General Notes

LIVINGSTON, Robert, first lord of the manor, was born at Ancrum, Roxburghs
hire, Scotland, Dec. 13, 1654; son of Dr. John Livingston (1608-1672), a P
resbyterian minister, who was banished from Scotland in 1663, on accou
nt of his nonconformist views, and went to Holland soon after the restorat
ion of Charles II. Robert accompanied his father in his flight to Rotterda
m, and immigrated to America in 1673, and after spending part of a ye
ar in Charlestown, Massachusetts Bay colony, removed to Albany, N.Y., Whe
re he was secretary of the commissaries who superintended the affairs of A
lbany, Schenectady, and the parts adjacent, 1675-86.
He was married in 1683 to Alida, daughter of Philip Pietersen Schuyler, a
nd widow of Nicholas Van Rensselaer. In 1686 he received from Governor Tho
mas Dougan a grant of land comprising large parts of what was subsequent
ly set off as Dutchess county, and the grant was confirmed by royal chart
er from George I., who erected the manor and lordship of Livingston.
Robert Livingston was appointed to proceed to New York with his brother-in
-law, Peter Schuyler, to obtain a charter for the manor from Governor Doug
an, under which charter he was town clerk, 1686-1721. In 1689 he attach
ed himself to the anti-Leisler faction. He was secretary of the conventi
on held at Albany, Oct. 25, 1689, which, while it acknowledged the soverei
gnty of William and Mary, opposed Leisler's proceedings. When Richard Pett
y, sheriff of Albany, reported to Leisler that Livingston favored the Prin
ce of Orange, Leisler ordered Livingston's arrest, and the latter retir
ed to one of the neighboring provinces until the arrival of Sloughte
r, in March, 1691.
In 1694 he made a voyage to England, was shipwrecked on the coast of Portu
gal, and obliged to travel through Spain and France by land. He return
ed to New York in 1696, accompanied by his nephew, Robert Livingston. Whi
le in England he was appointed by royal commission, dated Jan. 27, 1695-9
6, commissioner of excise, receiver of quit rents, town clerk, clerk of t
he peace, clerk of the common pleas for the city and county of Albany, a
nd secretary for the government of the Indians in New York.
He obtained for Robert Kidd a commission to rid the American seas of bucca
neers; but Kidd himself turned pirate and the expedition failed. In Septem
ber, 1696, the charge of alienation was preferred against him by the counc
il, but through the influence of Lord Bellomont, who arrived in April, 169
8, to take charge of the government, he was appointed one of the counci
l, September, 1698, and in the autumn of 1700, was reinstated in all his o
ffices.
He was accused by the Leislerian commission of appropriating the public mo
ney for his own use, and of employing improper influences to induce the In
dians to favor his going to England on behalf of their interests at the co
urt. He refused to exonerate himself of the charge by oath and on April 2
7, 1701, his estates were confiscated and he was suspended from the counc
il board. Through the intercession of Lord Cornbury he was vindicated.
On Feb. 2, 1703, he regained his estates, and in September, 1705, he was r
einstated in his former offices. He was elected a member of the assembly f
rom Albany in 1711, and from his manor, 1716-25, serving as speaker 1718-2
5, when he retired on account of ill-health. He died in Albany, N.Y., Apr
il 20, 1725.