Robert Livingston (1654-1728), colonial politician and landowner, was secretary for Indian affairs in New York province and greatly influenced British policy respecting western lands.

Youngest son of an eminent Presbyterian pastor, Robert Livingston was born on Dec. 13, 1654, in Ancrum, Scotland. His father was exiled in 1663 for resisting attempts to Anglicize the Scottish Church. Robert grew up in Rotterdam, Holland, where he received business training and became fluent in Dutch. Following his father's death in 1672, he emigrated to New England and then moved to Albany.

New York had just been restored to the English, and Livingston's background ideally suited him to become an intermediary between Dutch burghers and proprietary officials. From 1675 he was secretary to the commissioners directing affairs in the Albany area and ex officio town clerk. His marriage in 1679 to Alida Schuyler (widow of Nicholas van Rensselaer) allied him with the province's leading Dutch families, and his knowledge of the Indian trade enabled him to purchase prime tracts of land, including thousands of acres on the eastern bank of the Hudson River. In 1686 Livingston received a patent which allowed him to consolidate his landholdings into Livingston Manor.

As secretary for Indian affairs, Livingston fought against the trade in French furs and promoted England's commercial influence to the west. Albany wholesalers successfully blocked his attempt to prohibit, and then tax doubly, their Montreal traffic. However, Livingston's meticulous records bolstered New York's claims to the western lands in 1780. He also stressed the necessity of friendly relations with the Iroquois. Successive colonial governors came to rely heavily on Livingston's reports and recommendations.

Though favoring the dethroned James II, Livingston accepted the succession of William and Mary to the English throne. But his hostility to Jacob Leisler's rebellion in New York led his foes to attempt sequestration of his lands and offices; trips to England were required to confirm his posts and properties. He served on the councils of several governors, carefully invested his income from official positions, obtained dual salaries for holding more than one job, and probably profiteered in public contracts, such as the one (1710) for provisioning the Palatine German immigrants.

Livingston was elected from Albany to the New York Assembly in 1709 and after 1716 represented his own manor there. Chosen Speaker in 1718, he supported the Assembly in disputes with the governor. However, Livingston broke with most of the assemblymen over furtrading restrictions. Gradually he arranged for his son Philip to succeed him in administrative posts and in 1725 retired because of ill health. He died in early October 1728.

Further Reading

A scholarly account, generally favorable, of Livingston's career is Lawrence H. Leder, Robert Livingston, 1654-1728, and the Politics of Colonial New York (1961). Edwin B. Livingston, The Livingstons of Livingston Manor (1910), is somewhat limited by its almost exclusive reliance upon official records.

family of American statesmen, diplomats, and jurists.

Robert R. Livingston (1654–1728)

Robert R. Livingston, 1654–1728, b. Roxburghshire, Scotland, was raised in Holland and immigrated to America in 1673 after his father died. He made Albany, N.Y., his home, married (1679) Alida Van Rensselaer, and, mainly through trade with Native Americans, rose quickly to a position of wealth and influence in New York. Through the influence of Gov. Thomas Dongan, he secured (1686) a patent (later confirmed by royal charter) to shape his extensive land holdings, amounting to 160,000 acres, into Livingston Manor—in the present Dutchess and Columbia counties. Livingston and his brother-in-law, Peter Schuyler, were the leaders of the Albany opposition to the rebellion of Jacob Leisler, and afterward Livingston found his estates and privileges so endangered by the Leislerian faction, that he twice went to England to defend them. He served as secretary of Indian affairs from 1695 until his death and had considerable influence on the policy of the colony toward Native Americans; the governors of New York in this period relied heavily on Livingston's advice and were careful to retain his favor. A representative (1709–11, 1716–25) in the New York provincial assembly, he was elected (1718) speaker and supported the legislative body in opposition to the royal control of the governor. He had two sons, Robert and Philip.

Peter Van Brugh Livingston (1710–92)

Peter Van Brugh Livingston, 1710–92, b. Albany, N.Y., was the eldest of the three sons of Robert R. Livingston's (1654–1728) son Philip. He was on the Whig side in the bitter political contests preceding the American Revolution and was a strong opponent of the Stamp Act and other British taxation measures. He was president (1775) of the first provincial congress. He became (1748) an original trustee of the College of New Jersey (now Princeton).

Philip Livingston (1716–78)

Philip Livingston, 1716–78, b. Albany, N.Y., was the second of the three sons of Robert R. Livingston's (1654–1728) son Philip. He was a successful merchant and a leader in the protest against the Stamp Act and other British trade restrictions. Although he looked with disfavor upon radicalism and was not originally an advocate of independence, he nevertheless signed the Declaration of Independence and after that time remained an active member of the Continental Congress. He was generous with his large fortune and was a supporter of many philanthropies. He was one of the original promoters of King's College (now Columbia Univ.), established a professorship of divinity at Yale, and helped to found the New York Society Library.

Robert R. Livingston (1718–75)

Robert R. Livingston, 1718–75, was the grandson of Robert R. Livingston (1654–1728) by his son Robert. He became noted in New York as a Whig political leader, as a judge of the admiralty court (1759–63), and as a judge of the supreme court of the colony (1763–75); he was also a delegate to the Stamp Act Congress and chairman of the New York Committee of Correspondence. Five of his seven daughters made notable marriages, creating family alliances with Gen. Richard Montgomery, Thomas Tillotson, Freeborn Garrettson, Morgan Lewis, and John Armstrong (1758–1843).

William Livingston (1723–90)

William Livingston, 1723–90, b. Albany, N.Y., was the youngest of the three sons of Robert R. Livingston's (1654–1728) son Philip. He fought actively in the American Revolution. He was admitted (1748) to the bar and became one of the leading lawyers of New York City. Together with the historian William Smith he prepared a digest of the laws (1691–1756) of provincial New York. He moved (1772) to New Jersey and was sent to the First and Second Continental Congresses, resigning in 1776 to command briefly the New Jersey militia. In the same year he was elected New Jersey's first governor, and he remained in this office for the rest of his life. His influence played a large part in the prompt ratification of the U.S. Constitution in New Jersey. His daughter married John Jay.

Robert R. Livingston (1746–1813)

Robert R. Livingston, 1746–1813, b. New York City, was the son of Robert R. Livingston (1718–75). He was admitted to the bar and became a law partner of John Jay. He was a member of the Continental Congress and a member of the committee to draft the Declaration of Independence, but he did not sign that document because the New York provincial congress had not authorized him to do so. He was the first secretary of the department of foreign affairs, a post created in 1781, and he issued the instructions for the commissioners to negotiate peace in France. He was (1777–1801) the first chancellor of the state of New York and an ardent supporter of the new Constitution of the United States. As chancellor, he administered the presidential oath to George Washington. One of the leading Federalists, he fell out with Alexander Hamilton and John Jay over the Federalist financial program and questions of patronage; after 1791 he was an ardent Jeffersonian. In 1801, Thomas Jefferson appointed Livingston minister to France, where he conducted the negotiations that resulted in the Louisiana Purchase. He held a monopoly on steamboat operations in New York waters, and his financing of the experiments of Robert Fulton resulted in the launching of the Clermont, the first American steamboat to be commercially successful.

Henry Brockholst Livingston (1757–1823)

Henry Brockholst Livingston, 1757–1823, b. New York City, was the son of William Livingston. He served in the American Revolution and went (1779) to Spain as private secretary to John Jay. On the return journey Livingston was captured (1782) by the British but was soon released. After he was admitted (1783) to the New York bar, he became an ardent Jeffersonian and wrote a number of newspaper articles opposing Jay's Treaty. In 1802 he was appointed a judge of the New York supreme court, and, in 1806, Jefferson appointed him Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. He remained on the Supreme Court bench until 1823.

Edward Livingston (1764–1836)

Edward Livingston, 1764–1836, b. Livingston Manor, was the son of Robert R. Livingston (1718–75) and brother of Robert R. Livingston (1746–1813). He also established a reputation as a jurist and political figure. As a member (1795–1801) of the U.S. House of Representatives he opposed Jay's Treaty and the Alien and Sedition Acts. President Jefferson appointed him U.S. attorney for New York in 1801, the same year he became mayor of New York City. Because one of his clerks lost or misappropriated public funds, Livingston was forced to resign and to sell his property to pay off the debt. He then went to New Orleans. In the War of 1812 he became chairman of the committee on public defense and acted as aide-de-camp to Gen. Andrew Jackson. He was elected (1820) to the Louisiana legislature, and in 1821 was appointed to prepare a new code of laws and criminal procedure. Although the code was not adopted, its completeness and reasoned unity brought him international fame. He served again (1823–29) in the U.S. House of Representatives and then in the Senate (1829–31) before resigning to become Secretary of State under Andrew Jackson—for whom he wrote many important state papers, including the famous reply to the doctrine of nullification. As minister to France (1833–35), Livingston was unable to secure payment of American claims for spoliations resulting from the Napoleonic Wars.

General Bibliography

See E. B. Livingston, The Livingstons of Livingston Manor (1910).

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