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Robert Livingston Biography

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LIVINGSTON, Robert R. (1746-1813). An American. jurist and statesman, brother of Edward Livingston. He was born in the city of New York, Nov. 27, 1746, graduated at King's (now Columbia) College in 1765, studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1773, and for a time was associated in the practice of his profession with John Jay. In the same year in which he was admitted to the bar he was appointed by the crown to the position of recorder of the city of New York, a judicial office which he was compelled to relinquish two years later on account of his avowed sympathy with the Patriot party. In the following year be became a member of the Continental Congress and served on the committee appointed to draw up the Declaration of Independence, which document, however, he did not sign, owing to his withdrawal from Congress to attend the meeting of the Provincial Convention of New York. Later in the Revolution he served another term in the Congress (1779-81). He was a member of the committee which drafted the constitution of the State of New York in 1777, and upon its adoption became the First Chancellor of the State, an office which he filled with distinction until 1801. It was in this capacity that he administered the oath of office to Washington on the occasion of his first inauguration to the presidency, in New York City. While serving as Chancellor of New York, he was appointed Secretary of the new Department of Foreign Affairs, created by Congress in 1781-a position which he held until 1783, when be was succeeded by John Jay. He was President of the New York Convention of 1788, which was called to take action with regard to the Federal Constitution, and used his influence to secure the ratification of that instrument. In 1794 President Washington tendered him the post of Minister to France, which he declined; but in 1801, upon receiving a second tender of the same office, he accepted, and began the negotiations for the purchase of Louisiana, which, with the assistance of Monroe, were carried to a successful conclusion. He was associated with Fulton in the application of steam to navigation; gave much attention to the practice of scientific agriculture, publishing an Essay on Agriculture (1809) and an Essay on Sheep (1809); introduced the merino breed of sheep into western New York and was instrumental in introducing the use of gypsum as a fertilizer. He served on a commission to adjust the boundary of New York State and for a time was president of the American Academy of the Fine Arts, of which be was one of the principal founders. Consult Frederic DePeyster, Biographical Sketch of Robert R. Livingston (New York, 1876), and J. L. Delafield, Chancellor Robert R. Livingston of New York and his Family (Albany, 1911).