Robert Robert Livingston (November 27, 1746 (
Old Style
Old Style (O.S.) and New Style (N.S.) indicate dating systems before and after a calendar change, respectively. Usually, this is the change from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar as enacted in various European countries between 158 ...
November 16) – February 26, 1813) was an American lawyer, politician, and diplomat from
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
* '' ...
, as well as a
Founding Father 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 revolutionary
Patriots, also known as Revolutionaries, Continentals, Rebels, or American Whigs, were t ...
. He was known as "The Chancellor", after the high New York state legal office he held for 25 years. He was a member of the
Committee of Five
''
The Committee of Five of the Second Continental Congress was a group of five members who drafted and presented to the full Congress in Pennsylvania State House what would become the United States Declaration of Independence of July 4, 1776. Th ...
that drafted 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 ...
, along with
Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, architect, philosopher, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the third president of the United States from 18 ...
,
Benjamin Franklin
Benjamin Franklin ( April 17, 1790) was an American polymath who was active as a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher, and political philosopher. Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the leading inte ...
,
John Adams
John Adams (October 30, 1735 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, attorney, diplomat, writer, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the second president of the United States from 1797 to 1801. Befor ...
, and
Roger Sherman
Roger Sherman (April 19, 1721 – July 23, 1793) was an American statesman, lawyer, and a Founding Father of the United States. He is the only person to sign four of the great state papers of the United States related to the founding: the Cont ...
. Livingston administered the
oath of office
An oath of office is an oath or affirmation a person takes before assuming the duties of an office, usually a position in government or within a religious body, although such oaths are sometimes required of officers of other organizations. Such ...
to
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 ...
when he
assumed the presidency April 30, 1789. Livingston was also elected as a member of the
American Philosophical Society
The American Philosophical Society (APS), founded in 1743 in Philadelphia, is a scholarly organization that promotes knowledge in the sciences and humanities through research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and communit ...
in 1801.
Early life
Livingston was the eldest son of Judge
Robert Livingston (1718–1775) and Margaret (
Beekman) Livingston, uniting two wealthy
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 ...
Valley families. He had two brothers and sisters, all of whom wed and made their homes on the Hudson River near the family seat at
Clermont Manor
The Clermont State Historic Site, also known as the Clermont estate, the Clermont Manor or just Clermont, is a New York State Historic Site in southwestern Columbia County, New York, United States. It protects
the former estate of the Livingston ...
. Among his siblings were his younger brother,
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 ...
(1764-1836), who also served as U.S. Minister to France, his sister
Gertrude Livingston (1757–1833), who married Governor
Morgan Lewis (1754–1844), sister Janet Livingston (d. 1824), who married
Richard Montgomery
Richard Montgomery (2 December 1738 – 31 December 1775) was an Irish soldier who first served in the British Army. He later became a major general in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War, and he is most famous for l ...
(1738–1775), sister Alida Livingston (1761–1822), who married
John Armstrong, Jr.
John Armstrong Jr. (November 25, 1758April 1, 1843) was an American soldier, diplomat and statesman who was a delegate to the Continental Congress, U.S. Senator from New York, and United States Secretary of War under President James Madison. A me ...
(1758–1843) (who succeeded him as U.S. Minister to France), and sister Joanna Livingston (1759–1827), who married
Peter R. Livingston
Peter Robert Livingston (October 3, 1766 – January 19, 1847 Rhinebeck, New York) was an American politician who served as Acting Lieutenant Governor of New York from February to October 1828.
Early life
Peter Robert Livingston was born on Oc ...
(1766–1847).
His paternal grandparents were
Robert Livingston (1688–1775) of Clermont and Margaret Howarden (1693–1758). His great-grandparents were
Robert Livingston the Elder
The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of ''Hrōþ, Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory ...
(1654–1728) and
Alida (
née
A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...
Schuyler Schuyler may refer to:
Places United States
* Schuyler County, Illinois
* Schuyler County, Missouri
* Schuyler, Nebraska, a city
* Schuyler County, New York
* Schuyler, New York, a town
* Schuyler Island, Lake Champlain, New York
* Schuyler C ...
)
Van Rensselaer Livingston, daughter of
Philip Pieterse Schuyler
Colonel Philip Pieterse Schuyler or Philip Pieterse (1628 – 9 May 1683) was a Dutch-born colonist landowner who was the progenitor of the American Schuyler family.
Early life
Philip Pieterse Schuyler was born in Amsterdam, Holland in the Repub ...
(1628–1683). His grand-uncle was
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), the 2nd Lord of
Livingston Manor
Livingston Manor was a tract of land in the Province of New York granted to Robert Livingston the Elder during the reign of George I of Great Britain.
History
Livingston Manor was a tract of land in the colonial Province of New York granted ...
.
Livingston, a member of a large and prominent family, was known for continually quarreling with his relatives.
Livingston graduated from
King's College in June 1765 and was admitted to the bar in 1773.
Career
Recorder of New York City
In October 1773, Livingston was appointed
recorder of New York City
The Recorder of New York City was a municipal officer of New York City from 1683 until 1907. He was at times a judge of the Court of General Sessions, the Court of Special Sessions, and the New York Court of Common Pleas; Vice-President of the Boar ...
but soon thereafter identified himself with the anti-colonial
Whig Party and was replaced a few months later by
John Watts, Jr.
Chancellor of New York
On July 30, 1777, Livingston became the first
chancellor of New York The New York Court of Chancery was the highest court in the State of New York from 1701 to 1847.
History
The New York Court of Chancery was established during the British colonial administration on August 28, 1701, with the colonial governor actin ...
, which was then the highest judicial officer in the state. Concurrently, he served from 1781 to 1783 as the first
United States Secretary of Foreign Affairs
This is a list of secretaries of state of the United States.
Secretaries of foreign affairs (1781–1789)
On January 10, 1780, the Confederation Congress created the Department of Foreign Affairs.
On August 10, 1781, Congress selected Robert ...
under the
Articles of Confederation
The Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union was an agreement among the 13 Colonies of the United States of America that served as its first frame of government. It was approved after much debate (between July 1776 and November 1777) by ...
. Livingston administered the presidential oath of office to George Washington at his
first inauguration on April 30, 1789, at
Federal Hall
Federal Hall is a historic building at 26 Wall Street in the Financial District of Manhattan in New York City. The current Greek Revival–style building, completed in 1842 as the Custom House, is operated by the National Park Service as a nat ...
in
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 ...
, which was then the nation's capital.
In 1789, Livingston joined the Jeffersonian Republicans (later known as the
Democratic-Republicans
The Democratic-Republican Party, known at the time as the Republican Party and also referred to as the Jeffersonian Republican Party among other names, was an American political party founded by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison in the early ...
), forming an uneasy alliance with his previous rival
George Clinton and
Aaron Burr
Aaron Burr Jr. (February 6, 1756 – September 14, 1836) was an American politician and lawyer who served as the third vice president of the United States from 1801 to 1805. Burr's legacy is defined by his famous personal conflict with Alexand ...
, then a political newcomer.
[Robert R. Livingston](_blank)
''Encyclopedia of World Biography''. Livingston opposed the
Jay Treaty
The Treaty of Amity, Commerce, and Navigation, Between His Britannic Majesty and the United States of America, commonly known as the Jay Treaty, and also as Jay's Treaty, was a 1794 treaty between the United States and Great Britain that averted ...
and other initiatives of the
Federalist Party
The Federalist Party was a Conservatism in the United States, conservative political party which was the first political party in the United States. As such, under Alexander Hamilton, it dominated the national government from 1789 to 1801.
De ...
, founded and led by his former colleagues
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 ...
and
John Jay
John Jay (December 12, 1745 – May 17, 1829) was an American statesman, patriot, diplomat, abolitionist, signatory of the Treaty of Paris, and a Founding Father of the United States. He served as the second governor of New York and the first ...
. He ran for
governor of New York
The governor of New York is the head of government of the U.S. state of New York. The governor is the head of the executive branch of New York's state government and the commander-in-chief of the state's military forces. The governor has ...
as a Democratic-Republican, unsuccessfully challenging incumbent governor John Jay in the
1798 election.
After serving as chancellor for almost 24 years, Livingston left office on June 30, 1801. During that period, he became nationally known by his title alone as "The Chancellor", and even after leaving office, he was respectfully addressed as Chancellor Livingston for the remainder of his life.
Declaration of Independence
On June 11, 1776, Livingston was appointed to a committee of 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 ...
, known as the Committee of Five, which was given the task of drafting the Declaration of Independence. After establishing a general outline for the document, the committee decided that Jefferson would write the first draft.
The committee reviewed Jefferson's draft, making extensive changes, before presenting Jefferson's revised draft to Congress on June 28, 1776. Before he could sign the final version of the Declaration, Livingston was recalled by his state. However, he sent his cousin,
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 ...
, to sign the document in his place. Another cousin,
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 ...
, would go on to sign the United States Constitution.
U.S. Minister to France
Following Thomas Jefferson's election as
President of the United States
The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United Stat ...
, once Jefferson became president on March 4, 1801, he appointed Livingston
U.S. minister to France. Serving from 1801 to 1804, Livingston negotiated the
Louisiana Purchase
The Louisiana Purchase (french: Vente de la Louisiane, translation=Sale of Louisiana) was the acquisition of the territory of Louisiana by the United States from the French First Republic in 1803. In return for fifteen million dollars, or app ...
. After the signing of the Louisiana Purchase agreement in 1803, Livingston made this memorable statement:
We have lived long but this is the noblest work of our whole lives ... The United States takes rank this day among the first powers of the world.
During his time as U.S. minister to France, Livingston met
Robert Fulton
Robert Fulton (November 14, 1765 – February 24, 1815) was an American engineer and inventor who is widely credited with developing the world's first commercially successful steamboat, the (also known as ''Clermont''). In 1807, that steamboat ...
, with whom he developed the first viable steamboat, the ''
North River Steamboat
The ''North River Steamboat'' or ''North River'', colloquially known as the ''Clermont'', is widely regarded as the world's first vessel to demonstrate the viability of using steam propulsion for commercial water transportation. Built in 1807, ...
'', whose home port was at the Livingston family home of Clermont Manor in the town of
Clermont, New York
Clermont is a town in Columbia County, New York, United States. The population was 1,965 at the 2010 census. The name of the town is French for "Clear Mountain", in reference to the mountain views in the town.
The town is in the southwestern c ...
. On her maiden voyage, she left New York City with him as a passenger, stopped briefly at Clermont Manor, and continued to
Albany up the Hudson River, completing in just under 60 hours a journey that had previously taken nearly a week by
sloop
A sloop is a sailboat with a single mast typically having only one headsail in front of the mast and one mainsail aft of (behind) the mast. Such an arrangement is called a fore-and-aft rig, and can be rigged as a Bermuda rig with triangular sa ...
sailboat. In 1811, Fulton and Livingston became members of the
Erie Canal Commission
The Commission to Explore a Route for a Canal to Lake Erie and Report, known as the Erie Canal Commission, was a body created by the New York State Legislature in 1810 to plan the Erie Canal. In 1817 a ''Canal Fund'' led by ''Commissioners of the C ...
.
Freemasonry and the Cincinnati
Livingston was a
Freemason
Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...
, and in 1784, he was appointed the first
Grand Master of the
Grand Lodge of New York
The Grand Lodge of New York (officially, the Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of the State of New York) is the largest and oldest independent organization of Freemasons in the U.S. state of New York. It was at one time the largest grand ...
, retaining this title until 1801. The Grand Lodge's library in Manhattan bears his name. The Bible Livingston used to administer the oath of office to President Washington is owned by St. John's Lodge No. 1 and is still used today when the Grand Master is sworn in, and, by request, when a President of the United States is sworn in.
On July 4, 1786, he was part of the second group elected as honorary members of the New York
Society of the Cincinnati
The Society of the Cincinnati is a fraternal, hereditary society founded in 1783 to commemorate the American Revolutionary War that saw the creation of the United States. Membership is largely restricted to descendants of military officers wh ...
, along with Chief Justice
Richard Morris, Judge
James Duane
James Duane (February 6, 1733 – February 1, 1797) was an American Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father, attorney, jurist, and American Revolutionary War, American Revolutionary leader from New York (state), New York. He serve ...
, Continental Congressman
William Duer, and Justice
John Sloss Hobart
John Sloss Hobart (May 6, 1738 – February 4, 1805) was a United States senator from New York and a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of New York.
Education and career
Born on May 6, 1738, in ...
.
Personal life
On September 9, 1770, Livingston married Mary Stevens (1751–1814), the daughter of
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. ...
man
John Stevens and sister of the inventor
John Stevens III.
Following their marriage, he built a home south of Clermont, called Belvedere, which was burned to the ground along with Clermont in 1777 by the British Army under General
John Burgoyne
General John Burgoyne (24 February 1722 – 4 August 1792) was a British general, dramatist and politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1761 to 1792. He first saw action during the Seven Years' War when he participated in several batt ...
. In 1794, he built a new home called New Clermont, which was subsequently renamed Arryl House, a phonetic spelling of his initials "RRL", which was deemed "the most commodious home in America" and contained a library of four thousand volumes.
Together, Robert and Mary were the parents of:
* Elizabeth Stevens Livingston (1780–1829), who married
Lt. Governor 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 grandson 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 ...
, on November 20, 1799.
* Margaret Maria Livingston (1783–1818), who married Robert L. Livingston (1775–1843), the son of
Walter Livingston
Walter Livingston (November 27, 1740 – May 14, 1797) was an American merchant, lawyer and politician.
Early life
He was a son of Robert Livingston (1708–1790), 3rd Lord of Livingston Manor, and Maria Thong Livingston (1711–1765), a grand ...
and Cornelia Schuyler, on July 10, 1799.
Livingston died on February 26, 1813, and was buried in the Clermont Livingston vault at St. Paul's Church in Tivoli, New York.
Livingston family
Through his eldest daughter Elizabeth he was the grandfather of four:
* Margaret Livingston (1808–1874), who married
David Augustus Clarkson (1793–1850)
* Elizabeth Livingston (1813–1896), who married
Edward Hunter Ludlow
Edward Hunter Ludlow (1810 – November 27, 1884) was an American physician and real estate broker. His granddaughter Anna Hall Roosevelt was the mother of First Lady of the United States Eleanor Roosevelt.
Early life
A scion of a prominent Hu ...
(1810–1884)
* Clermont Livingston (1817–1895), who married Cornelia Livingston (1824–1851)
* Robert Edward Livingston (1820–1889), who married Susan Maria Clarkson de Peyster (1823–1910)
Legacy and honors
*
Livingston County, Kentucky
Livingston County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kentucky. As of the 2020 census, the population was 8,888. Its county seat is Smithland. The county was established in 1798 from land taken from Christian County and is named for Ro ...
,
and
Livingston County, New York
Livingston County is a county in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 61,834. Its county seat is Geneseo. The county is named after Robert R. Livingston, who helped draft the Declaration of Independence and ...
, are named for him.
* A
statue of Livingston by
Erastus Dow Palmer
Erastus Dow Palmer (April 2, 1817March 9, 1904) was an American sculptor.
Life
Palmer was born in Pompey, New York. He was the second of nine children. He showed early artistic promise, and pursued his father's trade of carpentry. Palmer married ...
was commissioned by the state of New York and placed in the
National Statuary Hall
The National Statuary Hall is a chamber in the United States Capitol devoted to sculptures of prominent Americans. The hall, also known as the Old Hall of the House, is a large, two-story, semicircular room with a second story gallery along th ...
collection of the
U.S. Capitol
The United States Capitol, often called The Capitol or the Capitol Building, is the Seat of government, seat of the Legislature, legislative branch of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government, which is form ...
building, according to the tradition of each state selecting two individuals from the state to be so honored.
*Livingston is included on the
Jefferson Memorial pediment sculpture by
Adolph Alexander Weinman
Adolph Alexander Weinman (December 11, 1870 – August 8, 1952) was a Germany-born American sculptor and architectural sculptor.
Early life and education
Adolph Alexander Weinman was born December 11, 1870 at Durmersheim, near Karlsruhe, Germ ...
, which honors the Committee of Five.
* The Robert Livingston high-rise building at 85 Livingston St. in
Brooklyn
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
is named for him.
See also
*
Livingston family
The Livingston family of New York is a prominent family that migrated from Scotland to the Dutch Republic, and then to the Province of New York in the 17th century. Descended from the 4th Lord Livingston, its members included signers of the Unite ...
Notes
References
Further reading
* Alexander, D. S
"Robert R. Livingston, The Author of the Louisiana Purchase."''Proceedings of the New York State Historical Association'' 6 (1906): 100-114 – via JSTOR.
* Bonham, Jr., Milledge L. "Robert R. Livingston"
in Samuel Flagg Bemis, ed. ''The American Secretaries of State and their diplomacy'' V.1 (1928) pp 115–92.* Brandt, Clare. ''An American Aristocracy: The Livingstons'' (Doubleday Books, 1986).
* Brecher. Frank W. ''Negotiating the Louisiana Purchase: Robert Livingston's Mission to France, 1801–1804'' (McFarland, 2006)
* Dangerfield, George. ''Chancellor Robert R. Livingston of New York, 1746–1813'' (1960)
*
online review als
another review
* De Peyster, Frederic. "A Biographical Sketch of Robert R. Livingston" (NY Historical Society, October 3, 1876
online
Primary sources
* Livingston, Robert R. ''The Original Letters of Robert R, Livingston, 1801–1803'' ed. by Edward A. Parsons (1953).
External links
The Chancellor Robert R Livingston Masonic Library of New York
, -
, -
, -
{{DEFAULTSORT:Livingston, Robert Robert
1746 births
1813 deaths
19th-century American diplomats
Ambassadors of the United States to France
American Freemasons
American people of Scottish descent
American slave owners
Chancellors of New York (state)
Columbia College (New York) alumni
Continental Congressmen from New York (state)
18th-century American politicians
Erie Canal Commissioners
Robert Chancellor
New York City Recorders
People of the Province of New York
Politicians from New York City
United States Secretaries of State
Lawyers from New York City
New York (state) Democratic-Republicans
Members of the New York Manumission Society
United States Secretary of Foreign Affairs
Presidents of the Saint Andrew's Society of the State of New York
Beekman family