William Livingston

William Livingston
1st Governor of New Jersey
In office 1776 – 1790
Preceded by	William Franklin (the last Royal Governor of New Jersey)
Succeeded by	Elisha Lawrence
Born	November 30, 1723(1723-11-30) Albany, New York
Died	July 25, 1790 (aged 66) Elizabeth, New Jersey

William Livingston (November 30, 1723 – July 25, 1790) served as the Governor of New Jersey (1776–1790) during the American Revolutionary War and was a signer of the United States Constitution.

Livingston was the son of Philip Livingston and was born in Albany. He was raised by his grandmother until the age of 14. He graduated from Yale University in 1741 and then studied law. He was admitted to the bar in 1748 and began his practice in New York. He moved to Elizabethtown, today Elizabeth, New Jersey, in 1772, where he built a large country home to house his growing family. The house, known as Liberty Hall, still stands today.

The home became a center of activity, in part due to its proximity to Francis Barber's academy and visits from young men. (Alexander Hamilton, a boarder at the academy, was a frequent early visitor.) Three of Livingston's daughters – Sarah, Susan, and Catherine – came to be known as 'the three graces'. The height of social activity during this era was the wedding, at Liberty Hall, in April 1774 of Sarah to a young New York lawyer, John Jay.

Livingston was a member of the Continental Congress from July 1774 to June 1776. In October 1775, he was commissioned a brigadier general of the New Jersey Militia and served until August 1776 when he was elected Governor of New Jersey – holding the office until his death in 1790. For much of the time between 1776 and 1779, the family was located in Parsippany for safety. Liberty Hall was frequently visited by British troops or naval forces since there was a substantial reward for Livingston's capture. The family returned in 1779 to begin restoring their looted home.

Livingston married Susanna French in 1742. They had 13 children. Livingston's daughter, Susannah, married John Cleves Symmes in 1780 and became the stepmother-in-law of President William Henry Harrison. Another descendant of William Livingston was Julia Kean, wife of United States Secretary of State and New York Governor Hamilton Fish.

Livingston was a delegate to the 1787 Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and one of the signers of the Constitution.

Livingston died in Elizabeth, New Jersey, and was originally buried in Trinity Church, New York, but was reinterred at Green-Wood Cemetery, Brooklyn in 1846.

Because he was the first Revolutionary governor, he is often cited as the first governor of New Jersey.

The township of Livingston, New Jersey was given its name in his honor,^[1] as was Governor Livingston High School in Berkeley Heights NJ.

See also

• Livingston family

References

External links

• William Livingston at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• William Livingston in 1911 Britannica
• Biography of William Livingston, New Jersey State Library
• New Jersey Governor William Livingston, National Governors Association

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