T H E L I V ING STON MANO R ADDRESS & RITTE N FOR TH E NE& & O R K BRANC H TH E QRDE R OF COLONI AL LORD S OF MANORS I N AM E RI CA m J OHN H E NR& EI VI NGSTON P r sident New & o rk B r a n ch e , I S T 1654 1 728 ROBERT LIVINGSTON , LORD OF THE MANOR , BORN , DIED al o rtrait th e o sses n rigin p in sio H erm an Livin sto n E s . o Oa k Hill lum bia O p of g , q , f , Co Co u n t N . & . y , “ P ub lish ed b m o f th e Au t h o f Th e Li L y p er ission or vingstons o f ivings t on Ma n or . THE LORD SHIP AND MANOR O F L IVINGSTON B efore beginning my address let me explain that I have done t o o ld everything possible obtain access to papers , letters , owned by members Of the family , which might throw new light upon the Livingston Manor , but in the majority Of cases such papers were not available . Hence I am compelled t o s t n fall back almo t en irely upon material already well know , and shall merely sketch to yo u a concise account Of the creation and duration Of the Manor Of Livingston , introducing such items Of interest as I could Obtain t o enlighten us somewhat o f o n e o f as to the lives the owners of those vast estates , which o were decreed by Royal authority t be Lordships and Manors . I t is well known that the men Of greatest influence in the early days Of o ur Colonial history were from the aristocratic class , numbered among which were the Livingstons . Their names constantly occurred in the early historical records Of Scotland . Their first ancestor , as far as has yet been traced was a Saxon o r n Le vin o r wh o t o Thane Noble , amed g Living , seemed have settled in Scotlan d in the latter part Of the r 1 th o r the early o f t h e 1 2 th o f part century , as is shown by his donation the “ ” “ ” Church Of his Villa o r Manor to the Abbey Of Ho le Od 1 2 founded in 1 8 . — 1 1 6 1 2 1 From 5 4 we find his grandsons , Alexander , William and Henry , all witnesses to further charters . ’ t o Were we able trace beyond Leving s time , we should “ ” “ probably find that his ancestor was named Liv o r Lif ” “ fo r the termination ing means family Of and when , in ’ u e about a cent ry after Leving s tim , surnames came into use , “ ” h is descendants naturally adop ted that Of de Livin gst o u n “ ” “ o r wh ich would mean the E state Of the family Of L iv Lif . Passing over a century or two we find that Sir Will iam Livingston married th e h eiress o f the House Of Callendar 1 th e abou t 34 5 , whence the Callendar Arms entered into n w 2 d r Livingston shield and o form its n and g d quarter ings . /7 From this tim e onwards th e Livingstons are continually appearing in S cottish h istory as holders of Office of r e spo n sib ility including the high Office Of Custodian o f the Royal Palace y o f . Of Linlithgow , where was born Mar Queen Scots Among her Maids o f Honour was - not only Mary Livingston (o n e Of “ in t h e Four but a lso her younger sister M agdale e . They were the daughters o f William sixth Lord Livingston o f I st . Callendar , cousin Of the Rev Alexander Livingston , great grand father Of Robert first Lord o f the Manor Of Livingston . 1 8 I t was in 4 5 that the Estates Of S ir James Livingston , the Of then representative the family , were formed into the free B arony o f Callendar and shortly thereafter he was created a ” Lord Of Parliament . 1 600 In Alexander , seventh Lord Livingston Of Callendar was f K a m s I created Earl o Linlithgow by ing J e V . o f In regard to the Arms the Livingstons Of Callendar , which are those borne by the Livingstons Of America , we find “ ” the rather u n usual charge Of a double tressure in the Liv in st o n o r o f g quarterings , indicative either Of royal descent some distinguished service . It is as yet unknown when this o r fo r o f was granted , which reason , therefore we the present day have the alternative Of believing ourselves descended either from some o n e Of the Kings Of Scotland o r from some lo u ro us va o u r . very ancestor , according as tastes incline 1 00 o f Abou t 5 William , fourth Lord Livingston Callendar mar ried Agnes Hepburn o f that family which alas &was t o become t o o celebrated in later years by its representative James , Earl Of B othwell . e They had three sons , Alexander , fifth Lord Livingston , Jam s 1 who was killed at Pinkie Field in 54 7 and William . James was the great great grandfather Of Robert first Lord “ Of . B l Vo . the Manor Of Livingston (See Select iographies , 1 2 . I , pp . 7 , etc ) 1 8 so o f This Robert , the 4 th child and th n the Rev . John 1 6 o f and Janet (Fleming) Livingston , in 73 after the death his father set out to make his fortune in the New World . He n landed at Charlestow , near B oston , bu t very soon decided 1 6 not to remain there , for in 74 he came over t o New & ork and proceeded up the Hudson to Albany . There he soon Ob t a in e d many public appointments including the Secretaryship f o . O o f 1 6 Indian Affairs n the 9th July , 79 , in the Presby h e d terian Church at Albany was married to Ali a , daughter o f Pe t e rse Sch lec n h o s Philip and Margareta (Van t e r t ) Schuyler . The latter was the only daughter Of Brand t Van Sch le c t en h o rs t Ren ss l rw the celebrated D irector Of e ae vck . Thus Robert Liv 6 I ‘ 7 n . “ - ‘ 3 3 M m rt u aufi Ge t t : m m o ul iflw ah u m &o ut . r ’ C I L ( DUC & ) V D ONGAN S C FA SIM E RE ED SI E OF GO ERNOR HARTER OF THE MANOR OF LIVIN GS TON . in gst o n becam e united w ith one of the largest a n d m ost power Th ful land holding families of th e Colony . e estates o f the Schuyler family like those Of the Van Rensselaers were meas u re d by square miles rather than by acres . It has been authoritatively stated t o me by o n e of his descendants that the head Of the Schuyler family refused knighthood and de “ ” clin e d t o accept a grant of Lordship and Manor for his vast estate . Robert soon saw that the power Ofthe Colony lay with the great o n 2 2 n d 1 686 GOV land owners and July , , he Obtained from e rn o r D ongan a Manor grant Of the lands lying fo r 1 0 miles o n 0 o f th e east bank Of the Hudson River , about 3 miles south y d Alban and extending to the New England boun ary line , f 1 6 a total o abou t acres . On this estate in 99 he o f built his Manor house , the site which was on the Hudson River near to what is now the railway station Of Linlithgow . fo r 1 800 I t remained standing over a century , but about i t o f was taken down by the great great grandson the founder . While credulous natives will still point o u t various Old “ ” Livingston houses as Manor Houses and one may eve n o n l V see such designations picture postal cards so d in the icinity , this information is absolutely erroneous and withou t any a u th o rit . n o w y whatsoever The Livingston Manor House is not , 1 00 . nor has been in existence , for over years Owing to the uncertainty of the original boundaries Of the f a Manor and the di ficulty in identifying the Indian landm rks , 1 1 Robert in 7 3 petitioned the Government for a new patent . - O 1 2 th 1 1 This was granted and on ctober , 7 5 , a confirmatory n Manor gra t was executed by Governor Hunter , whereby the Manor o f Livingston was given a representative in the General 1 68 Assembly , an honour which had been conferred in 5 upon the Manor Of Re n sse la e rwyck and in 1 69 7 upon the Manor l F 1 1 6 t Of C o r t a n d t .