

Thomas Jefferson is depicted presenting the draft Declaration to the Congress with Benjamin Franklin at his side.īehind them are, from left to right, John Adams, Roger Sherman, and Livingston.Īfter establishing a general outline for the document, the committee decided that Jefferson would write the first draft. He ran for Governor of New York as a Democratic-Republican, unsuccessfully challenging incumbent governor John Jay in the 1798 election.ĭuring that period, he became nationally known by his title alone as The Chancellor, and even after leaving office, he was respectfully addressed as Chancellor Livingston for the remainder of his life. Livingston, a member of a large and prominent family, was known for continually quarreling with his relatives.Ĭoncurrently, he served from 1781 to 1783 as the first United States Secretary of Foreign Affairs under the Articles of Confederation. His grand-uncle was Philip Livingston (16861749), the 2nd Lord of Livingston Manor. His great-grandparents were Robert Livingston the Elder (16541728) and Alida ( ne Schuyler ) Van Rensselaer Livingston, daughter of Philip Pieterse Schuyler (16281683). Minister to France), and sister Joanna Livingston (17591827), who married Peter R. Richard Montgomery (17381775), sister Alida Livingston (17611822), who married John Armstrong, Jr.


Morgan Lewis (17541844), sister Janet Livingston (d. Minister to France, his sister Gertrude Livingston (17571833), who married Gov.

He had two brothers and sisters, all of whom wed and made their homes on the Hudson River near the family seat at Clermont Manor.Īmong his siblings was his younger brother, Edward Livingston (1764-1836), who also served as U.S. He was elected a member to the American Philosophical Society in 1801. Livingston administered the oath of office to George Washington when he assumed the Presidency in 1789.
