen. John Armstrong, Sr.
- Edward Livingston (1764–1836), a U.S. Senator and U.S. Secretary of State who married Mary McEvers, the daughter of Charles McEvers and Mary Bache, in 1788. After her death, he married Madame Louise Moreau de Lassy in 1805. She was the sister of Auguste Davezac.[18]
Livingston died on December 9, 1775, at his estate in Clermont, New York, several months after his own father's death on June 27, 1775.[19]
Descendants
Through his son Major John R., he was the grandfather of Robert Montgomery Livingston (1790–1838), who married Sarah Barclay Bache in 1811.[18] Livingston and his father were known for their quarrels with Cornelius Vanderbilt and Thomas Gibbons over his operation of steamboats and the breakup of the Chancellor Livingston and Gov. Aaron Ogden monopoly resulting from the landmark Supreme Court decision in Gibbons v. Ogden.[20]
His grandson-in-law was George Croghan, a nephew of William Clark, the explorer, Lewis Livingston, Charles Edward Livingston and George Rogers Clark. His granddaughters include Margaret Lewis, Elizabeth Stevens Livingston, Margaret Maria Livingston, Julia Livingston, and Coralie Livingston.[10]
Through Chancellor Livingston, he was the 2x great-grandfather of Mary Livingston Ludlow (1843–1919), herself the mother of his 3x great-granddaughter, Anna Hall Roosevelt (1863–1892), herself the mother of First Lady of the United States Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962).[21]
See also
External links
Notes and References
- Book: Brooke. John L.. Columbia Rising: Civil Life on the Upper Hudson from the Revolution to the Age of Jackson. 2013. UNC Press Books. 9780807838877. 478–479. 17 January 2018. en.
- Book: Adams. Arthur G.. The Hudson. 1981. SUNY Press. 9780791494226. 255. 17 January 2018. en.
- Web site: Archives Directory for the History of Collecting. research.frick.org. Frick Collection. 11 September 2016.
- Book: Bonomi. Patricia U.. A Factious People: Politics and Society in Colonial New York. 2014. Cornell University Press. 9780801455346. 72. 17 January 2018. en.
- News: Spell it with a "W" It should not be Bedloo's Island but "Bedlow's" . . August 14, 1886 . 2011-04-08.
- Web site: The Seventeenth Century · Clio's Sisters: Women Who Made History In and Around Bard. omekalib.bard.edu. Stevenson Library Digital Collections. 17 January 2018.
- Web site: Livingston, Robert R. (1718-1775), [The Petition of Michael Theyser of the City of New York, Innkeeper]]. www.gilderlehrman.org. The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History. 11 September 2016.
- Book: Harrison. Mrs. Burton. Lamb. Mrs. Martha J.. HISTORY OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK; ITS ORIGIN RISE, AND PROGRESS. 1896. 900. 17 January 2018. en.
- Web site: Robert R. Livingston, Judge of the NY Supreme Court of Judicature, 1763-1775. www.nycourts.gov. Historical Society of the New York Courts. 10 August 2017. en.
- Book: Livingston. Edwin Brockholst. The Livingstons of Livingston Manor: Being the History of that Branch of the Scottish House of Callendar which Settled in the English Province of New York During the Reign of Charles the Second; and Also Including an Account of Robert Livingston of Albany, "The Nephew," a Settler in the Same Province and His Principal Descendants. 1910. Knickerbocker Press. 10 August 2017. en.
- Book: Shelton. Hal T.. General Richard Montgomery and the American Revolution: From Redcoat to Rebel. 1996. NYU Press. 9780814780398. 38. 17 January 2018. en.
- Web site: Livingston, Robert (1746-1813) to John R. Livingston. www.gilderlehrman.org. Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History. 17 January 2018.
- Web site: Friends of Clermont Historic Site. friendsofclermont.org. Friends of Clermont Historic Site. 17 January 2018. en.
- Book: Andrews. Dee E.. The Methodists and Revolutionary America, 1760-1800: The Shaping of an Evangelical Culture. 2010. Princeton University Press. 978-1400823598. 302. 17 January 2018. en.
- News: Clermont State Historic Site. Clermont State Historic Site: Was John R. Livingston a Murderer?. 17 January 2018. Clermont State Historic Site. 16 May 2016.
- Web site: John R. Livingston (1755-1851). www.nyhistory.org. New-York Historical Society. 17 January 2018. en.
- Book: Hess. Stephen. America's Political Dynasties. 2017. Routledge. 9781351532150. 552. 17 January 2018. en.
- Book: Reynolds. Cuyler. Genealogical and Family History of Southern New York and the Hudson River Valley: A Record of the Achievements of Her People in the Making of a Commonwealth and the Building of a Nation. 1914. Lewis Historical Publishing Company. 1339. 17 January 2018. en.
- Web site: The Clermont Estate Town of Clermont. www.clermontny.org. Town of Clermont. 11 September 2016.
- News: Garner. Dwight. Vanderbilt as Robber Baron in T. J. Stiles's 'The First Tycoon'. 17 January 2018. The New York Times. 28 April 2009.
- Book: Appleseed. Peter. Franklin Delano Roosevelt's Life and Times. 2014. 9781312213746. 108. Lulu.com . 17 January 2018. en.
