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 Family
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Schenectady History
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Biography
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Livingston, by Ruth Lawrence
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Colonel Robert Livingston, 3rd Lord of the Manor |
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| Robert, third lord of the Manor, eldest son of Philip and Catherine (Van Brugh) Livingston, was born in Albany, New York, December 16, 1708, died November, 1790. He inherited the vast estates entailed to the eldest son, and although he filled no official position himself during the revolutionary war, he proved his loyalty to the cause by placing his iron mines and foundry at the disposal of the New York committee of safety. His seventy years, no doubt, was the cause of his not taking a more active part. He was elected representative from his Manor to the twenty-first New York assembly, 1737, and during the next twenty years he sat uninterruptedly through seven general assemblies, returned at every election by the Manor Freeholders. When the elections were being held for the twenty-eighth assembly he retired in favor of his younger brother, William, then coming into prominence as a leader of the Presbyterian party. He married (first), May 20, 1731, Maria, daughter of Walter Tong and granddaughter of Rip Van Dam, president of the council. He married (second), Gertrude, daughter of Killaen Van Rensselaer, and his wife, Maria Van Cortlandt, and widow of Adonijah Schuyler, born October 1, 1744. |
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Robert Livingston, the eldest son, succeeded as 3rd and last Lord of the Manor.
He married Maria Thong and had 13 children. Robert inherited Livingston
Manor and his father's position as head of the family business. He continued to
rely on his brothers as business agents for Livingston Manor, particularly on
Peter Van Brugh Livingston in New York.
Robert Livingston 3rd (lord) expected his sons to take their uncle's place as business agents and had them educated accordingly. His eldest son Philip Robert Livingston (1733-1756) died young of kidney trouble. His second son Peter Robert Livingston (1737-1794) married a distant cousin Margaret Livingston (great daughter of a nephew of Robert 'the Nephew' Livingston) and they had 10 children. In a strange succession of events in the Livingston family history, Peter Robert Livingston's elder brother died before their father and thus again a second son was in line for succession as 4th Lord of the Manor. Yet it would come otherwise Unlike his grandfather and his father, Peter Robert Livingston had similar traits of irresponsibility that already appeared in the characters of his grand-uncles Johannes and Gilbert Livingston earlier. In search of easy money, Peter Robert Livingston took speculative risks most merchants avoided and his illegal ventures caused him irreversible financial losses. His younger brothers Walter Livingston, Robert Cambridge Livingston, John Livingston and Henry Livingston (1753-1823) proved more reliable as Livingston Manor's business agents. As a result, Robert Livingston 3rd broke the family tradition of leaving the estate to his eldest son and shared Livingston Manor among his five sons. Peter Robert Livingston's share was further restricted by trust obligations in favor of his eldest son. As a result of Robert Livingston 3rd's will and the deaths of three of his sons only a few years after him, Livingston Manor was already divided in numerous parts by the year 1800. |
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ROBERT LIVINGSTON, third Lord of the Manor, eldest child of Philip Livingston and Catharine (Van Brugh)
Livingston, was born December 16, and baptized December 25, 1708, O.S. He represented his manor in the house
of assembly from 1737 to 1759, and proved his loyalty to the cause of the Revolution by placing his
iron mines and foundry at the disposal of the New York Committee of Safety. His sons, Peter Robert,
Walter, John and Henry, "were actively employed on the American side." Part of his manor land was encroached
upon by people of Massachusetts, and it was not until after the Revolution that the controversy was settled.
Died, November 27, 1790, at Albany, New York. Married, first, May 20, 1731, Maria Thong, daughter of Walter Thong, who married, October 16, 1704, Sara Van Dam, daughter of Governor Rip Van Dam and his wife, Sara Vander Spiegle, who were married, September 14, 1684. Maria Thong was born June 3, 1711, and died May 30, 1765. Married, second, license dated September 21, 1766, Gertrude Van Rensselaer, daughter of Kiliaen or Killian Van Rensselaer and Maria (Van Cortlandt) Van Rensselaer, and widow of Adonijah Schuyler; she was born October 1, 1714. |
Copyright © 2003, InterMedia Enterprises
(16 Dec 1708, Albany NY)