Livingston, William, 1723-1790

William Livingston (November 30, 1723 – July 25, 1790) was an American politician who served as the first non-Colonial governor of New Jersey (1776–1790) during the American Revolutionary War. As a New Jersey representative in the Continental Congress, he signed the Continental Association and the United States Constitution. He is considered one of the Founding Fathers of the United States.

Born in Albany, New York, Livingston received his early education from local schools and tutors. At age 13, Livingston was sent to live for a year and prepare for college with the Anglican missionary catechist and Yale College graduate Henry Barclay who lived among the Iroquois in the Mohawk Valley at Fort Hunter. Livingston enrolled at Yale in 1737 and graduated in 1741. He went on to New York City, where he studied law and became a law clerk. He became a lawyer in 1748 and began his practice in New York City. In 1752, he co-founded a weekly journal, the Independent Reflector. Livingston was a member of the New York provincial assembly from 1759 to 1761.

In 1772, he moved to Elizabethtown (today Elizabeth, New Jersey). After attaining considerable influence amongst the local patriots, Livingston was elected to serve as one of New Jersey's delegates to the Continental Congress. He served from July 1774 to June 1776. The state's Provincial Congress declined to reappoint him to the Continental Congress as he did not favor independence. Instead, they offered him command of the state's militia, an offer he declined. He returned to New Jersey and relied on his previous commission (of October 1775) as a brigadier general of the New Jersey Militia. In August 1776, he was elected Governor of New Jersey. Livingston joined the New Jersey Delegation to the 1787 Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia and was one of the signers of the U.S. Constitution. He was appointed United States Minister to the Netherlands in 1788 by U.S. Congress but turned down the proposition. He continued to be reelected governor of New Jersey each year until his death in 1790.

Livingston died in Elizabeth. Originally buried at Trinity Church, Manhattan, his remains were reinterred at Green-Wood Cemetery, Brooklyn in 1844.