William Livingston

Founding Fathers
William Livingston
State	New Jersey
Religion	Presbyterian
Founding Documents	United States Constitution

William Livingston (November 30, 1723 – October 9, 1824) was a minister, the first Governor of New Jersey, and a member of the Continental Congress. He attended the 1787 Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia and signed the United States Constitution.^[1]

William Livingston was born in Albany, New York on November 30, 1723. When he was 14 years old, he was a part of a missionary to minister to the Mohawk Indians.^[2] He attended Yale College, graduating in 1741; following graduation, he was admitted to the bar and embarked upon a successful legal career. In 1752, he established the Independent Reflector, a weekly newspaper; through his editorials in this paper, he commented on a wide range of political topics. In 1772, he moved to Elizabethtown, New Jersey.

During the Revolutionary War, Livingston served as a brigadier general in the New Jersey state militia. In 1776 he resigned from the military in order to serve as Governor of New Jersey—a position he held until his death.^[3]

Livingston served in the First Continental Congress in 1774, and in the Second Continental Congress from 1775 to 1776. He also attended the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, signing the United States Constitution on behalf of New Jersey. Other members of the New Jersey delegation to the Convention were Jonathan Dayton, William Houston, William Paterson, and David Brearley. Following the convention, he was instrumental in getting the Constitution ratified.

William Livingston's home, Liberty Hall

• Brother of Philip Livingston
• Father-in-law of John Jay

Livingston died in Elizabeth, New Jersey on July 25, 1790. He was interred in the family vault in Trinity Churchyard in New York City." In 1846, his remains were removed to Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn.

He was an early poet, having published the "Philosophic Solitude, or the Choice of a Rural Life" in 1747. He also helped to found the New York Society Library.

The town of Livingston, New Jersey, is named after him.^[4]

• Conceived in Liberty, How William Livingston gave the American Revolution its rationale

v • d • e Constitutional Convention Delegates to the Constitutional Convention by State, those who signed the Constitution are indicated by italic. Massachusetts Elbridge Gerry • Nathaniel Gorham • Rufus King • Caleb Strong Reproduction of painting of George Washington, Benjamin Franklin and others signing the U.S. Constitution in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania by Henry Hintermeister. New Hampshire Nicholas Gilman • John Langdon Connecticut Oliver Ellsworth • William Samuel Johnson • Roger Sherman New York Alexander Hamilton • John Lansing, Jr. • Robert Yates New Jersey David Brearley • Jonathan Dayton • William Houston • William Livingston • William Paterson Pennsylvania George Clymer • Thomas Fitzsimons • Benjamin Franklin • Jared Ingersoll • Thomas Mifflin • Gouverneur Morris • Robert Morris • James Wilson Delaware Richard Bassett • Gunning Bedford, Jr. • Jacob Broom • John Dickinson • George Read Maryland Daniel Carroll • Daniel of St. Thomas Jenifer • Luther Martin • James McHenry • John Francis Mercer Virginia John Blair Jr. • James Madison • George Mason • James McClurg • Edmund Randolph • George Washington • George Wythe North Carolina William Blount • William Richardson Davie • Alexander Martin • Richard Dobbs Spaight • Hugh Williamson South Carolina Pierce Butler • Charles Cotesworth Pinckney • Charles Pinckney • John Rutledge Georgia William Few • Abraham Baldwin • William Houstoun • William Pierce Convention Secretary William Jackson The legislature of Rhode Island declined to send delegates to the Convention.