Livingston, William, 1723-1790

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

<p>Livingston was born in Albany in the Province of New York on November 30, 1723. He was the son of Philip Livingston (1686–1749), the 2nd Lord of Livingston Manor, and Catherine Van Brugh, the only child of Albany mayor Pieter Van Brugh. His older siblings included Robert Livingston (1708–1790), 3rd Lord of Livingston Manor, Peter Van Brugh Livingston (1710–1792), New York State Treasurer, and Philip Livingston (1716–1778), a member of the New York State Senate.</p>

<p>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 for the eminent lawyer James Alexander. He left Alexander's office in the spring of 1746 before finishing his apprentiship because of some disagreement and joined the office William Smith, Sr.</p>

<ul><b>RACES</b>
<li>12/31/1775 NJ Continental Congress Won 100.00% (+100.00%)</li>
<li>12/31/1774 NJ Continental Congress Won 100.00% (+100.00%)</li>
<li>09/01/1774 NJ Continental Congress Won 100.00% (+100.00%)</li>
</ul>

LIVINGSTON, William, (Brother of Philip Livingston and cousin of Edward Livingston and Robert R. Livingston), a Delegate from New Jersey; born in Albany, N.Y., November 30, 1723; was graduated from Yale College in 1741; studied law; was admitted to the bar in 1748 and commenced practice in New York; established and edited the Independent Reflector in 1752; a commissioner to adjust the boundary lines between New York and Massachusetts in 1754 and New York and New Jersey in 1764; member of the provincial assembly from Livingston Manor 1759-1761; moved to Elizabethtown (now Elizabeth), N.J., in 1772; Member of the Continental Congress from July 23, 1774, to June 22, 1776; commissioned a brigadier general of the New Jersey Militia on October 28, 1775, and served until August 31, 1776, having been elected Governor; served consecutively as Governor of New Jersey from August 31, 1776, until his death; delegate to the Federal Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia in 1787 and one of the signers of the Constitution; died in Elizabeth, Union County, N.J., July 25, 1790; interment in the family vault in Trinity Churchyard, New York City; reinterred, 1846, in Brockholst Livingston vault, Green-Wood Cemetery, Brooklyn, N.Y.