Peter R. Livingston (politician, born 1737)

Livingston was born on April 27, 1737, at Clermont Manor, Clermont, Columbia County, New York and grew up at Linlithgo, his great-grandfather's manor house. He was the eldest surviving son of Maria ( Tong) Livingston and Robert Livingston, 3rd Lord of Livingston Manor. Among his siblings were Walter Livingston, the first Speaker of the New York State Assembly. After the death of his mother in 1765, his father married Gertrude (née Van Rensselaer) Schuyler, daughter of Kiliaen Van Rensselaer. His paternal grandparents were Catharina (née Van Brugh) Livingston and Philip Livingston, 2nd Lord of Livingston Manor. He was the great-grandson of Robert Livingston the Elder, a New York colonial official, fur trader, and businessman who was granted a patent to 160,000 acres (650 km2/ 250 sq mi) along the Hudson River, and becoming the first lord of Livingston Manor. His mother was a granddaughter of Governor Rip Van Dam. His father expected Peter and his brothers to take their place as his business agents and had them educated accordingly. ==Career==

In 1761, he was elected to the New York General Assembly, representing the Manor of Livingston. He withdrew from the Assembly in 1768 to make way for his uncle, Philip, but was returned in 1774 and was the last to hold office under manorial rights. He was chairman of the Committee of Safety. In 1775 he was a member of the 1st Provincial Convention and served as its president in 1776. He resigned as Colonel in 1780. ==Personal life==

On June 6, 1758, Livingston was married to his cousin, Margaret Livingston (1738–1809), in New York City. Margaret was a daughter of Maria ( Kierstede) Livingston and Jacobus "James" Livingston (a son of Robert Livingston the Younger). Together, they were the parents of eleven children, including: • Robert Thong Livingston (1759–1813), who married Margaret Livingston, daughter of John Livingston and Catherine ( de Peyster) Livingston, in 1787. His brother's house, Teviotdale, adjoined The Hermitage to the south. Although he was the eldest son and principal heir of his father, Peter ran up considerable debts during his father's lifetime, and as part of the action taken to curtail his inheritance, his father built him The Hermitage, although the house was put in the name of Peter's eldest son, Robert. Peter's father hoped his son would add a second story but he never did. The house was sold among Livingston family members for many years but wasn't completed until 1939 when "a wing and lifted the roof, adding another story and a half and a portico - a covered porch supported by columns" were added by Ida Helen Ogilvie, founder and former head of Barnard College's Geology department, and her architect, Harold R. Sleeper. ==Sources==