John Henry Livingston

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For the American lawyer, see John Henry Livingston (1848–1927).

The Reverend
John Henry Livingston
4th President of Rutgers University
In office
1810–1825
Preceded byIra Condict
Succeeded byPhilip Milledoler
Personal details
Born(1746-05-30)May 30, 1746
near Poughkeepsie, Province of New York, British America
DiedJanuary 25, 1825(1825-01-25) (aged 78)
New Brunswick, New Jersey, United States
Spouse
Sarah Livingston
​
​
(m. 1775; died 1814)​
ChildrenHenry Alexander Livingston
Parent(s)Henry Livingston
Susannah Conklin
RelativesSee Livingston family
EducationYale College (1762)
Utrecht University (1770)
OccupationMinister

John Henry Livingston (May 30, 1746—January 25, 1825) was an American Dutch Reformed minister and member of the Livingston family, who served as the fourth President of Queen's College (now Rutgers University), from 1810 until his death in 1825.

Early life[edit]

Livingston was born on May 30, 1746, near Poughkeepsie, New York in what was then the Province of New York in British America. He was a son of Dr. Henry Livingston (1714-1799) and Susannah Storm (née Conklin) Livingston (1724-1793). His siblings included Continental Congressman Gilbert Livingston, author Henry Livingston Jr. (the grandfather of U.S. Senator Sidney Breese and Admiral Samuel Livingston Breese), and Alida (née Livingston) Woolsey.[1]

His maternal grandparents were Capt. John Conklin and Annetje (née Storm) Conklin.[1] His paternal grandparents were Lt. Col. Hubertus "Gilbert" Livingston, himself the son of Robert Livingston the Elder, 1st Lord of Livingston Manor, and Cornelia (née Beekman) Livingston, a granddaughter of Wilhelmus Beekman, Mayor of New York, and niece of Gerardus Beekman.[2]

Livingston graduated from Yale College with a Bachelor of Arts in 1762. In 1762, he matriculated at the University of Utrecht (the Netherlands).[3] and on May 16, 1770, he earned a Doctor of Theology at the same university. The title description of his thesis was: Specimen theologicum inaugurale exhibens observationes de foederis Sinaitici natura ex ejus fine demonstrata. Qod summo deo annuente, Ex Auctoritate Rectoris Magnifici, Meinardi Tydeman, ... Publico offert examini Johannes H. Livingston A.L.M. V.D.M. Neo-Eboracensis. – Trajecti Ad Rhenum : Joannis Broedelet.[3]

Career[edit]

Livingston was ordained into the ministry of the Dutch Reformed Church by the Classis of Amsterdam in 1770. Subsequent to his return from the Netherlands, Livingston served as a pastor to the Reformed Church in New York City. He became a leading figure in the church and negotiated the peaceful reunifications of its two opposing factions.

In 1778, Livingston inherited the Jamaican sugar plantation Friendship Estate from his father-in-law, as the family were well-established slave owners in the Caribbean. Along with his brother-in-law Philip Philip Livingston (1741-1787), he sold the plantation and over two hundred slaves bound to the property in 1784.[4]

When Queen's College offered Livingston the presidency as early as 1807, he initially declined. However, the Trustees continued to offer, and Livingston accepted the post in 1810. He was also a professor of theology. Queen's College fell into financial trouble and was forced to close its doors in 1816. Livingston continued teaching at the New Brunswick Theological Seminary (which shared facilities with Queen's College), and continued to lobby and fundraise for the reopening of Queen's College. This was gained ten months after his death in 1825.[5]

Residence[edit]

After being chosen to head Queen's College, Livingston purchased a 150-acre (0.61 km2) plot of land in nearby Raritan Landing, which was afterward known as the Livingston Manor. A Greek Revival mansion built by descendants Robert and Louisa Livingston around 1843 stands on the property, now known as Livingston Homestead. At the turn of the 20th century, the property was developed as a streetcar suburb. In 2004, it was designated as part of the Livingston Manor Historic District.[6] The house and the district are listed on the New Jersey Register of Historic Places and the National Register of Historic Places.[7][8]

Personal life[edit]

On November 26, 1775, Livingston married his second cousin, Sarah Livingston (1752–1814), a daughter of Philip Livingston, a Continental Congressman and signor of the Declaration of Independence, and Christina (née Ten Broeck) Livingston, sister of Albany Mayor Abraham Ten Broeck. Their only child was a son:

Livingston died on January 25, 1825, in New Brunswick, New Jersey.[1]

Descendants[edit]

Through his only child Henry, he was the grandfather of eighteen grandchildren, including Christina Ten Broeck Livingston (d. 1858), Cornelia Beekman Livingston (d. 1858), Henry Philip Livingston (d. 1861), Frederica Charlotte (née Livingston) Kendrick (d. 1898), Henrietta Ulrica Livingston (d. 1916), Sarah (née Livingston) Hoff (1797–1818), Eliza H. Livingston (1799–1819), John Alexander Livingston (1801–1865), Louisa Matilda (née Livingston) James (1807–1849), Robert Sayers Livingston (1819–1821), Jane Murray (née Livingston) Crosby (1830–1911) and Augustus Linlithgow Livingston (1839–1911).[1]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d e Livingston, Edwin Brockholst (1910). 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. Knickerbocker Press. Retrieved July 5, 2018.
  2. ^ Lamb, Martha J. (1877). History of the City of New York: Its Origin, Rise and Progress. Volume 1. A. S. Barnes and Company. p. 301.
  3. ^ a b Album Studiosorum Academiae Rheno-Traiectinae. MDCXXXVI-MDCCCLXXXVI, kol. 164.
  4. ^ Liao, Sharon. ""A Merchants' College:" King's College (1754-1784) and Slavery". Columbia University and Slavery. Columbia University. Retrieved October 9, 2020. In Jamaica, the Livingston men learned the sugar business and oversaw the family's plantations. The Livingstons owned at least two plantations on the island, named Aleppo and Friendship. According to surviving mortgage records, Philip Philip Livingston (1716-1778) bought the sugar plantation Friendship Estate in 1775 for £8764 and passed the property to his son Philip Philip (1741-1787) and son-in-law (and first cousin once removed) John Henry Livingston (1746-1825) when he died. They sold Friendship in July 1784, assigning the mortgage of the family plantation to Richard Grant of Kingston and transferring to Grant the "goods, chattels, rights, and credits" of the estate. The "chattel" of the estate included 207 male and female slaves, whose names the document enumerates as part of the property.
  5. ^ "John Henry Livingston, 1810-1825". Rutgers University. Retrieved August 26, 2007. In 1810, the Reverend John Henry Livingston (1746-1825), left the Reformed Dutch Church in New York City and headed for New Brunswick, to preside as the new President and Professor of Theology of Queen's College. The most influential minister in the Dutch Church at that time, he had agreed to accept the position with limited responsibilities to the College. But to the theological students who came under his wing, he would devote his undivided attention. Livingston was born in Dutchess County, near Poughkeepsie, N.Y., graduated from Yale College in 1762, and by 1766, the year Queen's College was founded, set sail for Amsterdam to study theology. He was licensed and ordained by the Classis of Amsterdam in April 1770, and one month later received the degree of doctor of theology from the University of Utrecht. ...
  6. ^ Spies, Stacy. National Register nomination for Livingston Homestead (Washington, DC, National Park Service, 2001).
  7. ^ "New Jersey and National Registers of Historic Places - Middlesex County" (PDF). NJ DEP - Historic Preservation Office. June 2, 2011. p. 11. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 4, 2011. Retrieved July 5, 2011.
  8. ^ "New Jersey - Middlesex County". National Register of Historic Places. Retrieved July 5, 2011.
  9. ^ Hough, Franklin Benjamin (1858). The New York Civil List: containing the names and origin of the civil divisions, and the names and dates of election or appointment of the principal state and county officers from the Revolution to the present time. Weed, Parsons and Co. pp. 131ff, 143, 205, 288. Retrieved January 17, 2018.
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