Robert Livingston (industrialist)

Robert James Livingston ( December 16, 1708 - November 27, 1790 ) was the third Lord of Livingston Manor , and an influential industrialist and trader in colonial America .

Life

Robert Livingston was born the eldest of six sons (and five daughters) of the second Lord of Livingston Manor, Philip Livingston . Thus he inherited Livingston Manor in 1749 and was then head of the family business, which included an ironworks and foundry, flour mills and the fur and grain trade. His father had placed his younger brothers in influential positions, where they supported and represented the family business. Most important to the company was the second oldest brother, Peter Van Brugh Livingston (1710–1792), who lived in New York. His brother William Livingston was governor of New Jersey and, like brother Philip Livingston, was one of the signatories of the Declaration of Independence.

Robert Livingston married the twenty-year-old Maria Thong in 1731 and the marriage had thirteen children between 1732 and 1753, four of whom died in cot or minors. Robert Livingston was a member of the Manor Congregation from 1737 to 1758. Shortly after he became Lord of the Manor , he acquired 4,000 km² of the Catskill Mountains in what is now New York State , which had previously belonged to the Hardenbergh patent . Livingston remarried in 1766, a year after the death of his first wife Maria. The second marriage to Gertrude Schuyler van Rensselaer did not have any children.

On the occasion of his death, Livingston Manor was divided between his four younger sons and the children of his eldest son, Peter R. Livingston , with whom he had fallen out. The political and economic importance of the family waned through further division among the following heirs. Robert Livingston's correspondence is held in the archives of the New York Public Library as part of the Livingston Family Papers .

literature

• Cynthia A. Kierner: Traders and gentlefolk. The Livingstons of New York. 1675-1790. Cornell University Press, Ithaca NY et al. 1992, ISBN 0-8014-2638-3 .

Web links

• The Lords of Livingston Manor

Single receipts

1. ↑ ^{a b} Cynthia A. Kierner: Traders and gentlefolk . Ithaca 1992, p. 260.
2. ↑ http://livingstonmanor.net/Timeline.htm
3. ↑ Guide to the Livingston Family Papers  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.   (PDF; 95 kB), Manuscripts & Archives Division, New York Public Library.