Catharine (Livingston) Thorn (1734 - 1769)

Born 17 Jul 1734 in Kingston, NY

Ancestors

Wife of Jonathan (Thorn) Thorne — married 12 Jun 1751 in Croton, Westchester, New York

Descendants

Died 3 Nov 1769 at age 35 in Hartford, CT

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Biography

Catharine Livingston, born in Kingston, July 17, 1734, the daughter of Gilbert Livingston (Gysbert Lievengstond) and Cornelia Beekman^[1]. Baptism at the Dutch Church of Kingston, witnesses were Henderikus Lievengstond, Catrina Rutsz, and Johanna Lievengstond.

Married Jonathan Thorn, born in 1724, married They lived on land in Beekman Precinct in Lot No. 17, (now in the Town of LaGrange and at one time owned by Mr. John L. Buck), which had come to Catharine through her mother, the daughter of Henry Beekman, the patentee. Her brothers, Henry, Gilbert and James were already living at Poughkeepsie. Jonathan and Catharine were the parents of at least eight children.

Here is an interesting story about their marriage....

Catherine was living with the Van Cortlandt's after the death of her parents and on May 28, 1748 she had been a bridesmaid at the wedding of her elder sister Johanna Livingston to Pierre Van Cortlandt ^[2].  Her brother-in-law Pierre Van Cortlandt later became the First Lt. Gov. of NY State and in 146 he was already Lord of Cortlandt Manor. On 6/19/1751 Robert Gilbert Livingston of NY City, a brother of Catharine, wrote another brother, Henry at Poughkeepsie: "I received last Saturday a letter from brother Pierre Cortlandt, who gave me a very astonishing and surprising account of the marriage of our sister, Catharine.  She married last Wednesday night to Jonathan Thorn.  I take it to be the same man that was with his father who came with us from Poughkeepsie.  She got up at night and went to Thorn's house and married and was home again all in three-quarters of an hour.  He came in a great hurry and confusion but would write more at large when he was a little composed." (Thorn's House means Samuel Thorn's House.  Squire thorn was presumably a Magistrate and may have performed the ceremony). Nothing has been found to indicate that Pierre Cortlandt wrote further or that he recovered his composure, which must have been greatly shaken by the elopement from his own home of a granddaughter of the First Lord of Livingston Manor with the sone of a Quaker blacksmith! However another letter from Robert G. Livingston to Henry dated 4/24/1752 proposed that Catharine should be given the share of their brother Phillip who had just died in lands left by their father Gilbert Livingston.  He suggested that Catharine "not being of age" should "choes a Gardian" to hold the property and asked Henry, who was a lawyer, to draw up the papers.  A third letter dated 7/13/1752 suggested that Catharine might "settle on one of the farms till she's of age, then I can execute a deed".  Enclosed was "sister Catharine's chest where in is her share of Phillip's cloathes which brother Pierre has divided here". On May 5, 1759 "Robert G. Livingston of the City of New York, merchant, eldest son of Gilbert Livingston, late of Ulster Co., Esq. dec'd, conveyed to Jonathan Thorn of Dutchess Co. yeoman and Catharine, his wife, one of the sisters of the said Robert, two farms, one of 184 acres and the other 130 acres in Lots 15 and 17 in Beekman Precinct.  In a Will executed 7/28/1757; proved 1/13/1762 Cornelius Livingston, mariner, left "to my sister Catharine Thorne" an equal share in his estate with 3 other sisters, Alida Rutsen, Joanna Van Cortlandt and Margaret Livingston.  The death of Catherine is recorded in the Family Bible of her sister Joanna Van Cortlandt in the significately worded entry "Catharine 7/17/1734 married _________ Thorne, d Nov. 3d, 1769.  The Van Cortlandt's never forgave or accepted Jonathan Thorn.

Sources

1. ↑ Baptismal and marriage registers of the old Dutch church of Kingston, Ulster County, New York, Kingston, N.Y. Reformed Dutch church. [from old catalog],Hoes, Roswell Randall, 1850-1921, [from old catalog] ed https://archive.org/stream/baptismalmarriag00king#page/204/mode/2up/search/catharine
2. ↑ Rec. v84, pp 4-7, 11 & Yearbook Dutchess co. Hist Soc. v. 27, pp 772

• Duchess County Historical Society Yearbook, Vol 28, 1943, pp.83-84.
• http://www.henrylivingston.com/genealogy/robert2.htm