William Livingston was an American politician and lawyer who served as the first governor of New Jersey during the American Revolutionary War.
22 Facts About William Livingston
2.
William Livingston is considered one of the Founding Fathers of the United States and a Founding Father of New Jersey.
3.
William Livingston received his early education from local schools and tutors.
4.
William Livingston enrolled at Yale in 1737 and graduated in 1741.
5.
William Livingston went on to New York City, where he studied law and became a law clerk for the eminent lawyer James Alexander.
6.
William Livingston left Alexander's office in the spring of 1746 before finishing his apprenticeship because of a disagreement and joined the office of William Smith, Sr.
7.
William Livingston became a lawyer in 1748 and began his practice in New York City.
8.
William Livingston remained politically active and was elected to the American Philosophical Society in 1768 and served one term in the New York General Assembly until his political allies lost power in 1769 and was replaced by his nephew, Peter Robert William Livingston, the eldest surviving son of his brother Robert.
9.
William Livingston started construction of a large country home to house his growing family.
10.
William Livingston returned to New Jersey and relied on his previous commission as a brigadier general of the New Jersey Militia.
11.
False information about William Livingston visiting his second home in Parsippany resulted in a raid by Loyalists and their subsequent capture.
12.
William Livingston was elected a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1782.
13.
William Livingston joined the New Jersey Delegation to the 1787 Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia and was one of the signers of the US Constitution.
14.
William Livingston was appointed United States Minister to the Netherlands in 1788 by US Congress but turned down the proposition.
15.
William Livingston continued to be reelected governor of New Jersey each year until his death in 1790.
16.
William Livingston married Susannah French in New Jersey in 1745.
17.
William Livingston was the daughter of landowner Philip French III and Susanna French.
18.
William Livingston's daughter, Sarah, was born in 1756 and was educated at home in penmanship, English grammar, the Bible, and classic literature.
19.
William Livingston is credited with writing the celebratory Treaty of Paris dinner toast.
20.
William Livingston died on July 25,1790, in Elizabeth, New Jersey, and was originally buried at Trinity Church, Manhattan, but on May 7,1844, was reinterred at Green-Wood Cemetery, Brooklyn.
21.
In 1747, William Livingston wrote and published a long pastoral poem entitled, "Philosophic Solitude, or the Choice of a Rural Life".
22.
In 1754, William Livingston played a key role in founding the New York Society Library, which is still in existence over a quarter of a millennium later.