- Livingston Manor
"This article contains information related to Livingston Manor, the 18th century New York estate.
Livingston Manor, New York is a town in Sullivan County."Livingston Manor was a 160,000 acre (650 km²) tract of land granted to
Robert Livingston the Elder through the influence of GovernorThomas Dongan , and confirmed byroyal charter of King George I in 1715, creating the manor and lordship of Livingston. This tract embraced large portions of what are now Dutchess and Columbia counties. The lords of the manor were:*
Robert Livingston the Elder (1715-1728)
*Philip Livingston (1728-1749)
*Robert Livingston (1749-1790)The first division of the estate was made in 1728, when Robert Livingston the Elder stipulated that his son Robert Livingston be granted 13,000 acres (53 km²) from Livingston Manor's southwest corner, a tract which Robert christened
Clermont Manor . In 1790 the remainder of Livingston Manor was divided among the last lord of the manor, Robert Livingston's heirs rather than passed down throughprimogeniture , as Robert disapproved of his eldest son. The inheritors of the estate were all men who had distinguished themselves considerably during and after theAmerican Revolution :*
Philip Livingston , delegate to theContinental Congress and signatory of theUnited States Declaration of Independence
*William Livingston ,Governor of New Jersey and signatory of theUnited States Constitution
*William Alexander , major general in theContinental Army during theAmerican Revolutionary War
*James Duane , delegate to theContinental Congress andMayor of New York City These four heirs subsequently divided the land among their own families, and the power of the Livingston family was slowly diminished. A portion of the estate is still held by the family. The town of
Livingston, New York occupies part of the original tract.Although an English-deeded tract, some sources list Livingston Manor with the
patroon ships ofNew Netherland .References
* [http://www.raken.com/American_Wealth/manor_lords/manor_lords2.asp Manor Lords]
* [http://www.cooperativeindividualism.org/rubenstein_stan_dutch_patroons.html Dutch Patroons]
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