William Livingston
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William Livingston (November 30, 1723– July 25, 1790) was the revolutionary Governor of New Jersey from 1776 to 1790. He was born in Albany, New York, and was raised by his grandmother until the age of 14. He graduated from Yale in 1741 and became a lawyer. He moved to Elizabethtown, New Jersey in 1772. He had built a large country home to house his growing family, which still exists and is known as Liberty Hall.
The home became a center of activity, partly caused by visits from young men, and its proximity to Francis Barber's academy. One frequent early visitor was a boarder from that school named Alexander Hamilton. Three of his daughters (Sarah, Susan, and Catherine) were lovely, and came to be known as the three graces. The height of social activity during this era was the wedding, at Liberty Hall, in April 1774 of Sarah to a young New York lawyer, John Jay.
For much of the time between 1776 and 1779 the family located in Parsippany for safety. Liberty Hall was frequently visited by British troops or naval forces, since there was a substantial reward for Livingston's capture. The family returned in 1779 to begin restoring their looted home.
His daughter, Susannah, married John Cleves Symmes in 1780.
External link
- biographic sketch at U.S. Congress website (http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=L000374)
| Preceded by: William Franklin (the last Royal Governor of New Jersey) |
Governors of New Jersey | Succeeded by: Elisha Lawrence |