The Livingstons of Livingston Manor

Edwin Brockholst Livingston

• Publisher: Excelsior Editions
• Year: 2023
• Print ISBN: 9781438494029, 9781438494036
• eBook ISBN: 9781438494043
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: Historical Biographies
• Index: History

The complete history of one of New York State's—and the nation's—founding families.

The Livingstons of Livingston Manor provides a rich history of one of the most important families in the early history of New York State as well as the fledgling nation. Livingston Manor-granted to Robert Livingston the Elder (1654–1728) via royal charter from King George I of Britain in 1716-embraced 160,000 acres, including nearly all of what is today Columbia County as well as much of Sullivan and Delaware Counties. The primary family estate in Germantown, NY, where the leaders of the clan lived for more than two hundred years starting in 1728, Clermont on the Hudson River, is now a New York State Historic Site. Succeeding generations included "Chancellor" Robert R. Livingston (1746–1813) who served on the famed "Committee of Five" charged with drafting the Declaration of Independence. Other members of the clan also played major roles in New York State as well as nationally. Philip Livingston (1716–1778, known in the family as "Philip the Signer") was a delegate to the Continental Congress from New York and signed the Declaration of Independence; William Livingston (1723–1798) was a Delegate to the Constitutional Convention and a signatory to the US Constitution. Descendants of the Livingstons include the Bush clan, Eleanor Roosevelt (through her mother), and former New Jersey Governor Thomas H. Kean. First privately published in 1910, this long-unavailable history illuminates several generations of the Livingston clan and their impact on the fledgling and growing United States.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half-Title
• Title
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Preface
• Contents
• New Introduction
• Introduction
• A Short Sketch of The Scottish House of Callendar
• CHAPTER I CONCERNING THE REVEREND ALEXANDER LIVINGSTON, RECTOR OF MONYABROCH IN THE REIGN OF MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS, AND HIS DESCENT FROM THE ANCIENT HOUSE OF CALLENDAR.
• CHAPTER II CONCERNING THE REVEREND WILLIAM LIVINGSTON, MINISTER OF LANARK, AND HIS SON THE REVEREND JOHN LIVINGSTON, AND THEIR OPPOSITION TO THE INTRODUCTION OF EPISCOPACY INTO SCOTLAND.
• CHAPTER III CONCERNING THE REVEREND JOHN LIVINGSTON, MINISTER OF ANCRUM, AND HIS FURTHER CONFLICT WITH THE BISHOPS AND GOVERNMENT OF SCOTLAND, LEADING TO HIS BANISHMENT TO HOLLAND FOR THE CAUSE OF CHRIST.
• CHAPTER IV CONCERNING ROBERT LIVINGSTON, THE ELDER, AND HIS SETTLEMENT IN THE ENGLISH PROVINCE OF NEW YORK.
• CHAPTER V CONCERNING ROBERT LIVINGSTON, THE NEPHEW, AND HIS SETTLEMENT IN THE SAME PROVINCE.
• CHAPTER VI CONCERNING THE COMPACT MADE BY ROBERT LIVINGSTON, THE ELDER, WITH CERTAIN WHIG NOBLEMEN AT THE COURT OF WILLIAM THE THIRD, FOR THE SUPPRESSION OF PIRACY IN THE NORTH ATLANTIC, THE FAILURE OF HIS SCHEME, AND THE CONSEQUENCES THEREOF.
• CHAPTER VII CONCERNING THE FOUNDING BY ROBERT LIVINGSTON, THE ELDER, OF THE LORDSHIP AND MANOR OF LIVINGSTON.
• CHAPTER VIII CONCERNING THE FURTHER ADVENTURES AND DEATH OF ROBERT LIVINGSTON, THE ELDER, FIRST LORD OF THE MANOR OF LIVINGSTON.
• CHAPTER IX CONCERNING THE FAMILY OF ROBERT, FIRST LORD OF THE MANOR OF LIVINGSTON, AND HIS IMMEDIATE SUCCESSORS.
• CHAPTER X CONCERNING THE EARLY HISTORY OF THE LIVINGSTONS OF CLERMONT
• CHAPTER XI CONCERNING THE POLITICAL HISTORY OF AN AMERICAN POCKET BOROUGH, AND OF THE LIVINGSTON PARTY IN THE NEW YORK HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY PRIOR TO THE WAR OF INDEPENDENCE.
• CHAPTER XII CONCERNING THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE, AND THE REASONS WHY ONLY ONE OF THE THREE LIVINGSTON MEMBERS OF THE SECOND CONTINENTAL CONGRESS SIGNED THE SAME.
• CHAPTER XIII CONCERNING THE WAR OF INDEPENDENCE, AND THE PART THE LIVINGSTON FAMILY PLAYED THEREIN.
• CHAPTER XIV CONCERNING THE POLITICAL HISTORY OF THE LIVINGSTON FAMILY FROM THE EVACUATION OF NEW YORK BY THE BRITISH, UNTIL THE ELECTION OF THOMAS JEFFERSON AS THIRD PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
• CHAPTER XV CONCERNING THE MISSION OF ROBERT R. LIVINGSTON OF CLERMONT TO FRANCE, AND HIS NEGOTIATIONS WITH NAPOLEON RESULTING IN THE LOUISIANA PURCHASE.
• CHAPTER XVI CONCERNING THE FIRST STEAMBOAT, THE “CLERMONT,” AND HOW ROBERT R. LIVINGSTON “GAVE IMMORTALITY TO FULTON.”
• CHAPTER XVII CONCERNING EDWARD LIVINGSTON OF CLERMONT, JURIST AND SECRETARY OF STATE.
• CHAPTER XVIII CONCERNING SOME LIVINGSTON MANSIONS AND THEIR HISTORICAL ASSOCIATIONS.
• CHAPTER XIX CONCERNING THE HERALDRY OF LIVINGSTON.
• APPENDICES
• LIST OF AUTHORITIES
• INDICES
• Back Cover