Henry Brockholst Livingston

{{Infobox officeholder

| image = Henry Brockholst Livingston.jpg

| office = Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States

| term_start = January 20, 1807

| term_end = March 18, 1823{{cite web| url=https://www.supremecourt.gov/about/members_text.aspx| title= Justices 1789 to Present| publisher=Supreme Court of the United States| location=Washington, D.C.| access-date=February 9, 2022}}

| predecessor = William Paterson

| successor = Smith Thompson

| birth_date = {{birth date|1757|11|25}}

| birth_place = New York City, New York, British America

| death_date = {{death date and age|1823|3|18|1757|11|25}}

| death_place = Washington, D.C., U.S.

| party = Democratic-Republican

| spouse = {{marriage|Catherine Keteltas|1784|1804|end=her death}}
Ann Ludlow
Catherine Seaman

| relatives = William Livingston (Father)
John Jay (brother-in-law)
John Symmes (brother-in-law)
Maurice Power (son-in-law)
Robert Livingston (uncle)
Peter Van Brugh Livingston (uncle)
Philip Livingston (uncle)
Henry Ledyard (grandson)

| education = Princeton University {{small|(BA)}}

| signature = Signature of Henry Brockholst Livingston (1757–1823).png

| allegiance = 23px United Colonies of North America

| branch = 23px Continental Army

| serviceyears = 1775–1782

| rank = 23px Lieutenant Colonel
23px Aide-de-camp

| unit = 23px 3rd New York Regiment

| battles = American Revolutionary War

}}

Henry Brockholst Livingston (November 25, 1757 – March 18, 1823) was an American Revolutionary War officer, a justice of the New York Court of Appeals and eventually an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States.

Early life

Livingston was born in New York City in 1757 to Susanna French (d. 1789) and William Livingston (1723–1790).{{cite book |title=Biographical Sketch of William Colfax, Captain of Washington's Body Guard |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ETYuAAAAYAAJ |year=1876 |first=William |last=Nelson |access-date=November 14, 2020 |archive-date=June 14, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200614163554/https://books.google.com/books?id=ETYuAAAAYAAJ |url-status=live }} He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts from the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University) in 1774.{{Cite book |last=Harison |first=Richard |title="Brockholst Livingston," in Princetonians, 1769–1775: A Biographical Dictionary |publisher=Princeton University Press |year=1980 |location=Princeton, N.J. |pages=397–407 |language=English}} He inherited the family estate in New Jersey, Liberty Hall (the modern-day site of Kean University), and retained it until 1798.

Military service

Livingston played a significant role in the American Revolutionary War, serving in both military and diplomatic capacities. He began his service in 1775 as a captain and aide-de-camp to General Philip Schuyler, contributing to the Northern Campaign of the war. By December 1775, Livingston was promoted to major and served in the 3rd New York Regiment, a unit of the New York Line.{{Cite book |last=Heitman |first=Francis B. |url=https://www.carolana.com/SC/Revolution/Historical_Register_of_the_Officers_of_the_Continental_Army_Francis_B_Heitman_1914.pdf |title=Historical Register of Officers of the Continental Army During the War of the Revolution: April, 1775, to December, 1783 |publisher=The Rare Book Shop Publishing Company, Inc. |year=1914 |isbn=978-0806301761 |edition=New, Revised, and Enlarged |location=Washington, D.C. |pages=354}}

In 1776 and 1777, Livingston served under General Arthur St. Clair before joining Major General Benedict Arnold as an aide-de-camp during the pivotal Saratoga Campaign. At the Battle of Freeman's Farm on September 19, 1777, Livingston actively participated in the engagement and publicly credited Arnold with the American victory, which caused tension with General Horatio Gates, commander of the Northern Army. After the battle, Livingston left the camp on September 26, 1777, to rejoin General Schuyler in Albany.{{Cite web |last=historianatosaratoga |date=2023-11-25 |title=OTD: Henry Brockholst Livingston was born in 1757 |url=https://historianatsaratoga.wordpress.com/2023/11/25/otd-henry-brockholst-livingston-was-born-in-1757-8/ |access-date=2024-11-30 |website=Historian at Saratoga - Town of Saratoga |language=en}}

Livingston's bravery and contributions did not go unnoticed. On October 4, 1777, eight days after leaving Saratoga, the Continental Congress officially promoted him to lieutenant colonel, recognizing his merit and service to the Continental Army. Earlier that year, he had delivered dispatches to the Continental Congress announcing the Continental Army's victory at the Battle of Bennington in August 1777. Livingston was also present at the surrender of British General John Burgoyne's army at Saratoga, a decisive moment in the war.{{Cite web |last=historianatosaratoga |date=2023-11-25 |title=OTD: Henry Brockholst Livingston was born in 1757 |url=https://historianatsaratoga.wordpress.com/2023/11/25/otd-henry-brockholst-livingston-was-born-in-1757-8/ |access-date=2024-11-30 |website=Historian at Saratoga - Town of Saratoga |language=en}}

In 1779, Livingston was granted a leave of absence to be the private secretary for his brother-in-law, John Jay, the U.S. Minister to Spain. During this diplomatic mission, Livingston supported American efforts to secure Spanish assistance for the war. On his return voyage to America in 1782, Livingston was captured at sea by the British and imprisoned in New York City. He was released on parole later that year. Following his release, he left military service and began studying law in the law office of Peter Yates in Albany.{{Cite web |last=historianatosaratoga |date=2023-11-25 |title=OTD: Henry Brockholst Livingston was born in 1757 |url=https://historianatsaratoga.wordpress.com/2023/11/25/otd-henry-brockholst-livingston-was-born-in-1757-8/ |access-date=2024-11-30 |website=Historian at Saratoga - Town of Saratoga |language=en}}

Legal Career

After leaving the military, Livingston read law and was admitted to the bar in 1783. He was in private practice in New York City from 1783 to 1802, and was a counsel for the defense in the landmark case of Rutgers v. Waddington (1784).{{Cite web |last=historianatosaratoga |date=2023-11-25 |title=OTD: Henry Brockholst Livingston was born in 1757 |url=https://historianatsaratoga.wordpress.com/2023/11/25/otd-henry-brockholst-livingston-was-born-in-1757-8/ |access-date=2024-11-30 |website=Historian at Saratoga - Town of Saratoga |language=en}} He was an Original Member of the Society of the Cincinnati.{{Cite web |title=The New York State Society of the Cincinnati |url=http://www.nycincinnati.org/NYOfficers.htm |access-date=2024-11-30 |website=www.nycincinnati.org}} Livingston served as one of three defense attorneys, alongside Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr, in the trial of Levi Weeks for the murder of Elma Sands.{{cite book |last=James |first=Bill |url={{Google books|id=bxyQgM6U5IQC|pg=PT28|plainurl=y}} |title=Popular Crime: Reflections on the Celebration of Violence |publisher=Simon and Schuster |year=2012 |isbn=978-1-4165-5274-1 |page=12}}

File:Henry Brockholst Livingston, ca. 1790, artist unknown (Frick Photoarchive).png

=Judicial career=

From 1802 to 1807, Livingston served as a justice of the Supreme Court of New York, where he authored a famous dissent in the 1805 case of Pierson v. Post.

Two years later, on November 10, 1806, Livingston received a recess appointment to the Supreme Court of the United States from Thomas Jefferson, to a seat vacated by William Paterson. Formally nominated on December 15, 1806, as Jefferson's second nominee, Livingston was confirmed by the United States Senate on December 17, 1806,{{cite report| last=McMillion| first=Barry J.| date= January 28, 2022| title=Supreme Court Nominations, 1789 to 2020: Actions by the Senate, the Judiciary Committee, and the President| url=https://sgp.fas.org/crs/misc/RL33225.pdf| publisher=Congressional Research Service| location=Washington, D.C.| access-date=February 9, 2022}} and was sworn into office on January 20, 1807. He served on the Supreme Court from then until his death in 1823. During his Supreme Court tenure, Livingston's votes and opinions often followed the lead of Chief Justice John Marshall. In that era, Supreme Court justices were required to ride a circuit; in Justice Livingston's case, he presided over cases in New York State.{{cite web |title=Livingston, Henry Brockholst |url=https://www.fjc.gov/node/1383961 |website=www.fjc.gov |publisher=Federal Judicial Center |access-date=9 December 2017 |language=en |archive-date=December 10, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171210073123/https://www.fjc.gov/node/1383961 |url-status=live }}

=Virginia-New York Alliance=

Prior to his appointment to the U.S. Supreme Court, Livingston served as a judge for the State Supreme Court of New York, a member of the New York State Assembly, and an immensely prominent political activist. Due to family ties, Livingston's allegiance to the Democratic-Republican party soon faded. Essentially, Livingston rebelled and goaded the Federalists to an enormous extent. With members consisting of Aaron Burr, Robert R. Livingston, and Edward Livingston (both cousins of Brockholst), Livingston became one of the few emerging from a compact political faction in New York to form an alliance with Jefferson's supporters in Virginia. This became known as the Virginia-New York alliance, which proved to be vital in Jefferson's 1800–1801 election.{{cite journal |last=Abraham |first=Henry J. |title=President Jefferson's Three Appointments to the Supreme Court of the United States: 1804, 1807, and 1807 |journal=Journal of Supreme Court History |volume=31 |issue=2 |year=2006 |pages=141–154 |doi=10.1111/j.1540-5818.2006.00132.x |s2cid=145007294 }}

File:Justice Livingston.jpg

=Later years and death=

Livingston was elected a member of the American Antiquarian Society in 1814.{{Cite web |url=http://www.americanantiquarian.org/memberlistl |title=American Antiquarian Society Members Directory |access-date=April 14, 2015 |archive-date=March 3, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303233840/http://www.americanantiquarian.org/memberlistl |url-status=live }}

Livingston died in Washington, D.C. His remains are interred at Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn, New York.{{Cite web |url=https://www.green-wood.com/2013/march-18-henry-brockholst-livingston/ |title=Green-Wood Cemetery |date=March 18, 2013 |access-date=December 12, 2017 |archive-date=December 13, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171213142001/https://www.green-wood.com/2013/march-18-henry-brockholst-livingston/ |url-status=live }}

Family

File:Coat of Arms of William Livingston.svg

Livingston's paternal uncles were Robert Livingston (1708–1790), Peter Van Brugh Livingston (1710–1792), Philip Livingston (1716–1778), and his paternal grandparents were Philip Livingston (1686–1749), the 2nd Lord of Livingston Manor, and Catherine Van Brugh, the only child of Albany mayor Pieter Van Brugh (1666–1740).

His sister, Sarah Van Brugh Livingston (1756–1802), married John Jay (1745–1829) who was a diplomat, one of the Founding Fathers of the United States, signatory of the Treaty of Paris, the second governor of New York, and the first chief justice of the United States, in 1774.

Another sister, Susannah Livingston (1748–1840), married John Cleves Symmes (1742–1814), who was a delegate to the Continental Congress from New Jersey, and later a pioneer in the Northwest Territory. Her stepdaughter Anna Symmes, Symmes' daughter from a previous marriage, married eventual president William Henry Harrison, and was the grandmother of President Benjamin Harrison.{{cite news |last1=Kamuf |first1=Betty |title=The Life of John Cleves Symmes |url=http://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/local/community-news/2016/07/20/column-life-john-cleves-symmes/87073058/ |access-date=April 26, 2017 |work=Cincinnati.com |publisher=USA Today |date=July 20, 2016 |language=en |archive-date=January 23, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210123173451/https://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/local/community-news/2016/07/20/column-life-john-cleves-symmes/87073058/ |url-status=live }}

=Marriages and children=

Livingston married three times. He first married Catherine Keteltas (1761–1804), the daughter of Peter Keteltas and Elizabeth Van Zandt, on December 2, 1784. He and Catherine were the parents of:

Eliza Livingston (1786–1860), who married Jasper Hall Livingston (1780–1835), the son of Philip Philip Livingston (1741–1787){{cite web |title=The Livingstons of Livingston Manor |url=http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=wu.89061955639;view=1up;seq=701 |publisher=HathiTrust digital library |url-access=subscription |access-date=January 18, 2014 |archive-date=July 31, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210731035113/https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=wu.89061955639;view=1up;seq=701 |url-status=live }}
Susan French Livingston (1789–1864), who married Benjamin Ledyard (1779–1812).{{citation |title=The History of Detroit and Michigan |first=Silas |last=Farmer |year=1889 |pages=1041–1043 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Yl06VbZ-RfwC&pg=1041 |access-date=April 26, 2017 |archive-date=July 29, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140729220123/http://books.google.com/books?id=Yl06VbZ-RfwC&pg=1041 |url-status=live }}
Catherine Augusta Livingston (b. c. 1790), who married Archibald McVicker (1785–1849){{cite book |last1=Andreas |first1=Alfred Theodore |title=History of Chicago {{!}} From the Earliest Period to the Present Time {{!}} Vol. II – From 1857 until the Fire of 1871 |date=1885 |publisher=The A. T. Andreas Company |location=Chicago |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=F9A4AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA394 |access-date=April 26, 2017 |archive-date=July 31, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210731040439/https://books.google.com/books?id=F9A4AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA394 |url-status=live }}
Robert C. Livingston (b. c. 1793)

After his first wife's death in 1804, he married Ann N. Ludlow (1775–1815), the daughter of Gabriel Henry Ludlow and Ann Williams.{{cite book |last1=Gordon |first1=William Seton |title=Gabriel Ludlow and His Descendants |date=1919 |url=https://archive.org/details/GenealogyGlh232968997 |access-date=April 26, 2017 }} Together, they were the parents of:

Carroll Livingston (1805–1867), who married Cornelia Livingston.
Anson Livingston (1807–1873), who married Anne Greenleaf Livingston (1809–1887), daughter of Henry Walter Livingston (1768–1810){{cite news |last1=Ferreri |first1=James G. |title=The Underground Railroad wound through Staten Island's Livingston |url=http://www.silive.com/homegarden/index.ssf/2013/04/the_underground_railroad_wound.html |access-date=April 26, 2017 |work=SILive.com |date=April 26, 2013 |archive-date=August 4, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170804175230/http://www.silive.com/homegarden/index.ssf/2013/04/the_underground_railroad_wound.html |url-status=live }}{{cite news |last1=Fioravante |first1=Janice |title=If You're Thinking of Living In/Livingston, Staten Island; Filmgoers May Find the Streets Familiar |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2002/11/24/realestate/if-you-re-thinking-living-livingston-staten-island-filmgoers-may-find-streets.html |access-date=April 26, 2017 |work=The New York Times |date=November 24, 2002 |archive-date=August 5, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170805020709/http://www.nytimes.com/2002/11/24/realestate/if-you-re-thinking-living-livingston-staten-island-filmgoers-may-find-streets.html |url-status=live }}{{cite book |last1=Hall |first1=Henry |title=America's Successful Men of Affairs: The City of New York {{!}} Vol. I. |year=1895 |publisher=New York Tribune |location=New York |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=X5wMAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA398 |access-date=April 26, 2017 |archive-date=July 31, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210731035112/https://books.google.com/books?id=X5wMAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA398 |url-status=live }}

After his second wife's death in 1815, he married Catherine Seaman (1775–1859), the daughter of Edward Seaman and the widow of Capt. John Kortright.{{cite book |title=The Letters of Moore Furman, Deputy Quarter-Master General of New Jersey in the Revolution |year=1912 |publisher=F.H. Hitchcock |location=New York |page=9 |url=http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=loc.ark:/13960/t11n8j47r;view=1up;seq=27 |access-date=October 3, 2015 |archive-date=July 31, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210731085857/https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=loc.ark%3A%2F13960%2Ft11n8j47r%3Bview%3D1up%3Bseq%3D27 |url-status=live }} Together, Henry and Catherine were the parents of:{{cite book |last1=Livingston |first1=Edwin Brockholst |title=The Livingstons of Livingston Manor: Being the History of that Branch of the Scottish House of Callendar which Settled in the English Province of New York During the Reign of Charles the Second; and Also Including an Account of Robert Livingston of Albany, "The Nephew," a Settler in the Same Province and His Principal Descendants |date=1910 |publisher=The Knickerbocker Press |location=New York |url=https://archive.org/details/livingstonslivi00unkngoog |access-date=April 26, 2017 |language=en }}

Jasper Hall Livingston (1815–1900), a twin, who married Matilda Anne Cecila Morris, the youngest daughter of Sir John Morris, 2nd Baronet of Clasemont, in 1851.{{cite book |last1=Lodge |first1=Edmund |title=The Peerage, Baronetage, Knightage & Companionage of the British Empire |date=1890 |publisher=Hurst and Blackett, Limited |location=London |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FO1DAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA857 |access-date=April 26, 2017 |language=en |archive-date=July 31, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210731035114/https://books.google.com/books?id=FO1DAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA857 |url-status=live }}{{cite book |last1=Urban |first1=Sylvanus |title=The Gentleman's Magazine and Historical Review, Vol. XLIII |year=1855 |publisher=John Bowyer Nichols and Sons |location=London |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=N7DPAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA523 |access-date=April 26, 2017 |language=en |archive-date=July 31, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210731035111/https://books.google.com/books?id=N7DPAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA523 |url-status=live }}
Catherine Louise Livingston (b. 1815–1890), a twin, who married Maurice Power (1811–1870), an Irish MP for County Cork who served as lieutenant governor for St. Lucia.{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/77624401/legal-notices-supreme-court/ |title=Legal Notices |page=2 |newspaper=New York Daily Tribune |date=January 20, 1860 |access-date=2021-05-13 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=May 13, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210513161158/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/77624401/legal-notices-supreme-court/ |url-status=live }}{{cite book |last1=De Burgh |first1=Hussey |title=The Landowners of Ireland |date=1878 |publisher=Hodges, Foster, and Figgis |url=http://www.askaboutireland.ie/reading-room/digital-book-collection/digital-books-by-subject/history-of-ireland/de-burgh-the-landowners-o/index.xml |access-date=April 26, 2017 |archive-date=November 28, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171128121959/http://www.askaboutireland.ie/reading-room/digital-book-collection/digital-books-by-subject/history-of-ireland/de-burgh-the-landowners-o/index.xml |url-status=live }}
Henry Brockholst Livingston (1819–1892),{{cite news |title=Death of Henry Livingston |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/77624538/death-of-henry-livingston/ |newspaper=The New York Times |location=London |page=2 |date=July 21, 1892 |access-date=2021-05-13 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=May 13, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210513161158/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/77624538/death-of-henry-livingston/ |url-status=live }} who married Marianna Gribaldo and resided in Italy.{{cite book |last1=di Magistrati |title=Annali della giurisprudenza italiana: raccolta generale di decisioni in materia civile e commerciale, di diritto pubblico e amministrativo e di procedura civile |year=1877 |location=Firenze |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2LgrAQAAMAAJ&pg=RA2-PA284 |access-date=April 26, 2017 |language=it |archive-date=July 31, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210731040440/https://books.google.com/books?id=2LgrAQAAMAAJ&pg=RA2-PA284 |url-status=live }}

=Descendants=

Through his daughter Eliza, he was the great-grandfather of Edwin Brockholst Livingston (1852–1929), a historian.

Through his daughter, Susan, he was the grandfather of Henry Brockholst Ledyard (1812–1880) and great-grandfather of Henry Brockholst Ledyard Jr. (1844–1921) and Lewis Cass Ledyard (1851–1932).

Through his daughter, Catherine McVicker, he was the grandfather of Brockholst McVicker (1810–1883){{cite book |last1=Society |first1=Chicago Medical |title=History of medicine and surgery and physicians and surgeons of Chicago, endorsed by and published under the supervision of the council of the Chicago Medical Society |date=1922 |publisher=The Biographical Publishing Corporation |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HWVVAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA35 |access-date=April 26, 2017 |language=en |archive-date=July 31, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210731035111/https://books.google.com/books?id=HWVVAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA35 |url-status=live }} and Archibald McVicker (1816–1904).

Through his daughter, Catherine Power, he was the grandfather of: Brockholst Livingston Power, John Livingston Power, and Alice Livingston Power (who married her cousin, Edwin).

Through his son, Henry, he was the grandfather of Oscar Enrico Federico Livingston (1875–1945).

Through his son Anson, he was the grandfather of Ludlow Livingston (1838–1873), Mary Allen Livingston Harrison (1830–1921) and Ann Ludlow Livingston (1832–1913).

References

Sources

{{FJC Bio|1408|nid=1383961|name=Henry Brockholst Livingston}}
"Brockholst Livingston," in Princetonians, 1769-1775 (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1980), 397–407.