Robert Livingston papers

Robert Livingston (1654-1728), was an influential businessman and politician in colonial Albany, N.Y. Also known as Robert Livingston the Elder, he was of the first generation of the prominent Livingston family of New York State. Born in Scotland, Livingston spent many years in Holland, where he acquired the Dutch language and customs. He moved to Albany in 1673, and was shortly appointed town clerk and secretary of the board of commissioners for Indian Affairs. In 1686, he received a patent for land comprising the present-day New York counties of Columbia and Dutchess, on which he built his family home, Livingston Manor. In 1709 he represented the district of Albany in the Assembly and in 1718 was elected speaker. He functioned as secretary of Indian Affairs from the 1670s on, officially from 1696 to 1710, at which time he relinquished this post to his nephew, Robert Livingston, Jr. (1663-1725). Robert Livingston the Elder retired in 1725. Certain of his descendents played instrumental roles in the political life of colonial New York City and the founding of the United States. His grandson, Philip Livingston (1716-1778), for whom Brooklyn's Livingston Street is named, was a New York delegate to the Continental Congress and the only Brooklyn resident to sign the Declaration of Independence. His great-grandson, Robert R. Livingston (1746-1813), served as Recorder of New York City and was the first Chancellor of New York, as well as the first U.S. Secretary for Foreign Affairs.