Philip Livingston (January 15, 1716 – June 12, 1778) was an American merchant, politician and slave trader from

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. He represented

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

at the October 1774

First Continental Congress The First Continental Congress was a meeting of delegates from 12 of the 13 British colonies that became the United States. It met from September 5 to October 26, 1774, at Carpenters' Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, after the British Navy ...

, where he favored imposing

economic sanctions Economic sanctions are commercial and financial penalties applied by one or more countries against a targeted self-governing state, group, or individual. Economic sanctions are not necessarily imposed because of economic circumstances—they may ...

upon

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

as a way of pressuring the

British Parliament The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative supremacy ...

to repeal the

Intolerable Acts The Intolerable Acts were a series of punitive laws passed by the British Parliament in 1774 after the Boston Tea Party. The laws aimed to punish Massachusetts colonists for their defiance in the Tea Party protest of the Tea Act, a tax measure ...

. Livingston was also a delegate to the

Second Continental Congress The Second Continental Congress was a late-18th-century meeting of delegates from the Thirteen Colonies that united in support of the American Revolutionary War. The Congress was creating a new country it first named "United Colonies" and in 1 ...

from 1775 to 1778, and signed the

Declaration of Independence A declaration of independence or declaration of statehood or proclamation of independence is an assertion by a polity in a defined territory that it is independent and constitutes a state. Such places are usually declared from part or all of the ...

, thus becoming one of the

Founding Fathers of the United States The Founding Fathers of the United States, known simply as the Founding Fathers or Founders, were a group of late-18th-century American Revolution, American revolutionary leaders who United Colonies, united the Thirteen Colonies, oversaw the Am ...

Early life

Livingston was born in

Albany, New York Albany ( ) is the capital of the U.S. state of New York, also the seat and largest city of Albany County. Albany is on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River, and about north of New York City ...

, on January 15, 1716,"Livingston, Philip, (1716–1778)", Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
/ref> the fourth surviving son of

Philip Livingston Philip Livingston (January 15, 1716 – June 12, 1778) was an American merchant and statesman from New York City. He represented New York at the October 1774 First Continental Congress, where he favored imposing economic sanctions upon Great B ...

(1686–1749), 2nd

Lord of the Manor Lord of the Manor is a title that, in Anglo-Saxon England, referred to the landholder of a rural estate. The lord enjoyed manorial rights (the rights to establish and occupy a residence, known as the manor house and demesne) as well as seig ...

, and Catherine Van Brugh Livingston, the daughter of Albany Mayor

Pieter Van Brugh Pieter Van Brugh (1666 – July 1740) was the Mayor of Albany, New York from 1699 to 1700 and from 1721 to 1723. Early life and family Pieter Van Brugh was a member of the Dutch aristocracy of Albany. Pieter Van Brugh was the oldest son of J ...

. Along with his brother,

William Livingston William Livingston (November 30, 1723July 25, 1790) was an American politician who served as the first governor of New Jersey (1776–1790) during the American Revolutionary War. As a New Jersey representative in the Continental Congress, he sig ...

(1723–1790), he grew up in the Albany area, dividing his time between his father's Albany townhouse and the manor house in Linlithgo, at the junction of the Roeliff Jansen Kill and the

Hudson River The Hudson River is a river that flows from north to south primarily through eastern New York. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York and flows southward through the Hudson Valley to the New York Harbor between N ...

Mercantile career

Livingston graduated from

Yale College Yale College is the undergraduate college of Yale University. Founded in 1701, it is the original school of the university. Although other Yale schools were founded as early as 1810, all of Yale was officially known as Yale College until 1887, ...

in 1737 and returned to Albany to undergo a mercantile apprenticeship under his father. Through his father's influence, he obtained clerkships in Albany's municipal government. Livingston subsequently moved to

and pursued a career in the import business, trading with the

British West Indies The British West Indies (BWI) were colonized British territories in the West Indies: Anguilla, the Cayman Islands, Turks and Caicos Islands, Montserrat, the British Virgin Islands, Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Barbados, Dominica, Grena ...

. During

King George's War King George's War (1744–1748) is the name given to the military operations in North America that formed part of the War of the Austrian Succession (1740–1748). It was the third of the four French and Indian Wars. It took place primarily in t ...

, Livingston made a fortune provisioning British forces and engaging in

privateer A privateer is a private person or ship that engages in maritime warfare under a commission of war. Since robbery under arms was a common aspect of seaborne trade, until the early 19th century all merchant ships carried arms. A sovereign or deleg ...

ing. He also speculated heavily in

real estate Real estate is property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this (also) an item of real property, (more general ...

and the

slave trade Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...

, financing at least fifteen slave-trading voyages, which transported hundreds of enslaved Africans to New York. He purchased a stone

townhouse A townhouse, townhome, town house, or town home, is a type of terraced housing. A modern townhouse is often one with a small footprint on multiple floors. In a different British usage, the term originally referred to any type of city residence ...

on Duke Street,

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

, a forty-acre estate in

Brooklyn Heights Brooklyn Heights is a residential neighborhood within the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is bounded by Old Fulton Street near the Brooklyn Bridge on the north, Cadman Plaza West on the east, Atlantic Avenue on the south, an ...

and personally owned several slaves, one of whom ran away in November 1752; Livingston published advertisements in several city newspapers, including the ''New-York Mercury'' and ''

New-York Gazette The ''New-York Gazette'' (1725–1744) was the first newspaper published by William Bradford in the Province of New York. History The paper was founded by printer William Bradford in 1725. Though it was first, it was not distinguished. Hist ...

'', offering a reward for his recapture. He also served as an

alderman An alderman is a member of a Municipal government, municipal assembly or council in many Jurisdiction, jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council membe ...

of the

East Ward East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fac ...

from 1754 to 1762. Livingston also became involved in the establishment of King's College and helped to organize the

New York Society Library The New York Society Library (NYSL) is the oldest cultural institution in New York City. It was founded in 1754 by the New York Society as a subscription library. During the time when New York was the capital of the United States, it was the de ...

in 1754. In 1756 he was president and founding member of the

St. Andrew's Society Saint Andrew's Society refers to one of many independent organizations celebrating Scottish heritage which can be found all over the world. Some Saint Andrew's Societies limit membership to people born in Scotland or their descendants. Some sti ...

, New York's first benevolent organization, and he founded New York City's first chamber of commerce in 1768. Livingston was also one of the first governors of New York Hospital.

Politics

Philip Livingston (NYPL NYPG94-F43-419859)

In 1754, Livingston went as a delegate to the

Albany Congress The Albany Congress (June 19 – July 11, 1754), also known as the Albany Convention of 1754, was a meeting of representatives sent by the legislatures of seven of the 13 British colonies in British America: Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, ...

. There, he joined delegates from several other colonies to negotiate with Indigenous nations and discuss common plans for dealing with the

French and Indian War The French and Indian War (1754–1763) was a theater of the Seven Years' War, which pitted the North American colonies of the British Empire against those of the French, each side being supported by various Native American tribes. At the ...

. Livingston became an active promoter of efforts to raise and fund troops for the war. According to Cynthia A. Kiemer, he owned shares in six privateers, making him one of the colony's leading investors. He served as a member of the provincial house of representatives from 1763 to 1769 and in 1768 served as speaker. In October 1765, he attended the

Stamp Act Congress The Stamp Act Congress (October 7 – 25, 1765), also known as the Continental Congress of 1765, was a meeting held in New York, New York, consisting of representatives from some of the British colonies in North America. It was the first gat ...

, which produced the first formal protest to the Crown as a prelude to the

American Revolution The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revolut ...

. He joined New York City's

Committee of Correspondence The committees of correspondence were, prior to the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War, a collection of American political organizations that sought to coordinate opposition to British Parliament and, later, support for American independe ...

to continue communication with leaders in the other colonies, and New York City's

Committee of Sixty The Committee of Sixty or Committee of Observation was a committee of inspection formed in the City and County of New York (Manhattan, New York City), in 1775, by rebels to enforce the Continental Association, a boycott of British goods enacted by ...

. When New York established the

New York Provincial Congress The New York Provincial Congress (1775–1777) was a revolutionary provisional government formed by colonists in 1775, during the American Revolution, as a pro-American alternative to the more conservative New York General Assembly, and as a repla ...

in 1775, he was named its president. He was selected as one of the delegates to the

Continental Congress The Continental Congress was a series of legislative bodies, with some executive function, for thirteen of Britain's colonies in North America, and the newly declared United States just before, during, and after the American Revolutionary War. ...

."Philip Livingston", Signers of the Declaration of Independence, Independence Hall Association
/ref> His brother William, a prominent lawyer in New Jersey, was also a delegate to the Continental Congress from 1774 to June 1776. In July 1775, Philip signed the Olive Branch Petition, a final attempt to achieve an understanding with the Crown. Like many of the early Patriots, he initially did not advocate a complete break from the mother country but eventually aligned himself with the opposition to the measures the British were imposing on the colonists. When the British occupied New York City, Philip and his family fled to

Kingston, New York Kingston is a Administrative divisions of New York#City, city in and the county seat of Ulster County, New York, United States. It is north of New York City and south of Albany, New York, Albany. The city's metropolitan area is grouped with t ...

, where he maintained another residence. During this time, his abandoned slaves "may have sought their freedom in enemy-occupied Manhattan, where the British offered freedom to any black Americans willing to aid them in stamping down the American 'rebellion.'" After the

Battle of Long Island The Battle of Long Island, also known as the Battle of Brooklyn and the Battle of Brooklyn Heights, was an action of the American Revolutionary War fought on August 27, 1776, at the western edge of Long Island in present-day Brooklyn, New Yo ...

, General

George Washington George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of th ...

and his officers met at Philip's residence in Brooklyn Heights and decided to evacuate the island. The British subsequently used Philip's Duke Street home as a barracks and his Brooklyn Heights residence as a Royal Navy hospital. After the adoption of the new New York State Constitution, he was appointed to the

New York State Senate The New York State Senate is the upper house of the New York State Legislature; the New York State Assembly is its lower house. Its members are elected to two-year terms; there are no term limits. There are 63 seats in the Senate. Partisan com ...

southern district in

1777 Events January–March * January 2 – American Revolutionary War – Battle of the Assunpink Creek: American general George Washington's army repulses a British attack by Lieutenant General Charles Cornwallis, in a second ...

, while continuing to sit in the Continental Congress. Livingston suffered from

dropsy Edema, also spelled oedema, and also known as fluid retention, dropsy, hydropsy and swelling, is the build-up of fluid in the body's tissue. Most commonly, the legs or arms are affected. Symptoms may include skin which feels tight, the area ma ...

, and his health deteriorated in 1778.

Personal life

Christina ten broeck (1718-1801) nehemiah partridge 1720 oil on canvas

On April 14, 1740, he married Christina Ten Broeck (1718–1801), daughter of Dirck Ten Broeck (1686–1751) and Margarita Cuyler (1682–1783). Christina was the sister of Albany Mayor

Abraham Ten Broeck Abraham Ten Broeck (May 13, 1734 – January 19, 1810) was a New York politician, businessman, and militia Brigadier General of Dutch descent. He was twice Mayor of Albany, New York and built one of the largest mansions in the area, the Ten ...

and the great-granddaughter of Albany Mayor

Dirck Wesselse Ten Broeck Dirck Wesselse Ten Broeck (December 18, 1638 – November 24, 1717), also known as Dirck Wessels, was a prominent early settler of Albany, New York. He is known as "the progenitor of the Albany family of Ten Broecks." Early life Dirck Ten Broeck ...

(1638–1717), through her maternal grandfather, Wessel Ten Broeck (1664–1747). Together, Philip and Christina had nine children: * Philip Philip Livingston (1741–1787), who married Sara Johnson (1749–1802) * Dirck "Richard" Livingston (b. 1743), who died unmarried. * Catherine Livingston (1745–1810), who married Stephen van Rensselaer II (1742–1769) in 1764. After his death, she married Eilardus Westerlo (1738–1790) in 1775. * Margaret Livingston (1747–1830), who married Dr. Thomas Jones (1733–1794) of New York. * Peter Van Brugh Livingston (b. 1751), who died unmarried. * Sarah Livingston (1752–1814), who married Rev.

John Henry Livingston John Henry Livingston (May 30, 1746January 25, 1825) was an American Dutch Reformed minister and member of the Livingston family, who served as the fourth President of Queen's College (now Rutgers University), from 1810 until his death in 182 ...

(1746–1825), her second cousin. * John Abraham Livingston (1754-1782), who served as commissary to the

Continental Army The Continental Army was the army of the United Colonies (the Thirteen Colonies) in the Revolutionary-era United States. It was formed by the Second Continental Congress after the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War, and was establis ...

during the Revolutionary War and who died unmarried in

Charleston, South Carolina Charleston is the largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina, the county seat of Charleston County, and the principal city in the Charleston–North Charleston metropolitan area. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint o ...

. * Alida Livingston (b. 1757), who died unmarried. * Henry Philip Livingston (b. 1760), a captain in General Washington's

Life Guard Life guard or Life Guard may refer to: * Life Guards ** Life Guards (Denmark) ** Life Guards (France) ** Life Guards (Sweden), ** Life Guards (United Kingdom) ** Life Guards' Dragoon Music Corps ** Life Guards Jager Regiment (Russia) ** Life Gua ...

, who died unmarried.

Death

Livingston died suddenly while attending the sixth session of Congress in

York, Pennsylvania York ( Pennsylvania Dutch: ''Yarrick''), known as the White Rose City (after the symbol of the House of York), is the county seat of York County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located in the south-central region of the state. The populati ...

, and is buried in the Prospect Hill Cemetery there. Livingston was a

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...

and a Mason. When Livingston died, his estate was insufficient to meet his debts, and his executors renounced the administration of the estate. On February 25, 1785, the

New York Legislature The New York State Legislature consists of the two houses that act as the state legislature of the U.S. state of New York: The New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly. The Constitution of New York does not designate an official t ...

passed an act, entitled ''An Act for vesting the Estate of Philip Livingston, late of the City of New-York, Esquire, deceased, in Trustees for the Payment of his Debts, and other Purposes therein mentioned'', which named as trustees his son and heir, Philip Philip Livingston, Isaac Roosevelt, and Robert C. Livingston, his nephew who was a son of Robert Livingston, 3rd Lord of the Manor. The trustees were responsible for administering Livingston's "property, pay all debts, and discharge the pecuniary legacies." After his son's death in 1788, Rev. John Henry Livingston, Thomas Jones, both his sons-in-law,

Henry Brockholst Livingston Henry Brockholst Livingston (November 25, 1757 – March 18, 1823) was an American Revolutionary War officer, a justice of the New York Court of Appeals and eventually an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. Early life ...

, his nephew, and

Alexander Hamilton Alexander Hamilton (January 11, 1755 or 1757July 12, 1804) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first United States secretary of the treasury from 1789 to 1795. Born out of wedlock in Charlest ...

were appointed the executors of his will.

Descendants

Through his son Philip, the only of his sons to have children, he was the grandfather of Philip Henry Livingston (1769–1831) and

Edward Philip Livingston Edward Philip Livingston (November 24, 1779 in Kingston, Jamaica – November 3, 1843 in Clermont, New York) was an American politician. Early life He was the son of Philip Philip Livingston (1741–1787, son of Philip Livingston) and Sara (J ...

(1779–1843), the

Lieutenant Governor of New York The lieutenant governor of New York is a constitutional office in the executive branch of the Government of the State of New York. It is the second highest-ranking official in state government. The lieutenant governor is elected on a ticket wit ...

. Through Philip Henry, he was the great-grandfather of

Edward Livingston Edward Livingston (May 28, 1764May 23, 1836) was an American jurist and statesman. He was an influential figure in the drafting of the Louisiana Civil Code of 1825, a civil code based largely on the Napoleonic Code. Livingston represented both ...

(1796–1840),

Speaker of the New York State Assembly The speaker of the New York State Assembly is the highest official in the New York State Assembly, customarily elected from the ranks of the majority party. As in most countries with a British heritage, the speaker presides over the lower hous ...

. His granddaughter, Christina Livingston, married John Navarre Macomb (1774–1810), the son of Alexander Macomb (1748–1831) and brother of Maj. Gen. Alexander Macomb (1782–1841). Through his daughter Catherine, he was the grandfather of

Stephen Van Rensselaer III Stephen Van Rensselaer III (; November 1, 1764January 26, 1839) was an American landowner, businessman, militia officer, and politician. A graduate of Harvard College, at age 21, Van Rensselaer took control of Rensselaerswyck, his family's mano ...

(1764–1839), the patroon of

Rensselaerswyck The Manor of Rensselaerswyck, Manor Rensselaerswyck, Van Rensselaer Manor, or just simply Rensselaerswyck ( nl, Rensselaerswijck ), was the name of a colonial estate—specifically, a Dutch patroonship and later an English manor—owned by the va ...

Philip S. Van Rensselaer Philip Schuyler Van Rensselaer (April 15, 1767 – September 25, 1824) was the mayor of Albany, New York on two occasions. He has the third longest tenure of service by an Albany Mayor, after Erastus Corning 2nd and Gerald Jennings. Life and car ...

(1767–1824), the

Mayor of Albany From its formal chartering on 22 July 1686 until 1779, the mayors of Albany, New York, were appointed by the royal governor of New York, per the provisions of the original city charter, issued by Governor Thomas Dongan. From 1779 until 1839, may ...

, Rensselaer Westerlo (1776–1851), a U.S. Representative, and Catharine Westerlo (1778–1846), who married John Woodworth, the

New York State Attorney General The attorney general of New York is the chief legal officer of the U.S. state of New York and head of the Department of Law of the state government. The office has been in existence in some form since 1626, under the Dutch colonial government of ...

Legacy

Livingston Avenue and the former Philip Livingston Magnet Academy, both in Albany, New York, are named for him. A public school in Brooklyn, PS 261 in Boerum Hill, used to be named for him, but the name was changed in 2022 to the Zipporiah Mills School, to honor the memory of a beloved and influential former principal at the school.

References

External links

*
Biography by Rev. Charles A. Goodrich, 1856
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Livingston, Philip 1716 births 1778 deaths 18th-century American politicians American people of Dutch descent American people of Norwegian descent American people of Scottish descent American Presbyterians American slave owners American slave traders Businesspeople from Albany, New York Colonial American merchants Columbia University people Continental Congressmen from New York (state) Foundrymen

Philip Philip, also Phillip, is a male given name, derived from the Greek (''Philippos'', lit. "horse-loving" or "fond of horses"), from a compound of (''philos'', "dear", "loved", "loving") and (''hippos'', "horse"). Prominent Philips who popularize ...

Members of the New York General Assembly Members of the New York Provincial Assembly Members of the New York Provincial Congress New York (state) state senators Presidents of the Saint Andrew's Society of the State of New York People from Brooklyn Heights People of the Province of New York Politicians from Albany, New York Signers of the Continental Association Signers of the United States Declaration of Independence Speakers of the New York General Assembly University and college founders Van Brugh family Yale University alumni Founding Fathers of the United States