Robert Livingston (1688–1775)

Robert Livingston (July 24, 1688 – June 27, 1775) of New York, known as Robert of Clermont, son of Robert Livingston the Elder and father of Robert Livingston. He was a member of New York colonial assembly from 1726 until 1727.

Robert Livingston of Clermont was born on the afternoon of July 24, 1688, the fifth child and third son of Robert (1654–1728) and Alida (nee Schuyler) van Rensselaer Livingston (b. 1656). He was born at his father's Albany, New York townhouse, at "Elm Tree Corner", the intersection of State and Pearl Streets and one of early Albany's principal crossroads. At the time of Robert's birth, his father was downriver in New York engaged in business with Governor Dongan. He was one of nine children together, including Philip Livingston (1686–1749), his brother. His maternal grandfather was Philip Pieterse Schuyler (1628–1683) and his paternal grandfather was Reverend John Livingston, a Church of Scotland minister who died in exile in 1673.

His mother, Alida, had previously been married to Nicholas van Rensselaer (1636–1678), but after his death, she married Robert Livingston in 1679. Alida taught her children to read and write both English and Dutch. At the invitation of his brother William, Robert the Elder sent his eleven-year-old son, Robert, to Scotland to be educated at the Latin school in Leith. Later he studied at the High School in Edinburgh. He went to London for the completion of his education and studied law there at the Temple. Upon reaching the age of twenty-five, he returned to America and opened a law office in Albany. He abandoned the profession in 1713 to move to New York and begin a mercantile career. However, he returned to Livingston Manor to help with the management thereof.

Following the death of his father, the first Lord of Livingston Manor, in 1728, most of the manor was inherited by the eldest surviving son Philip, but 13,000 acres (53 km²) south of the Roeliff Jansen Kill was willed to Robert. Known as the "Lower Manor", Robert named his estate "Ancram", after the parish where his grandfather, Rev. John Livingston had served. It was also the same name his brother Philip had given to the ironworks at Livingston Manor.

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