He was a member of the landed gentry of New York, a wealthy
businessman, a philanthropist, and a political conservative who was among the
signers of the Declaration of Independence and a man who risked his fortune and
security to support the American Revolution.
Philip Livingston, Jr. was born into a family of wealth a
prestige on January 15, 1716, at his father’s townhouse in Albany, New York
colony.
His grandfather, Robert Livingston, had immigrated to the
newly conquered colony of New York in 1673 from his native Scotland and settled
in Albany. He spoke both English and
Dutch fluently, and so successfully integrated with the original Dutch settlers
as well as their English conquerors that he became very a very successful
merchant in the fur trade, married well into the former Dutch aristocracy, held
a number of political appointments, and – in 1687 – was granted ownership of the “Lordship and Manor of
Livingston” (160,000 acres on the east side of the Hudson River) by the English
Royal Governor, Thomas Dongan. With
this, he became a “Lord”.
Robert had three sons – Robert, Gilbert, and Philip – and it
was Philip (the 2nd Lord of the Manor) and his wife, Catharine Van
Brugh, who became the parents of Philip Livingston Jr. in 1716. Catharine was the daughter of the mayor of
Albany.
This was an era before public education, and it was the
responsibility of the fathers to educate their children. The wealthier fathers, such as the 2nd
Lord of the Manor, Lord Livingston, would do some of the education process
himself, but usually hired tutors to instruct their children – especially the
male children – in a variety of topics, including such studies as the rudiments
of math, geography Latin, reading, and writing.
Because of – and thanks to – his social position, Philip
“the Signer” Livingston was provided with a liberal education. There were no colleges in New York colony
(until 1754), so those gentlemen who wished to attend college were either sent
to New England, or abroad. Education was
important to the Livingston’s, and as a result Philip attended Yale College,
graduating in 1737 at the age of 21.
New York beckoned, and Livingston settled there after
leaving college in 1737, engaging in a mercantile life by establishing an
import business. He became a prosperous
and well respected merchant.
He married Christina Ten Broeck on April 14, 1740. The union provided the Livingston’s with nine
children – five boys and four girls. After
his marriage, Livingston moved into a townhouse on Duke Street in Manhattan,
and worked on raising a family – and a fortune from his business dealings. Especially valuable was his experiences as a
trader-privateer during the French and Indian War, which lasted from 1754 to
1763. It was after this period of his
life, in 1764, that he acquired a 40-acre estate on Brooklyn Heights,
overlooking the East River and New York Harbor.
Livingston prospered as a merchant, and was one of those who
‘gave back’ to the community. He either
helped to start, financially aided, or helped to administer several public
institutions, including King’s College (which later became Columbia
University); the New York Society Library (1754); St. Andrew’s Society; the New
York Chamber of Commerce (1770); and the New York Hospital (elected as one of
the governors in 1761). He also
established a Professorship of Divinity at Yale (1746); built the first meeting
house for a Methodist society in America;
He also served as a New York City alderman from 1754 to
1763, and served for a decade in the colonial legislature, from 1759 to 1769. As tensions between the British and the
colonists began to increase after the French and Indian War, Livingston was
like many other early patriots: he did
not initially desire to make a complete break from England, but he would increasingly
align himself with the rising opposition to the various arbitrary British
measures and legislation that were being imposed by the British Crown on the
colonists. In the colonial legislature, he increasingly backed the Whigs in
their quarrels with the Royal Governor of New York, and was a delegate to the 1765
Stamp Act Congress.
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| Livingston's Brooklyn Manor |
"But nothing can add to the pleasure we receive from the information your honor gives us, that his majesty, our most gracious sovereign, distinguishes and approves our conduct. When his service requires it, we shall ever be ready to exert ourselves with loyalty, fidelity, and zeal; and as we have always complied, in the most dutiful manner, with every requisition made by his directions, we, with all humility, hope that his majesty, who, and whose ancestors, have long been the guardians of British liberty, will so protect us in our rights, as to prevent our falling into the abject state of being forever hereafter incapable of doing what can merit either his distinction or approbation. Such must be the deplorable state of that wretched people, who (being taxed by a power subordinate to none, and in a great degree unacquainted with their circumstances) can call nothing their own. This we speak with the greatest deference to the wisdom and justice of the British parliament, in which we confide. Depressed with this prospect of inevitable ruin, by the alarming information we have from home, neither we nor, our constituents can attend to improvements, conducive either to the interests of our mother country, or of this colony. We shall, however, renew the act for granting a bounty on hemp, still hoping that a stop may be put to those measures, which, if carried into execution, will oblige us to think that nothing but extreme poverty can preserve us from the most insupportable bondage. We hope your honor will join with us in an endeavor to secure that great badge of English liberty, of being taxed only with our own consent; which we conceive all his majesty's subjects at home and abroad equally entitled to."
Livingston was not a rabble-rouser, and resented the more
physical demonstrations favored by such groups as the Sons of Liberty. He tried to stick with the more dignified
methods, depending on the law and precedent to preserve the peace… or to follow
the steps to separation. It was in July, 1775, that he signed what was to be a
final attempt to achieve an understanding with the British Crown concerning the
grievances of the colonies – the Olive Branch Petition. However, the King ignored the Petition,
declaring the colonies to be in a state of rebellion.
Livingston was one of three Livingston’s who were members of
the Continental Congress… but he was the only one to sign the Declaration of
Independence. His brother, William, was
called on to command the New Jersey Militia, and could not be at the debates or
the signing of the Declaration. Nor
could his cousin, Robert, who had helped draw up the Declaration, but who also
was a member of several important New York State committees, and probably was
not present in Philadelphia when the Declaration was signed.
Philip Livingston suffered because of his signature on the
Declaration. The British used his Duke
Street home as a barracks, and his Brooklyn Heights residence as a Royal Navy
hospital. Many of his business interests
were confiscated by the British, and he sold some of his remaining property to
support the Revolution. He had to flee
his home because of the British advance into New York.
His health failing, he continued to serve his country in the
Continental Congress. He passed away at
the age of 62 on June 12, 1778 – the third signer of the Declaration to
die. He was first buried in the
churchyard of the German Reformed Church on West Market Street, York,
Pennsylvania. When the land was needed to build a Sunday School addition, all
graves were moved to Prospect Hill Cemetery, York, Pennsylvania.
Even after death, it seems, he contributed to the needs of the community.
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