Philip Livingston (1686 - 1748)

Born 9 Jul 1686 in Albany, New York

Ancestors

Husband of Catharina (Van Brugh) Livingston — married 19 Sep 1707 in Reformed Dutch Church of Albany

Descendants

Died 4 Feb 1748 at age 61 in New York, New York

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Biography

Philip Livingston is Notable.

Philip was born in 1716 to Robert Livingston and Alida Schuyler.

Philip Livingston married Catherine van Brugh on September 1708.

He passed away in 1778

2nd Lord of the Manor Philip Livingston (1686 - 1748) He settled at Albany, NY, where they probably had all their children. He was a Colonel in the Provincial Militia and in 1721 succeeded to most of the local offices held by his father. In 1725, he was appointed a member of the Council of the Colony. He succeeded to the Lordship of the Manor of Livingston in 1728, lived in the Manor house part of the time and his townhouse in the city of New York the rest of the time. Apprenticed with an Uncle Schuyler, in Albany. Merchant in Albany. Active in Canada trade. Built first iron forge in NY 1740, Ancram Furnace, took 3 years to build. Produced true molten iron. the ore came from "Ore Hill" and the Chatfield and Davis ore beds at Salisbury, 15v miles away, transported by horse and muleback. Here were made links for the second chain across the Hudson River at West Point, much heavier than those broken by General Vaughn in his upriver raid on Kingston and Clermont. The Livingstons owned a portion of the Salisbury mines. Followed his father as Secretary of Indian Affairs, Highway Commissioner and Supervisor, Albany County. Expanded trade throughout NY, the Caribbean and to Europe. Replaced his father on Governor's Council. Livingston Dock, East River, NYC. He had an elegant home on Broad St. NYC. He offered large leaseholds and attracted a large number of tenants to the manor. He built a church in each tenant village. He died after the truce in the hostilities with the French, 2 funerals were held, one in NYC, and one at the Manor.^[1]

Christening

9 JUL 1686 Albany, New York

Children

Children born to Catharina Van Brugh and Philip Livingston

1. 12/25/1708 - Robert baptized
2. 10/30/1710 - Pieter baptized (died young)
3. 4/20/1712 - Pieter baptized
4. 4/11/1714 - Johannes baptized
5. 1/16/1717 - Philip baptized
6. 4/5/1719 - Hendrick baptized
7. 5/7/1721 - Sara baptized (died young)
8. 12/8/1723 - William baptized
9. 11/7/1725 - Sara baptized
10. 8/18/1728 - Alida baptized
11. 11/5/1730 - Pieter baptized
12. 4/15/1733 - Catharina baptized

Notes

(II) Philip (second lord of the Manor), second son and fourth child of Robert and Alida (Schuyler-Van Rensselaer) Livingston, was born July 9, 1686, died February 4, 1748-49. He was named for his maternal grandfather, Philip Schuyler. He studied law and was admitted to the New York bar, December 31, 1719. In the following year he was appointed one of the commissioners of Indian affairs and succeeded his father as secretary of that board. He was an appointed member of the legislative council, 1715, and the following year was despatched on a mission to the French governor of Canada to prevent the French proceeding further with the erection of a fort at Niagara. On the death of his father he succeeded to the entailed and largest portion of the Manor estate and for many years the new lord of the Manor took a prominent part in the political affairs of the province. His family connections and personal attractions made him a person of note in New York City, where "he lived in a style of courtly magnificence". He became involved in a quarrel with Admiral George Clinton, the English governor of the province, who made serious charges against him and endeavored to have him dismissed from the council but failed, Philip holding the office and continued to take a leading part in the affairs of his native province until his death. His funeral was a most elaborate and expensive one and was the occasion of general comment. He married, September 19, 1707, Catherine Van Brugh, baptized November, 1689, died February 20, 1756, daughter of Peter and Sarah (Cuyler) Van Brugh. Of their seven sons, Peter Van Brugh, Philip "the signer," and William, became prominent in the war of the revolution. The fourth son, John, was the only important member of the family who adhered to the king during the war for independence. Children, all baptized in Albany:

Robert, of whom further.

Peter Van Brugh, baptized November 3, 1710, died 1793. He was a member of the committee of one hundred, 1775, a member of provincial congress, 1775, president of the same, 1775, and treasurer, 1776. He was a merchant of the city of New York. He married (first), Mary Alexander, (second), a widow, Mrs. Ricketts. Twelve children by first wife.

Peter, baptized April, 1712, died young.

John, baptized April 11, 1714, died 1788; married, December 3, 1742, Catherine, daughter of Abraham de Puyster and Margaret Van Cortlandt.

Philip, born January 15, 1716; member of committee of one hundred, 1775, president of the provincial convention, 1775; member of continental congress, 1774-78; signer of the Declaration of Independence, 1776; member of provincial congress, 1776-77. He died at York, Pennsylvania, June 12, 1778. He married, April 14, 1740, Christiana Ten Broeck, born December 30, 1718, died June 29, 1801, daughter of Dirck Ten Broeck, recorder and mayor of Albany, and Margarita Cuyler. They were the parents of nine children, of whom two served as officers in the war of the revolution.

Henry, baptized April 5, 1719, died in Jamaica, West Indies, February, 1772.

Sarah, baptized May 7, 1721, died October, 1722.

William, born November 8, 1723, died at Elizabethtown, New Jersey, July 25, 1790. He was a member of continental congress, 1774-76, brigadier-general New Jersey militia, 1775-76, governor of the state of New Jersey, 1776-90, signer of the federal constitution, 1777. He married, about 1745, Susanna, daughter of Philip and Susanna (Brockholst) French. She was baptized at New York, June 19, 1723, died at Elizabethtown, New Jersey, July 17, 1789. They were the parents of thirteen children, one of whom, Sarah Van Brugh, married John Jay, chief justice of the supreme court of the United States. Another daughter, Susanna, married John Cleve Symmes, of New Jersey, associate justice of the supreme court of New Jersey and a judge of the supreme court of the new Northwest Territory in 1786.

Sarah, baptized November 7, 1725; married, March 1, 1748, William Alexander, Earl of Stirling, major-general in the continental army. His right to this title was never recognized by the British government, but as a matter of courtesy he was always addressed during the war as Lord Stirling. She died March, 1805.

Alida, baptized July 18, 1728; married (first), September 26, 1750; Henry Hansen, of Harlem; married (second), Colonel Martin Hoffman, September 26, 1766. She died February, 1790.

Catherine, baptized April 18, 1733; married, April 18, 1759, John Lawrence, alderman of New York City.

The First Endowed Professorship

Col. Philip Livingston endowed the first professorship at Yale College. The website of the Yale Office of Development describes this important gift:

Philip Livingston, Second Lord of Livingston Manor, New York, donated 28 pounds sterling to Yale in 1745 "as a small acknowledgement of the sense I have had for the favour and Education my sons have had there" ... The donation was used in 1756 by President Thomas Clap to establish the Livingstonian Professorship of Divinity, the first endowed professorship at Yale.(6)

Livingston GatewayCol. Philip Livingston was a slave trader. He became the Second Lord of Livingston Manor after his father, Robert, died in 1728 (7). Robert Livingston had made his fortune through trade, and one of his earliest investments had been, in 1690, his purchase of "a half-interest in the Margriet, a vessel that journeyed to Madagascar, Barbados, and Virginia to trade in slaves, sugar, and tobacco" (8). When Robert died, Philip Livingston inherited six of the twelve slaves listed in his father's will (9).

Philip Livingston became the heir not only of the Manor, but also of the family business:

The importation of slaves was an attractive sideline to Robert's son Philip and grandson Robert, Jr. Philip was a leading importer of slaves from Jamaica and Antigua during the 1730s. He was part owner of a number of vessels, some of which were owned in partnership with his sons ... In August 1733, Philip's sloop Katherine brought in fifty blacks from Jamaica, an unusually large shipment from that source. (10)

Philip's extensive trade with the West Indies led to his involvement in the African slave trade. In the 1730s and 1740s, he was one of New York's leading importers of slave labor from the sugar islands, and also one of few New Yorkers who imported slaves directly from Africa before the abolition of the Spanish Asiento in 1748. In 1738, Philip bought a one-third share in a voyage to Guinea, where two hundred slaves were purchased and consigned to his son Peter Van Brugh Livingston and his partner in Jamaica. New York's direct trade with Africa grew significantly after 1748, and the Livingstons continued to be among the colony's leading Africa traders. (11)

Philip Livingston was one of New York's most prominent slave traders:

Only two men, Nathaniel Marston and Philip Livingston, invested in as many as four slave ships ... Philip Livingston was a large importer from West Indian sources in the 1730s and 1740s, and after King George's War joined with his sons to invest in four African slavers ... Livingston, third ranking importer in the NORNY records, brought in 219 West Indian blacks. With his sons he owned shares in the slavers Wolf, Rhode Island, Stork, and Sarah and Elizabeth during the early 1750s. (12)

Livingston detailA letter from one of Philip Livingston's sons to Petrus DeWitt, a merchant on the Livingston Manor, describes one of these voyages: "We have, thank God, had the good fortune of having one of our Guinea sloops come in, tho after a long passage of 79 days in which time they bumped 37 slaves and since 3 more & 2 more likely to die, which is an accident not to be helped ... We have now about 80 well slaves, 44 ounces of Gold & goods of Elephant's tooth ...." (13)

Philip Livingston's generous donation to Yale College occurred at the height of his involvement in the slave trade. Hence, profits from the slave trade funded the endowment of Yale's first professorship. In addition to naming the first endowed professor's chair after Livingston, Yale also named a prominent gateway in Branford College the "Livingston Gateway."

Will

Philip Livingston Will

In the name of God, Amen. July 15, 1748, I, PHILIP LIVINGSTON, of New York, being in perfect health and considering the infirmity and mortality of man and the uncertainty of this life, have thought best before I leave this earthly state to dispose of my temporal goods which it hath pleased God far above my deserts to give me. My executors are to pay all debts due to any person whatever. I leave to my eldest son Robert Livingston, Jr., all my lands and tenements in the manor of Livingston, with the grist mills and saw mills, furnace, forge and all buildings and premises, and improvements I have made on the manor, which are very considerable, Together with all the tools and utensils. I also leave to him the house and lot in the city of Albany, on the north side of Joncker street, and fronting on the west side of Pearl street, as it was bequeathed to me by my father, Robert Livingston, Esq.; Also a lot of ground which I bought and exchanged from the heirs of Isaac Ver Planck, with part of the house built thereon; Also the house and lot on the west side of the house first mentioned; All which lands were devised to me by my father in fee tail. I also leave to him 3 negroes, 12 horses, 6 geldings, 6 mares, 6 cows, 6 sheep, 6 hogs, and my chariot and my gold watch. And if I happen to die between the First of February and the First of September, my wife and children are to have the use of the grist mill and house, to grind, bolt, pack and ship off all their wheat into flour and Cornell and manufacture all their wheat that shall be brought before September 1st. She paying the miller and the baker, and to bake the cornell into bread.

My executors are to make an inventory of all things, except what are left to my son Robert. I leave to my wife, Catharine Livingston, all the rest of my real estate in Albany County and in New York, or elsewhere, during her life, with power to sell personal property for her support, and for educating my two daughters, Alida and Catherine, and they are to have the same portions as I have paid to my sons Robert, Peter, John, Phillip, Henry, and William, and my daughter Sarah, wife of William Alexander, namely �1,000 when they are of age or married, besides household furniture to make them equal to my other children. After my wife's decease, all my estate is to go to my children, Peter Van Brugh, John, Henry, Philip, William, Sarah, wife of William Alexander, Alida and Catherine. I leave to my wife my houses and lots in New York, during her widowhood.

I leave to my son, Peter Van Brugh Livingston, the house in which he lives, with my part of the lot in New York near the Old Slip. I leave to my son John the house in which he lives in Broad street. To my son Phillip the house in which he lives in New York, on Burnets Key, with the lot and store house.

My daughters are to be maintained out of my estate, and the cost is not to be a part of their portions.

My executors have power to sell real estate. And I make my wife and my sons executors.

Witnesses, Cornelius Clopper, John Richards, John Clopper. Proved, July 5, 1749.

[NOTE.--The house and lot of Philip Livingston, in New York, was the entire front on the east side of Broad street, between Stone street and "Mill street," now South William street. The north part of this was the house left to his son, John Livingston, the south part was afterwards sold to Dr. John Charlton. The house and lot left to Peter Van Brugh Livingston, is on the north side of Hanover Square, 75 feet east of William street. Phillip Livingston owned a lot extending from Pearl street to Front street, 30 feet west of Pine street. The house on Burnets Key (or Quay) now Front street, and left to his son Philip, was a part of this lot.--W. S. P.]

Sources

1. ↑ http://awtc.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=*v105t1712&id=I0159

• Dexter, Franklin Bowditch. Biographical Sketches of the Graduates of Yale College (Holt, 1885) Vol. 1, Page 484, Vol. 1, Page 582
• Robison, Jeannie. Genealogical Records, Manuscript Entries of Births, Deaths and Marriages Taken From Family Bibles, 1581-1917 (The Colonial Dames of the State of New York, New York, 1917) Page 139