Livingston, Philip, 1716-1778

<p>Philip Livingston (January 15, 1716 – June 12, 1778) was an American merchant and statesman from New York City. He represented New York at the October 1774 First Continental Congress, where he favored imposing economic sanctions upon Great Britain as a way of pressuring the British Parliament to repeal the Intolerable Acts. He was also a delegate to the Second Continental Congress from 1775 to 1778, and signed the Declaration of Independence, thus becoming one of the Founding Fathers of the United States.</p>

<p>Livingston was born in Albany, New York, on January 15, 1716, the fourth surviving son of Philip Livingston (1686–1749), 2nd Lord of the Manor, and Catherine Van Brugh Livingston, the daughter of Albany Mayor Pieter Van Brugh. Along with his brother, William Livingston (1723–1790), he grew up in the Albany area, dividing his time between his father’s Albany townhouse and the manor house in Linlithgo, at the junction of the Roeliff Jansen Kill and the Hudson River.</p>

<p>Livingston graduated from Yale College in 1737 and returned to Albany to serve a mercantile apprenticeship under his father. Through his father's influence, he obtained clerkships in Albany's local government. He then settled in New York City and pursued a career in the import business, trading with the British sugar islands in the West Indies. During King George's War (1744–1748), Livingston made his fortune provisioning and privateering. He also speculated heavily in real estate and the slave trade. He had a stone townhouse on Duke Street in Manhattan and a forty-acre estate in Brooklyn Heights. He became a merchant and served as an alderman of the East Ward from 1754 through 1762.</p>

<ul><b>RACES</b>
<li> 12/31/1777 NY Continental Congress Won 100.00% (+100.00%)</li>
<li> 06/01/1777 NY Governor Lost 0.29% (-47.99%)</li>
<li> 03/08/1777 NY State Senate - Southern Won 11.11% (+0.00%)</li>
<li> 12/31/1776 NY Continental Congress Won 100.00% (+100.00%)</li>
<li> 12/31/1775 NY Continental Congress Won 100.00% (+100.00%)</li>
<li> 12/31/1774 NY Continental Congress Won 100.00% (+100.00%)</li>
<li> 10/06/1765 Delegate to the Stamp Act Congress Won 100.00% (+100.00%)</li>
</ul>

<ul><b>SPECULATIVE, DID NOT RUN</b>
<li> 03/04/1778 NY State Senate - Southern - Appointment Won 0.00% (+0.00%)</li>
</ul>

Philip Livingston was born in Albany, New York, on the fifteenth of January, 1716. He graduated at Yale College in 1737, and entered into mercantile business in the city of New York. He was a very successful businessman, and served his community as an alderman. In 1754 he attended the Colonial Convention at Albany. He was selected as a delegate to the Continental Congress in 1776, and was in strong favor of the Declaration of Independence. After the adoption of a new Constitution for New York State, he was elected to the state Senate. He died suddenly while in attendance at York, Pennsylvania.