LIVINGSTON
LIVINGSTON
of Adams, Jefferson, Franklin, Livingston and
Sliermau, appointed to draw up the Declaration
of Independence, but was obliged to return to his
duties in the provincial assembly without signing
the instrument. He was a member of the com-
mittee that drafted
the state constitution
adopted at the King-
ston convention in
1777. He was chan-
cellor of the state un-
der the new consti-
tution, 1785-1801, and
in that capacity he
administered the oath
of office to President
Washington, April
30, 1789. He was
secretary of foreign
affairs for the Unit-
ed States, 1781-83,
and was chairman
of the state convention at Poughkeepsie in
1788, to consider the adoption of the U.S. con-
stitution. He declined the office of U.S. minister
to France proferred by President Washington in
1794, and in 1801 the portfolio of the navy from
President Jefferson, who also offered him the
mission to France, which latter he accepted, re-
signing liis chancellorship. While in France he
formed a strong friendship with Napoleon Bona-
parte; and he made the initial movement that
resulted in the purchase of Louisiana from the
French in 1803. He travelled through Europe
after resigning his office as U.S. minister in 1803,
and while in Paris he became interested in the
invention of the steamboat of Robert Fulton,
whom he assisted in his enterprise with his coun-
sel and money, eventually becoming his partner.
Tlie first steamboat, owned by Livingston and
Fulton, was built in France and was launched
upon the Seine but was a failure, and on return-
ing to America they had another steamboat, the
Clennoyit, built and launched on the Hudson in
1807, which was a success. This boat was named
after the Livingston home in Columbia county,
N.Y. He retired from public life and resided at
Clermont, whei-e he engaged in agriculture and
stock raising: was the first to introduce pow-
dered gypsum in agriculture, and also introduced
merino sheep west of the Hudson river. The
honorary degree of LL.D. was conferred on him
by the regents of the University of the State of
New York in 1793. He was a founder of tiie
American Academy of Fine Arts in New York
in 1801, and was its first president; was president
of the New York Society for the Promotion of
Useful Arts, and upon the reorganization of the
New York Society library in 1788, he was ap-
pointed a trustee. He published many essays
and addresses on fine arts and agriculture. His
statue, with that of George Clinton, forming the
group of the two most eminent citizens of New
York, was placed in the capitol in Washington
by act of congress. In the selection of names
for a place in the Hall of Fame for Great Ameri-
cans, New York universitj', made in October,
1900, his was one of the thirty-seven names in
" Class M, Rulers and Statesmen," and received
only three votes — his votes in the class equalling
those for Richard Henry Lee and Stephen A.
Douglas, and exceeding those for Martin Van
Buren, Charles Carroll of Carrollton, John J.
Crittenden and Henry Wilson. He was married
to Mary, daughter of John Stevens, of New Jer-
sey, and they had two children, Elizabeth S.,
who married Edward P. Livingston, and ]\Iargaret
M., who married Robert L. Livingston. He died
suddenly at Clermont, N.Y., Feb. 2G, 1813.
LIVINGSTON, Walter, delegate, was born in 1740; son of Robert and Maiy (Long) Living- ston, and grandson of Philip Livingston, the signer. He was a delegate to the provincial congress held in New York in April and Maj', 1775; and was appointed one of the judges of Albany county by the convention held at Kings- ton, N.Y., in 1777. He was a delegate to the Continental congress, 1784-85; and in 1785 he was appointed commissioner of the U.S. treasury. He was married to Cornelia, daughter of Peter Schuyler. He died in New York city, May 14. 1797.
LIVINGSTON, William, governor of New Jer- se}', was born in Albany. N.Y., Nov. 30, 1723; son of Philip and Catharine (Vnn Brugh) Livingston. He was graduated from Yale college, A.B., 1741, A.M., 1744; studied law in the office of James Alexander, 1741-46, and was ad- mitted to the bar, Oct. 14, 1748. He was married in 1745 to Susannah, daugh- ter of Philip French, of New Brunswick, and granddaughter of Maj. Anthony Brockhalls, formerly governor of New York. He establisli- ed the Independeiit Reflector in New
York in 1752. He was a commissioner in 1754 to adjust the boundary line between New York and Massachusetts, and subsequently between New York and New Jersey. With the assistance of his brother. Philip Livingston, his brother-in-law, William Alexander, and a few others, he estab-
- ^^;Z^^%.^^^^^^^«^
