Robert Livingston (1708–1790)
Template:Short description Template:About Template:Infobox officeholder Robert Livingston (December 16, 1708 – November 27, 1790) was the third and final Lord of Livingston Manor and a member of the assembly for the manor from 1737 to 1790.
Early life
Robert Livingston was born on December 16, 1708, in Albany, New York, the eldest son of Catharina (née Van Brugh) Livingston and Philip Livingston (1686–1749), the second Lord of Livingston Manor.<ref name="nyhistory">Template:Cite web</ref> His younger brothers were Peter Van Brugh Livingston, who married Mary Alexander (sister of Lord Stirling), Philip Livingston, who married Christina Ten Broeck, and William Livingston, who married Susannah French. All the brothers had multiple children.<ref name="Callendar"/>
He was the grandson of Robert Livingston the Elder, a New York colonial official, fur trader, and businessman who was granted a patent to 160,000 acres (650 km2/ 250 sq mi) along the Hudson River, and becoming the first lord of Livingston Manor. His paternal grandmother was Alida Schuyler, the daughter of Philip Pieterse Schuyler and the widow of Nicholas Van Rensselaer. His maternal grandparents were Pieter Van Brugh and Sara (née Cuyler) Van Brugh.<ref name="Callendar">Template:Cite book</ref>
Career
From 1737 to 1758, Livingston succeeded his uncle Gilbert Livingston to represent Livingston Manor in the New York General Assembly.<ref name="nyhistory"/> He was succeeded by William Livingston in 1759 who served until 1761.<ref name="Hough1858">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="Murlin1908">Template:Cite book</ref>
Livingston Manor
Upon the death of his father in February 1749, Robert inherited Livingston Manor and became the third Lord of the Manor.<ref name="Callendar"/> Shortly after he acquired Template:Convert of the Catskill Mountains in what had formerly been the Hardenbergh Patent.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Livingston found himself embroiled in a border dispute with Massachusetts when some New Englanders began to settle on the eastern portion of the Manor. Some of the settlers were Livingston's own tenants, who tired of paying rent moved east and contended they were now in Massachusetts.<ref name="Callendar"/> By 1767, Livingston Manor had about 285 tenant families, together leasing 30,000 from Robert, according to C.A. Kierner. Settlement was disbursed, with areas adjoining waterways, mills, and ironworks, the more densely populated.<ref name="Schwarz1979">Template:Cite book</ref> The tenants paid their rent in wheat. In 1760 Livingston Manor produced 50,000 bushels; Robert had claim to one-tenth as income.<ref name=kierner>Kierner, Cynthia A., Traders and Gentlefolk: The Livingstons of New York, 1675-1790, Cornell University Press, 1992</ref>
During the Revolution, he made available to the New York Committee of Safety and the Continental Army, the iron mines and foundry on the Manor,<ref name="SoR1893">Template:Cite book</ref> while his sons, Peter Robert, Walter, John and Henry, were actively involved on the American side.<ref name="nypl">Template:Cite web</ref>
Personal life
On May 20, 1731, he married Maria Thong (1711–1765), granddaughter of Governor Rip Van Dam (1660–1749). Robert Livingston expected his sons to take their place as his business agents and had them educated accordingly. Together, they had thirteen children:<ref name="Kierner2018">Template:Cite book</ref>
- Catherine Livingston (b. 1732), died in infancy.<ref name="Callendar"/>
- Philip Robert Livingston (1733–1756), died of kidney trouble.<ref name="Callendar"/>
- Sarah Livingston (1735–1745), who died young.<ref name="Callendar"/>
- Peter Robert Livingston (1737–1793), a member of the Provincial Convention of 1775,<ref>New York Department of State, Calendar of Historical Manuscripts, Relating to the War of the Revolution, Volume I, 1868, page 86</ref> who married cousin Margaret Livingston (1738–1809), a granddaughter of Robert Livingston the Younger (1663–1725).<ref name="Callendar"/>
- Maria "Mary" Livingston (1738–1821), who married James Duane.<ref name="Callendar"/>
- Walter Livingston (1740–1797), who was the owner of Teviotdale mansion in Columbia County.
- Robert Livingston (1742–1794), better known as Robert Cambridge due to his attendance of Cambridge University, who married Alice Swift (1751–1816).<ref name="Callendar"/>
- Catherine Livingston (1744–1832), who married John Patterson (1740–1823), brother of Walter Patterson and father of Daniel Patterson.<ref name="Callendar"/>
- Sarah Livingston (1745/6–1749), who died young<ref name="Callendar"/>
- Alida Livingston (1747–1791), who married Valentine Gardiner.<ref name="Hirschman">Template:Cite book</ref>
- Margarita Livingston (1748–1749), died young<ref name="Callendar"/>
- John Livingston (1749–1822), who married first Maria Ann Leroy (1759–1797),<ref name="Hirschman"/> daughter of Jacob Leroy and Cornelia Rutgers,<ref name="Callendar"/> and second Catherine (Livingston) Ridley, his first cousin, the daughter of William Livingston and the widow of Matthew Ridley.
- Hendrick "Henry" Livingston (1752–1823), who died unmarried.<ref name="Callendar"/>
In 1764, a portrait of Livingston was painted by Thomas McIlworth (who also painted British officer John Bradstreet in 1764) at Livingston Manor.<ref name="nyhistory"/>
In 1766, he married Gertrude (née Van Rensselaer) Schuyler (1714–1790), daughter of Maria Van Cortlandt and Kiliaen Van Rensselaer, the fifth Patroon and second Lord of the Manor of Rensselaerwyck. She was a widow of Adonijah "Adonis" Schuyler, who died in 1763 and was a son of Arent Schuyler.<ref name="Callendar"/>
Livingston died on November 27, 1790, at the age of eighty-one. He broke the family tradition of leaving the estate to his eldest son and shared Livingston Manor among his five sons and his son-in-law James Duane.<ref name="Bonomi2014">Template:Cite book</ref>