Robert Livingston (1708–1790)

Robert Livingston (December 16, 1708 – November 27, 1790) was the third and final Lord of Livingston Manor and a member of the assembly for the manor from 1737 to 1790.

This article is about the 3rd Lord of Livingston Manor. For other uses, see Robert Livingston (disambiguation).
Robert Livingston
3rd Lord of Livingston Manor
In office
1749 – 1790
Preceded byPhilip Livingston
Succeeded byAbolished
Member of the New York General Assembly
In office
1737 – 1758
Preceded byGilbert Livingston
Succeeded byWilliam Livingston
Personal details
Born(1708-12-16)December 16, 1708
Albany, Province of New York
DiedNovember 27, 1790(1790-11-27) (aged 81)
Spouse(s)
Maria Thong
​
​
(m. 1731; died 1765)​

Gertrude Van Rensselaer Schuyler
​
​
(m. 1766⁠–⁠1790)​
Children13, including Walter Livingston
ParentsPhilip Livingston
Catharina Van Brugh
RelativesSee Livingston family

Early life

Robert Livingston was born on December 16, 1708 in Albany, New York, the eldest son of Catharina (née Van Brugh) Livingston and Philip Livingston (1686–1749), the second Lord of Livingston Manor.[1] His younger brothers were Peter Van Brugh Livingston, who married Mary Alexander (sister of Lord Stirling), Philip Livingston, who married Christina Ten Broeck, and William Livingston, who married Susannah French. All the brothers had multiple children.[2]

He was the grandson of Robert Livingston the Elder, a New York colonial official, fur trader, and businessman who was granted a patent to 160,000 acres (650 km²/ 250 sq mi) along the Hudson River, and becoming the first lord of Livingston Manor. His paternal grandmother was Alida Schuyler, the daughter of Philip Pieterse Schuyler and the widow of Nicholas Van Rensselaer. His maternal grandparents were Pieter Van Brugh and Sara (née Cuyler) Van Brugh.[2]

Career

From 1737 to 1758, Livingston succeeded his uncle Gilbert Livingston to represent Livingston Manor in the New York General Assembly.[1] He was succeeded by William Livingston in 1759 who served until 1761.[3][4]

Livingston Manor

Upon the death of his father in February 1749, Robert inherited Livingston Manor and became the third Lord of the Manor.[2] Shortly after he acquired 1,000,000 acres (4,000 km2; 1,600 sq mi) of the Catskill Mountains in what had formerly been the Hardenbergh Patent.[5]

Livingston found himself embroiled in a border dispute with Massachusetts when some New Englanders began to settle on the eastern portion of the Manor. Some of the settlers were Livingston's own tenants, who tired of paying rent moved east and contended they were now in Massachusetts.[2] By 1767, Livingston Manor had about 285 tenant families, together leasing 30,000 from Robert, according to C.A. Kierner. Settlement was disbursed, with areas adjoining waterways, mills, and ironworks, the more densely populated.[6] The tenants paid their rent in wheat. In 1760 Livingston Manor produced 50,000 bushels; Robert had claim to one-tenth as income.[7]

During the Revolution, he made available to the New York Committee of Safety and the Continental Army, the iron mines and foundry on the Manor,[8] while his sons, Peter Robert, Walter, John and Henry, were actively involved on the American side.[9]

Personal life

On May 20, 1731 he married Maria Thong (1711–1765), granddaughter of Governor Rip Van Dam (1660–1749). Robert Livingston expected his sons to take their place as his business agents and had them educated accordingly. Together, they had thirteen children:[10]

  • Catherine Livingston (b. 1732), died in infancy.[2]
  • Philip Robert Livingston (1733–1756), died of kidney trouble.[2]
  • Sarah Livingston (1735–1745), who died young.[2]
  • Peter Robert Livingston (1737–1793), a member of the Provincial Convention of 1775,[11] who married cousin Margaret Livingston (1738–1809), a granddaughter of Robert Livingston the Younger (1663–1725).[2]
  • Maria "Mary" Livingston (1738–1821), who married James Duane.[2]
  • Walter Livingston (1740–1797), who was the owner of Teviotdale mansion in Columbia County.
  • Robert Livingston (1742–1794), better known as Robert Cambridge due to his attendance of Cambridge University, who married Alice Swift (1751–1816).[2]
  • Catherine Livingston (1744–1832), who married John Patterson (1740–1823), brother of Walter Patterson and father of Daniel Patterson.[2]
  • Sarah Livingston (1745/6–1749), who died young[2]
  • Alida Livingston (1747–1791), who married Valentine Gardiner.[12]
  • Margarita Livingston (1748–1749), died young[2]
  • John Livingston (1749–1822), who married first Maria Ann Leroy (1759–1797),[12] daughter of Jacob Leroy and Cornelia Rutgers,[2] and second Catherine (Livingston) Ridley, his first cousin, the daughter of William Livingston and the widow of Matthew Ridley.
  • Hendrick "Henry" Livingston (1752–1823), who died unmarried.[2]

In 1764, a portrait of Livingston was painted by Thomas McIlworth (who also painted British officer John Bradstreet in 1764) at Livingston Manor.[1]

In 1766, he married Gertrude (née Van Rensselaer) Schuyler (1714–1790), daughter of Maria Van Cortlandt and Kiliaen Van Rensselaer, the fifth Patroon and second Lord of the Manor of Rensselaerwyck. She was a widow of Adonijah "Adonis" Schuyler, who died in 1763 and was a son of Arent Schuyler.[2]

Livingston died on November 27, 1790 at the age of eighty-one. He broke the family tradition of leaving the estate to his eldest son and shared Livingston Manor among his five sons and his son-in-law James Duane.[13]

See also

References
  1. "Robert Livingston, Jr. (1708-1790)". nyhistory.org. New-York Historical Society. Retrieved 25 July 2019.
  2. Livingston, Edwin Brockholst (1901). 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. New York: The Knickerbocker Press. Retrieved 16 September 2016.
  3. Hough, A.M., M.D., Franklin B. (1858). The New York Civil List: Containing The Names And Origin Of The Civil Divisions, And The Names And Dates Of Election Or Appointment Of The Principal State And County Officers From The Revolution To The Present Time. Albany: Weed, Parsons and Co. Retrieved 19 September 2018.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  4. Murlin, Edgar L. (1908). The New York Red Book. J. B. Lyon Company. pp. 356–365. Retrieved 22 September 2018.
  5. http://livingstonmanor.net/Timeline.htm
  6. Schwarz, Philip J. (1979). The Jarring Interests: New York's Boundary Makers, 1664-1776. SUNY Press. p. 274. ISBN 9780873953771. Retrieved 25 July 2019.
  7. Kierner, Cynthia A., Traders and Gentlefolk: The Livingstons of New York, 1675-1790, Cornell University Press, 1992
  8. Year Book of the Sons of the Revolution in the State of New York. New York: Exchange Printing Company. 1893. p. 269. Retrieved 25 July 2019.
  9. "Livingston, Robert, Jr. (1708-1790)". digitalcollections.nypl.org. NYPL Digital Gallery. Retrieved 25 July 2019.
  10. Kierner, Cynthia A. (2018). Traders and Gentlefolk: The Livingstons of New York, 1675-1790. Cornell University Press. p. 260. ISBN 9781501731532. Retrieved 25 July 2019.
  11. New York Department of State, Calendar of Historical Manuscripts, Relating to the War of the Revolution, Volume I, 1868, page 86
  12. Hirschman, Elizabeth Caldwell; Yates, Donald Neal (2012). Jews and Muslims in British Colonial America: A Genealogical History. McFarland. ISBN 9780786489060. Retrieved 16 September 2016.
  13. Bonomi, Patricia U. (2014). A Factious People: Politics and Society in Colonial New York. Cornell University Press. p. 72. ISBN 9780801455346. Retrieved 25 July 2019.
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