Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume X.djvu/552

 546 LIVINGSTON from New York to the continental congress, then sitting in York. II. William, governor of New Jersey, brother of the preceding, born in the province of New York in September, 1723, died in Elizabethtown, N. J., July 25, 1790. He graduated at Yale college in 1741, and sub- sequently became an eminent member of the bar in New York and New Jersey. He was elected a delegate to the first continental con- gress from the latter province in 1774, and after the deposition of William Franklin in 1776 succeded to the office of governor, which he retained to the close of his life. During the period in which the Jerseys were the prin- cipal seat of the war he was indefatigable in his efforts to keep the militia in a state of effi- ciency. In 1787 he was a delegate to the con- vention which framed the federal constitution. He was the author of a poem called " Philo- sophical Solitude," a funeral oration on Presi- dent Burr of Princeton college, and a variety of political and miscellaneous tracts. III. Brock- hoist, a soldier and jurist, son of the preceding, born in New York, Nov. 25, 1757, died in Washington, March 18, 1823. He graduated at Princeton college in 1774, and in 1776 be- came a member of the family of Gen. Schuy- ler, whom he attended as aide-de-camp during the operations of the army in the north. He was subsequently attached to the suite of Gen. Arnold with the rank of major, was present at the surrender of Burgoyne, and before leaving the army was promoted to a colonelcy. In 1779 he went to Spain as private secretary to Mr. Jay, who had married his sister. Return- ing home after three years' absence, he studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1783, was ap- pointed judge of the supreme court of the state of New York in January, 1802, and in No- vember, 1806, was raised to the bench of the United States supreme court. IV. Robert R., a statesman and jurist, grandson of the second Robert Livingston, born in the city of New York, Nov. 27, 1746, died Feb. 26, 1813. He graduated at King's (now Columbia) college in 1765, studied and practised law in New York, and in 1773 was appointed recorder of that city, a judicial office of which he was soon de- prived on account of his participation in revo- lutionary measures. He was a member of the second continental congress, and was one of the committee of five appointed to draft the Declaration of Independence. He was pre- vented from signing that instrument by a necessary absence from Philadelphia; but he furthered the cause with zeal and efficiency throughout the war, being a member of con- gress again in 1780, and secretary of foreign affairs for two years commencing in August, 1781. He was also a leading member of the Kingston convention which framed the first constitution of the state of New York, adopted in April, 1777. He was appointed the first chancellor of the state, and held the office till 1801, administering the oath of office taken by Washington on first assuming the duties of president, April 30, 1789. In February, 1801, he was appointed minister plenipotentiary to France ; and in April, 1803, he completed the purchase from that country of the territory of Louisiana. Mr. Monroe had been despatched as special envoy to assist him in the negotia- tion, but it was so far advanced before the ar- rival of the latter that the treaty of cession was signed a few days afterward. Mr. Living- ston resigned his post in 1804, and, after trav- elling over the continent, returned home the next year. During the remainder of his life he was actively engaged in introducing into the state of New York several improvements in agriculture, and in measures for the encourage- ment of a taste for the fine arts among his countrymen ; and he was associated with Rob- ert Fulton in the early experiments in steam navigation. V. Edward, brother of the prece- ding, an American jurist and statesman, born in Olermont, Columbia co., N. Y., May 26, 1764, died in Rhinebeck, May 23, 1836. He graduated at Princeton college in 1781, stud- ied law at Albany, and on his admission to the bar in 1785 commenced practice in the city of New York, where at an early age he attained high rank as a jurist and advocate. In 1794 he was elected a representative in congress from the district including the city of New York, and was reflected to the following two congresses, in which he was an opponent of the administrations of Washington and Adams upon the various party questions of the period. In March, 1801, he was appointed by Mr. Jef- ferson United States district attorney for the state of New York, then composing but one judicial district. He was also elected mayor of the city of New York for two years, com- mencing in 1801. By virtue of the latter office he was at the same time judge of an important municipal court of record. A volume of re- ports of his judicial opinions, delivered in that court during the year 1802, edited by himself, was published at New York in 1803. During his mayoralty the city was visited by yellow fever, when his benevolence and intrepidity in remaining at his post nearly cost him his life. He now found his private affairs so involved, through the fault of others it is said, that he was unable to pay his debts, including a con- siderable balance due to the general govern- ment. He promptly resigned his offices and removed to New Orleans, in hopes to retrieve his fortunes by fresh exertions in a new field. In this he succeeded thoroughly, paying his debt to the government in full, principal and interest, and making head against great diffi- culties, not the least of which was a severe controversy respecting the title which he had acquired to some lands at New Orleans formed by gradual deposits from the annual inunda- tions of the Mississippi river, and called the Batture ; a controversy in which, among other opposition, he encountered that of the federal government under the personal management of Mr. Jefferson himself. This matter was the