USA > New York > Columbia County > History of Columbia County, New York. With illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 22
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and died in June, 1800, at Clermont. Her husband, the judge, died also at Clermont, in 1775. She was a brave, heroic, and patriotic woman, and bore a noble part in the home-life as one of the women of the American Revolution.
ROBERT R. LIVINGSTON (THE CHANCELLOR).
Judge Livingston and his wife were blessed by a most remarkable group of children,-four sons and six daughters, -all of whom, when married, settled upon the banks of the Hudson, extending from Staatsburg to Clermont. The oldest and youngest sous, Robert R. and Edward, were prominent statesmen.
Robert R. Livingston was born in the city of New York on the 27th of November, 1746. He was educated by the best teachers of the period, and afterwards at King's
PLA
JUDGE ROBERT R. LIVINGSTON.
Judge Livingston was a man of solid judgment, exten- sive knowledge, and high Christian character. His wife was an heiress to a very large landed estate, the grand- daughter of Margaret Schuyler. " At the age of eighteen," she writes, " I was made the happy wife of Robert R. Liv- ingston. To say that my best friend was an agreeable man would but ill express a character that shone among the brightest, his finely-cultivated understanding, his just and wise decisions as a judge, a patriot ever attentive to the in- terests of his country, and a discerning politician." One of Judge Livingston's most intimate friends, William Smith, the historian, was accustomed to say, " If I were to be placed on a desert island, with but one book and one friend, that book should be the Bible and that friend Robert R. Livingston."
Margaret Beekman survived her husband many years,
(now Columbia) College, then under the presidency of Myles Cooper, of Revolutionary celebrity, where he graduated, in 1764, at the early age of eighteen. He studied law under William Smith, the historian of New York, and afterwards in the office of his relative, William Livingston, the di. - tinguished governor of New Jersey. On the 9th of Octo- ber, 1770, he married Miss Elizabeth Stevens, daughter of Hon. John Stevens, of Hunterdon, N. J. In October, 1773, he was admitted to the bar, and worked hard, bc- coming very eminent in his profession, and for a short time was in partnership with his intimate friend, John Jay. Soon after this he was appointed recorder of his native city, and was an early opponent of British oppres- sion, taking a very active part in politics. In this situa- tion the Revolution found him, so that both fatber and son relinquished at the same time important judicial sta-
HISTORY OF COLUMBIA COUNTY, NEW YORK.
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tions to take part with their fellow-patriots in the libera- tion of their country.
The delegates from the colony of New York to the Con- tinental Congress, which met in Philadelphia in May, 1775, were John Jay, John Alsop, James Duane, Philip Schuyler, George Clinton, Lewis Morris, and Robert R. Livingston ; and the weight of their talents and character may be in- terred from the fact that Mr. Jay, Mr. Duane, Mr. Schuyler, and Mr. Livingston were placed upon the committees charged with the most responsible duties. Mr. Livingston took a leading part in the debates of the Congress. He was placed on the committee to prepare and report a plan for the confederation of the colonies, and was also a mem- ber of the committee appointed to draw up and prepare the Declaration of Independence.
After the adoption of the Declaration of Independence
Other duties of a more active, though not more respon- sible character, engaged Mr. Livingston's attention, as mem- ber of the council of safety, by which body he was charged with military powers to aid General Schuyler on the northern and western frontiers, as well as for the pro- tection of the Hudson.
In 1781, upon the creation of the office by Congress, Mr. Livingston was appointed the first foreign secretary, and Robert Morris the first superintendeut of finance. Mr. Livingston served as secretary of foreign affairs from 1781 to 1783, when he resigned, as he had received the appointment of chancellor of the State of New York.
The diplomatic correspondence of the Revolutionary war may here be referred to as documentary testimony to the cabinet services of Mr. Livingston during the period of his foreign secretaryship.
From a painting by Vanderlyn.
ROBERT R. LIVINGSTON (THE CHANCELLOR).
the colony of New York was changed to a State, and Robert R. Livingston was placed upon the committee, with John Jay, Gouverneur Morris, Charles De Witt, and others, to draft and report the constitution. Robert R. Livingston introduced into this instrument the section creating the council of revision, a body composed of the governor, chancellor, and judges of the Supreme Court, which sat to revise all bills about to be passed into laws by the Legisla- ture, and of which he himself became a prominent mem- ber. The court existed till it was abolished by the con- vention of 1821, and its powers lodged solely in the hands of the governor by the constitution of that year. Mr. Livingston performed the labor of revising the draft of the State constitution of 1777,-not by any means an easy task, but one which required the best talent and learning to accomplish.
When appointed chancellor of the State of New York, in 1783, he was the first person who had ever held that office. It was the highest legal distinction in the State, and of the four who were his successors in office up to the abolition of the chancellorship, none filled the station with more learning, ability, or dignity. " The august tribunal whose justice be dispensed, though sinee covered with a halo of glory, never has boasted a more prompt, more able, or more faithful officer." In his official capacity as chan- cellor of the State of New York he had the honor to admin- ister the oath of office to Washington, on his inauguration as first President of the United States. The ceremony took place at the city hall, New York, then fronting on Wall street, which had been specially fitted up for the recep- tion of Congress. On this memorable occasion Chancellor Livingston, after having administered the oath, exclaimed,
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HISTORY OF COLUMBIA COUNTY, NEW YORK.
in deep and impressive tones, "Long live George Wash- ington, President of the United States !"
Chancellor Livingston was tendered the post of minister to France by President Washington, but saw fit to decline its acceptance ; at a later period, however, after refusing the position of secretary of the navy in the cabinet of President Jefferson, he was prevailed upon to undertake the mission to France, and was appointed minister plenipotentiary to that government in 1801, resigning the chancellorship of New York to accept a post abroad. On his arrival in France he was received by Napoleon Bonaparte, then First Consul, with marked respect and cordiality. His ministry was signalized by the cession of Louisiana to the United States, which, through his negotiations, took place in 1803, adding all the immense territory west of the Mississippi river to our possessions.
While in Paris he made the acquaintance of Robert Fulton, and a warm friendship grew up between them ; together they successfully developed a plan for steam-nav- igation. Mr. Livingston had previously become deeply in- terested in the subject ; he had constructed a boat, and had obtained of the Legislature of New York the exclusive right to navigate its waters by steam-power for a period of twenty years. On meeting Fulton in France, he made him acquainted with what he had done in America, and, from his knowledge of Fulton's mechanical genius, he advised him to turn his attention to the subject, which he did, and, after various experiments, the two together launched a trial boat on the Seine, which, however, did not meet their ex- pectations ; and it was not till after their return to America, in 1807, that the " Clermont" was built and launched upon the Hudson, and clearly demonstrated the feasibility of steam-navigation. Chancellor Livingston was the inventor, but the success of the invention was due to improvements suggested and made by Robert Fulton, and put in operation by the combined genius of the two great minds. It should be remembered, however, that Mr. Livingston was the prime mover, and was therefore instrumental in perfecting and bringing before the world one of the greatest discoveries of the age.
The retirement of Chancellor Livingston from public life was but the beginning of a new era of usefulness in his memorable career. During the remainder of his life he devoted much time and attention to the subject of agricul- ture, and was actively engaged in introducing a number of valuable improvements in that art into the State of New York.
He was the principal founder of the American Academy of Fine Arts, established in the city of New York in 1801. And although giving almost the first impulse to art culture in this country, it was not in this that he was so much a benefactor as in his aid to the means of common subsist- ence derived from the cultivation of the soil, by his intro- duction of improvements in the theory and practice of hus- bandry. Like Washington, he took a deep interest in all that pertained to the welfare of his countrymen, but in an especial manner in agriculture. His last work, written a few years previous to his death, was devoted to this subjeet.
" Among the men of our common country who, by their deeds and fame, have added to the national glory and to the
substantial welfare of the land, a pre-eminently conspicuous place will ever be assigned to Robert R. Livingston."*
He departed this life at Clermont, his seat on the Hud- son, Feb. 26, 1813, in the sixty-sixth year of his age. He was buried in the old manor vault of the Livingston family at Clermont.
EDWARD LIVINGSTON.
Edward Livingston, the youngest son and youngest child of Judge Robert R. Livingston, was born at Clermont, Co- lumbia Co., N. Y., on the 28th of May, 1764. He was at home at the time his mother's house in Clermont was burned, and formed one of the number who retreated at the approach of the troops. In 1781 he graduated at Nassau Hall College, Princeton, N. J., and afterwards studied law in the office of John Lansing, Albany, N. Y. Among his fellow-stu- dents were James Kent, Alexander Hamilton, Aaron Burr, and many other men afterwards distinguished in their country's book of fame. The office of Edward Livingston, in New York, was a basement front room in the house where he resided with his mother, No. 51 Queen street, now Pearl street, near Wall. At this city mansion La- fayette and the French officers used to call and spend pleasant evenings, and as all the members of the family eould speak the French language well, it was very agreeable to the French officers.
Edward Livingston was married to Miss McEvers on the 10th of April, 1788. In December, 1795, he took his first seat in Congress, where he distinguished himself as one of the ablest orators and debaters of the House. In 1801 he received from President Jefferson the appoint- ment of attorney of the United States for the district of New York, and was soon after elected mayor of that city, entering upon the duties of his office Aug. 24, 1801. He was the successor of De Witt Clinton and Richard Varick, in the order named.
After the purchase of Louisiana by our government, he resolved to remove to New Orleans and commence a legal career in that city, and accordingly left New York in De- cember, 1803, arriving in the Crescent City, then a settle- ment of a few French, Spanish, and Creoles, in February, 1804. He possessed a knowledge of French, Spanish, and German, which was of great advantage to him in his new sit- uation. He belonged to the fraternity of Masons, and was Master of the New Orleans lodge. Rising in his profes- sion, he became the greatest statesman of his day. He was one of the chief defenders of New Orleans when it was be- sieged by the British in 1814. Having, as chairman of the committee of safety, sent forth a stirring address to the peo- ple to rouse themselves for the defense of their city, he was the first to meet General Jackson at the head of his com- mittee and lay before him the plans for the defense.
In 1820 he accepted a seat in the lower house of the Louisiana Legislature, and in 1821 was elected by the General Assembly to revise the code of the State. He formed what was afterwards called the Livingston code, which obtained great reputation. He framed and urged the passage of a law for the abolition of capital punishment, but it was not accepted by the State.
# Frederick De Peyster, LL.D.
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HISTORY OF COLUMBIA COUNTY, NEW YORK.
The name of Edward Livingston became celebrated throughout the world. Victor Hugo wrote to him, " You will be numbered among the men of this age who have de- served most and best of mankind." He was unanimously elected as a representative to Congress, in July, 1822, and afterwards, again, twice elected, serving six sessions as representative from Louisiana. In 1828 he was elected United States senator, and became a senator on the same day that his friend, General Jackson, became President of the United States. He discharged the duties of senator till March, 1831, and had scarcely removed to his splendid farm and country-seat (Montgomery Place) left him by his widowed sister, Janet, than he was summoned to Washing- ton, and urged to accept the secretaryship of state in the cabinet of President Jackson. Ilis stand taken with Jack- son against the nullifiers of South Carolina and his hand
Edward P. Livingston was elected lieutenant-governor of New York in 1831, and was several times sent to the State Senate, the last time in 1838. He was chosen presi- dential elector, was aid to Governor Tompkins, and private secretary to the chancellor during the latter portion of his ministry to France.
He was a grandson of Philip Livingston, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. He resided at the lower manor-house, or Clermont manor, from 1802 till the time of his death. He was a graduate of Co- lumbia College, which institution he entered at the age of sixteen years, and was a man of liberal culture and un- usual fondness for reading, taking a great interest also in agriculture.
In early life he went to England to engage in commercial pursuits, but finding uo desirable opening, he soon returned.
EDWARD P. LIVINGSTON.
in the famous proclamation issued at that time are well known. In April, 1833, the President selected Edward Livingston as minister to France, and his son-in-law, Mr. Barton, as secretary of legation. On his return to the United States, after the able fulfillment of his responsible duties, his receptions by his countrymen were one grand ovation. This was the last service of his remarkably bril- liant career. On Saturday, May 21, 1836, he was suddenly taken very ill with an attack of bilious colic, from which he did not recover, but died on Monday, May 23, 1836, in the seventy-second year of his age.
EDWARD P. LIVINGSTON.
Edward P. Livingston was born in the island of Jamaica in 1780, and died November, 1843. Ile married Elizabeth Stevens, eldest daughter of Chancellor Robert R. Living- ston.
He was proposed in 1831 for governor of the State, but his right was questioned on the ground of his having been born in the island of Jamaica. It did not invalidate his claim, but was used to defeat his nomination, and he was elected lieutenant-governor instead.
Mr. Clarkson, in describing the old manor-house of Chan- cellor Livingston and the reception given there to Lafayette, remarks, " At the time of the grand reception it was occu- pied by Robert L. Livingston, who married one of Chan- cellor Livingston's two daughters, and Edward P. Livingston married the other, and occupied at this time the old manor- house adjoining."
This house is now occupied by a grandson of the chan- cellor, Mr. Clermont Livingston, a most worthy representa- tive of that noble old family. IIe is the son and successor in the estate of Edward P. Livingston, whose portrait appears above.
12
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HISTORY OF COLUMBIA COUNTY, NEW YORK.
WILLIAM W. VAN NESS.
Judge William W. Van Ness was born at Claverack in the year 1776. His early educational advantages were rather limited, being such only as were afforded by his native village, as he did not receive a collegiate education. While quite young he commenced the study of the law in the office of Jobn Bay, Esq., but afterwards served part of the time of his legal clerkship with Chancellor Livingston, in New York. In 1797, at the age of twenty-one, he was licensed as an attorney, and commenced practice in Clav- erack, but soon after removed to Hudson, and there re- mained in full and lucrative practice until the year 1807, when he was appointed a judge of the Supreme Court of New York, under the administration of Governor Morgan Lewis. Of this appointment and of his previous profes- sional career the Hon. Aaron Vanderpoel spoke as follows :
" Though but comparatively a youth when intrusted with the high and responsible office of judge, he had already secured to himself an enviable measure of professional fame. His reputation as an advocate, or as it is vulgarly called ' a jury lawyer,' was at that time eminent beyond all parallel in the State. The various rencounters between him and a professional brother* must, according to the accounts of those who witnessed them, have afforded some of the most interesting exhibitions of forensic talent. Those who knew both men must feel assured that, upon such occasions, genius must have burst forth in all her variegated aspects. Here cloquenee could give her proudest specimens, and often exhibit her proudest laurels. The one, with smooth and mellifluous accents, with ehaste and elegant simplicity, winning the hearts and judgments of the jury ; the other brandishing with terrible effect the many-edged sword of argument, vehemenee, wit, imagination, and satire. ... It was not at term that his worth was most conspicuous. At nisi-prius his greatness was most resplendent. There, in his charges to the jury, and his melting appeals to the hardened culprit about to be consigned to the prison or the gallows, might be seen developed the resources of his original and comprehensive mind. I have seen desperate and hard-hearted villainy melt and tremble under his pathetic appeals. I have heard of pathos in books upon rhetoric, but never have I heard it so successfully exemplified as by the subject of this memoir. Not forgetting the feelings of the man in the severe duties of the judge, he often gave proof unequivocal that he felt as well as spoke. In causes where life was at stake, where cruelty was to receive its just retribution, and where the assassin of reputation was to be reproved by the verdict of the jury, I have heard break from him strains of eloquence potent as electricity. I would not derogate from the reputation of the eminent judges with whom he was associated, but I know that they unitedly contend that, in charging a jury, he had no equal, neither in this State nor this country."
In 1820 an unjustifiable and cruel attempt was made by
political opponents to blast the character of Judge Van Ness, by allegations of corruption on his part in the matter of the chartering of the Bank of America, which will be found noticed more at length in the mention of the Bank of Columbia, in the history of the city of Hudson, as also the testimony given by his friend, Elisha Williams, before a committee appointed by the Legislature, which testimony had the effect of fully exonerating and acquitting Judge Van Ness, by the report of that committee, made April 6, 1820. Of that report, and upon the circumstances of the case, one of the leading journals of that day remarked as follows :
" After a long, faithful, and impartial examination, the committee appointed for the purpose of examining the official conduct of Hon. William W. Van Ness made their satisfactory report to the State Legislature, and we feel a sincere gratification in saying that the elevated character of our judiciary stands unimpaired, and the reputation and integrity of one of its most useful ornaments untouched and unsullied. The report, though brief, is full, satisfac- tory, and conclusive. He has passed through the ordeal unharmed, and that too at a period of party excitement almost without a parallel. Every engine that party rage, wealth, and influence could command has been set in motion to impeach his conduct, with certain charges pre- ferred against him by the editors of the [New York] Ameri- can, but, after the strictest scrutiny, nothing could be proved against him. On the contrary, his innocence has been completely established and the purity of the bench declared by the unanimous voice of the people through their repre- sentatives. We congratulate the public upon the honorable exculpation of this distinguished citizen and brilliant orna- ment of the bench."
While this investigation was yet in progress, Judge Am- brose Spencer wrote to Solomon Van Rensselaer these words of cheer and confidence : " Your friend, Judge Van Ness, I have no doubt will come out as pure as gold from the refiner's hands." And the prediction proved true ; but the attempt to impeach him, though it failed, cast a shadow over the life of Van Ness, from which he never recovered, and which, it is said, accelerated the disease which carried him to an early grave.
Upon his retirement from the Supreme bench he re- moved to New York, and there resumed the practice of his profession ; but his health rapidly declined, and at the close of the year 1822 his physician bade him, as a last resort, to seek the milder climate of the south. A few days be- fore setting out on this, which proved his last journey, he addressed a most touching letter " to Solomon Van Rens- selaer and Dr. William Bay, Albany," between whom and himself, as appears, some unpleasant feelings had been en- gendered Dr. Bay was the son of John Bay, of Clav- erack, and had married a sister of Judge Van Ness. The letter referred to was as follows:
"NEW York, Monday, Dee. 30, 1822. " MY DEAR FRIENDS,-This year is about drawing to a close, and I wish to terminate it in peace with all mankind if I can. I wrote you a letter some time ago, containing, no doubt, many expressions highly improper, cruel, and unjust. The only atonement I can make is to ask your pardon and forgiveness. My wife, myself, and ser- vant (by the advice of Dr. Post) sail fur Charleston on Thursday,
* The professional brother referred to was Elisha Williams, wbo was constantly his antagonist in enses argued before the courts. It is told of Mr. Williams that, on hearing of the appointment of Mr. Van Ness to the bench, he exelaimed, " Thank God ! I have now no longer an opponent to beat me by asking the tureman of the jury fur a chew of tohaceo."
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HISTORY OF COLUMBIA COUNTY, NEW YORK.
Friday, Saturday, or Sunday, depending on wind and weather. If you should become reconciled to mo, let me hear from you both every once in a while. May God enable you, may God suffer you, to enjoy many happy returns of the season !
"Your sincere friend,
"W. W. VAN NESS."
The change of climate wrought no healing either to body or spirit. He died in Charleston, S. C., Feb. 27, 1823, at the age of forty-seven years, and his remains were brought back and buried in the church-yard at Claverack. At a meeting of the Columbia bar, convened upon the announce- ment of his death, March 22, 1823, Elisha Williams said of him, " He was indeed the pride, the ornament, the patron of our bar. How often has he animated and ad- monished those who now hear me to strive for honorable profession ! How has he encouraged the retiring, timid youth ! how pruned the luxuriant shoots of genius, careful to detect and faithful to disclose to each his errors !
" The heart of our brother was a stranger to that jeal- ousy which narrow minds feel at a rival's success. His soul exulted in the rising fame and increasing prosperity of his professional brethren. The honor of the bar he con- sidered as the property of the State,-and he who contrib- uted most to swell this common fund he regarded as the greatest public benefactor.
" Careless of the acquisition of weath, he has left little of it to his bereaved family. But he has left to them and to posterity a legacy more valuable than riches, more dura- ble than marble."
JACOB RUTSEN VAN RENSSELAER.
General Jacob R. Van Rensselaer was born in Claverack in 1767. He was bred a lawyer, practiced his profession in his native town, and became one of the most distinguished members of the bar, even of Columbia county. He was several times elected to the Legislature, and in 1812 was speaker of the Assembly. He was appointed secretary of state of the State of New York in 1814, and was a mem- ber of the constitutional convention of 1821. In the War of 1812 he commanded troops which were drafted in Co- Inmbia county, and were ordered to the defense of the city of New York. He was the intimate personal and political friend of Elisha Williams and Judge Van Ness,-these three being for years the leaders of the Federalist party in Co- lumbia. He was a man of great ability, an excellent and ready debater, a prominent patriot, a most genial and liberal-minded gentleman, and always during his life en- joyed great popularity, and stood high in the respect of the people of the county. Ile died Sept. 22, 1835, at the age of sixty-eight.
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