Philip Livingston

Philip Livingston (January 15, 1716 – June 12, 1778) was an American merchant and statesman from New York City. He was a delegate for New York to the Continental Congress from 1775 to 1778, and signed the Declaration of Independence.

Early life

Philip Livingston born in Albany, New York, on January 15, 1716 the fourth surviving son of Philip (1686–1749), 2nd Lord of the Manor and Catherine Van Brugh Livingston, the daughter of Albany, New York, Mayor Pieter Van Brugh. He grew up in the Albany area, dividing his time between his father’s Albany Townhouse and the Manor House in Linlithgo, at the junction of the Roeliff Jansen Kill and the Hudson River.

Career

Philip graduated from Yale College in 1737 and returned to Albany to serve a mercantile apprenticeship with his father. Through his father's influence, he also obtained clerkships in Albany's local government. He then settled in New York City and pursued a career in the import business, trading with the British sugar islands in the West Indies. During King George's War (1744-1748), Livingston made his fortune provisioning and privateering. He also speculated heavily in real estate. He had a stone townhouse on Duke Street in Manhattan and also a forty-acre estate in Brooklyn Heights. He became a merchant, and served as an Alderman of the East Ward from 1754 through 1762.

Philip Livingston (1686–1749)

Philip Livingston (July 9, 1686 – 1749), the son of Robert Livingston the Elder, and elder brother of Robert Livingston of Clermont. Philip was the second Lord of Livingston Manor, a merchant, and slave trader.

Early Life

Philip Livingston was the fourth child and second son of Robert and Alida Schulyer van Rensselaer Livingston. He was born on July 9, 1686 in his father's Albany, New York town house, at "Elm Tree Corner", the intersection of State and Pearl Streets and one of early Albany's principal crossroads. The name commemorates a legendary elm tree that reputedly was planted in 1735 by a young Philip Livingston in front of his father's house on the northwestern corner. Something of an Albany landmark, the old elm was removed in June 1877.

At the time of Philip's birth, his father was downriver in New York engaged in persuading Governor Dongan to grant a city charter to Albany. Philip was named for his maternal grandfather, Philip Pieterse Schuyler.

Alida Livingston taught her children to read and write both English and Dutch. Philip spent a year with the Huguenot community of New Rochelle in order to learn French, in anticipation of a career as an Albany trader dealing with French Canada. Philip grew up learning the intricacies of business, and trade from his father, the most successful entrepreneur in the Hudson Valley. From 1707 he acted as his father's unofficial deputy in the offices of clerk of the county and city of Albany. Philip Livingston is described as "a handsome, gay 'breaker of hearts'".