A biographical history of Clermont, or Livingston manor, before and during the war for independence

Introduction

A man having lived the greater portion of his life upon a part of the Livingston Manor, and a descendant of that noble old family, may indeed be pardoned if he shows a family pride, and wiites about his ancestors, and although living in the vicinity of the noble blue Kaatskills,* or Katsbergs, whose dark shadows fall over the once romantic haunts of HendricK Hudson, and his crew of ghostly Dutchmen, and the more quiet retreat of Rip Van Winkle, when he enjoyed his long nap, out of the reach of Dame Van Winkle's tongue ; and other localities of historic lore and legend, made immortal by that greatest of all American writers, Irving, who thus gives us a lively picture of the crew of the "Half Moon" at their favorite game of nine-pins : "Some wore short doublets, others jerkins with long knives in their belts, and most of them had enormous breeches of similar' style with that of the guides. Their visages, too, were pecuUar ; one had a large head, broad face and small piggish eyes ; the face of another seemed to consist entirely of a nose, and was surmounted by a white sugai'Joaf hat set off with a little red cock's tail. They all had beai'ds of various shapes and colors. There was one who seemed to be the commander. He was a stout old gentleman, with a weather-beaten countenance, he wore a lace doublet, broad belt, hanger and highcrowned hat and feather, and high heeled shoes with roses on them ; what seemed particularly odd to Rip was, that though here evidently amusing themselves, yet they maintained the gravest faces, the most mysterious silence, and were withal the most mel-

*The origin of the name Catskill is as follows : The Indians called this range of hills On-ti-o-ra, signifying Mountains of the Sky. The Dutch called them Kaatsbergs, or Cat Mountains, from the number of panthers or wild cats abounding there. The word Cat^' kill is partly English and partly Dutch— Kaatskill Dutch, Cats Qreek Englisb,

IV INTRODUCTION.

anclioly party of pleasure he had ever witnessed. Nothing interrupted the stilhiess of the scene but the noise of the balls, which . whenever they were rolled echoed along the mountains like rumbling peals of thunder ; and the Dutch inhabitants near the Katsbergs, even to this day, never hear a thunder storm of a summer afternoon about the Katsbergs but they say Hendi-icK Hudson and his crew are at theu* game of nine-pins." But a man of energy may shake oif the dust of centuries, and lethargy, and awake to action, when he undertakes to write of his ancestors, particularly so when they were great and good, and whose lives have been for the greater part given for the national honor and advancement of their countiy. For the good that men do live after them.

When we read the Declaration of Independence we there see the name of Livingston ; also, when we read of the introduction of the first Steam Navigation upon the Hudson River, we see the name of Livingston. The name of Livingston is connected with the inauguration of the first President of the United States, is attached to the Federal Constitution ; it is honorably associated with our Foreign diplomacy, our Domestic politics, and our Judicial history ; and there has been probably no time in our annals when its respectability has not been supported by some conspicuous member of this illustrious family ; and last but not least, when we read of the Christian's life, and death, we can then take examples, as foot-i^rints for us to follow, of many that have passed away and gone before us to that undiscovered country, many of the name of Livingston, who have left records illumined by the light of other days, which grow brighter and brighter as years roll on. For, as the poet says :

"Life is real, life is earnest.

And the grave is not its goal ; Dust thou art, to dust retm'uest,

Was not spoken of the soul.

Art is long, and time is fleeting,

And our hearts, though stout and brave, Still like mufiied drums ai'e beating

Funeral marches to the grave.

INTRODUCTION. V

Lives of great men all remind us,

We can make our lives sublime, And departing leave behind us

Footprints on the sands of time ; Footprints that perhaps anothei*,

Sailing o'er life's solemn main, A forlorn and shipwi-ecked brother,

Seeing shall take heart again."

Both the poet and the novelist have given romantic interest to the revolutionary era. My own ambition is to rescue from oblivion records for the use of the futm*e historian of this State. Like the wandering Ai'ab, who whilst passing lays a stone upon his father's gi'ave, or cairn, so I bring my contribution in the shape of this collection of Livingstones, which I hope may be always strongly cemented in our hearts and ajBTections, as well as in the arch of our Union. Our great Washington being the key-stone, and this grand temple of Liberty having been erected upon so sure a foundation, cannot but stand to become the pride of all Americans, as well as the admiration of all the nations of the earth ; for where freedom and equality reign, tyrants tremble.

A person writing a book at this period concerning the Livingston Manor and family of the revolutionary era, and prior to it, has to be in a great measure guided by what has been related to him as facts, and by depending upon or copying freely from authors that have written upon this subject. It has been a work of pleasure, but not an easy task to gather the information contained in the following pages, and I now retm-n thanks and crave pardon from the numerous authors for the liberty I have taken, in making extracts from their works. I am greatly indebted to the authors of the following works :

"Life of John Jay, by his Son, William Jay."

"Life of General Montgomery, by Gen'l Armstrong,"

"Life of Robert Fulton, by Renwick."

"Life of Jay and Hamilton, by Renwick .'•

"Old New York, by John W. Francis."

"Queens of American Society, Mrs. EUet."

"Wgmeif of the Rpyojutioo, Mrs. EUet."

VI INTRODUCTION.

"History of "Wonderful InveDtiona," London.

"Life of "William Livingston, T. Sedgwick."

"Panorama of the Hudson Kiver, "Wade & Croome."

"Miller's Guide to the Hudson Eiver."

"Lossing'8 Book of the Hudson."

"Lossing's Field Book of the Kevolution."

"Head ley's "Washington and his Generals."

"Parton'a Life of Aaron Burr."

"Lossing's 1776, or "War of Independence."

"Chambers' Papers for the People."

"Life of "Washington by Irving."

"Life of Edward Livingston, by Hunt."

"Downing's Eural Essays." i

"Campbell's Border "Warfare of Now York."

"JefTrrson's Papers, 1834."

"Knapp's American Biography, 1833."

"Journal of N. Y. Convention of 1776-7."

"Life of Gouveneur Morris."

"Kobertson's History of Scotland."

"Aikman's Buchanan."

"Chalmers's History."

"Mrs. Jameson's Celebrated Female Sovereigns."

"The Livingston Family Eecord,"

Also my thanks are due to Mr. Cleksiont Livingston, of the old Manor House, for the use of the old library, in "which I found many works of value.

I have not dwelt long on the history of political parties, or the politics of the period of which I have written, but have confined myself to stating facts. As politics, however great the interest it may have for men, drags rather hea"vdly upon the female reader, if given in more than homoeopathic doses, in a work of this character, I have endeavored to keep up as much as possible the general interest. Since the good old times have passed away of which I have herein chronicled, another rovolution or civil war has convulsed our country, compared to which the battles of the revolution were mere skirmishes, and although all the old Heroes and Patriots of '76 have been laid in their last resting place, others following in their footsteps joined hand in hand in the ranks of the Union, and utterly routed both rebels and their sympathisers, the Tories of this last war. But thanks be to God, that he gave us the gi'eat inamprtal Lincoln, ow second Washiis[gton, to Btancl

INTRODUCTION. VII

firmly at the helm, and to steer the Ship of State out of the troubled waters of civil war unto more placid ones, even unto the Haven of Peace. And let evei-y true American pray "That the Lord our God be with us as He was with our Fathers; let Him not leave us nor forsake us ;" and in the words of our sainted Lincoln Say: "We here highly resolve that these honoured dead shall not have died in vain; that the nation Shall under God have a new birth of Freedom, and that the goVemment of the people, by the people, and for the people, shall not perish from the Earth.'

Chiddingbtonk, N. Ti, «J"uue lot, 18694

TO THE HUDSON.

"I dream of thee : fairest of fairy streams,

Sweet Hudson. Float we on thy Summer breast. Who views thy enchanted windings, ever deems

Thy banks of mortal shores the loveliest.

Hail to thy shelving slojjes, with verdure dressed.

Bright break thy waves the varied beach upon, Soft rise thy hills, by amorous clouds caressed.

Clear flow thy waters, laughing in the sun.

Would thro' such peaceful scenes my life might gently run.

And lo ! the Catskills print the distant sky,

And o'er their airy tops the faint clouds driven,

So softly blending that the cheated eye

Forgets or which is Earth or which is Heaven.

Sometimes like thunder clouds they shade the even, 'Till as you nearer draw, each wooded height

Puts off the azure hues by distance given, And slowly break upon the enamored sight, Ravine, crag, field and wood, in colorfs true and bright."

Table Of Contents

CHAPTEB. page- To the Hudson, 9

The Livingston Family in Scotland, 1 H

" " in Scotland and America, Concluded, - • • 2 17

Chapter I. The Livingstone Family In Scotland

Before commencing with the history of the first settlement of the Livingstons in America, I thought it woukl be but proper to give a short sketch of the origin of this old family, and can find no better account, or as well told as that, by Mr. Theodore Sedgwick, in his Life of Governor William Livingston, of New Jersey. I have therefore extracted most of the following, in this chapter, from that work.

The name of Livingston as now written is differently spelt in ancient documents and by different authors, viz.: Livingstoune, Levingstoune, Livingstone. This ancient and distinguished family is said to derive its origin from an Hungarian gentleman of the name of Livingius, (vide Anderson's Genealogies,) who accompanied Margaret, the sister of Edgar Atheling, and wife of King Malcolm Canmore, from his native country to Scotland, about the period of the Norman Conquest in 1008. In the reign of David the First of Scotland, says a tradition which seems not to pay a scrupulous regard to the usual duration of human existence, this same individual received a grant of lands in West Lothian, which was created a barony and named after the proprietor. This estate was transmitted through his descendants for nearly four hundred years, when in the reign of James IV, (1488-1513) Bartholomew

Livingston dying without issue, the direct line became extinct ; a, collateral brancli had however, in the mean time, acquired wealth, and consequence, and it is from this that the Earls of Linlithgow, in Scotland, and the Livingstons of America are descended.

In the reign of David II, (1329-1370) Sir William Livingston Kt., marrying Christian, daughter and heh' to Patrick de Callendar, Lord of Callendar, in the County of Stirling, received that barony with her. His grandson John had, besides his eldest son Alexander, two others, Robert, the ancestor of the Earls of Newbm'gh ; a title illustrated by "Granville's Mira," (see "Mrs. Jameson's Loves of the Poets,") and William, progenitor of the viscounts of Kilsyth. The article in "Nicol's British Compendium," (2d Ed. London 1725,) from which this account is so far drawn, is got up with a considerable show of accuracy, and perhaps compiled from the traditions, communicated to the editor by some member of the family. History steps in to lend, descending from this period, her less doubtful aid. Sir Alexander Livingstone, of Callendar, just mentioned, was in 1437, on the death of James I, appointed by the estates of the Kingdom joint regent with Crichton, during the minority of James II ; he not long after {vide Aikman's Buchanan II, 117,) yielded to the formidable power of the young Earl of Douglas, his property was confiscated, (but subsequently restored,) and his son brought to the block. His other son, James, who succeeded his father in the barony of Callendar, was created Lord Livings ton. He died in 1467.

The lordship of Livingston apj^ears to have been one of the most important baronies. In the list of members of the Scottish Parliament for the year 1560, I find the name of Livingston, and this is the parliament which upon petition admitted the lesser barons to the privilege of voting, which they had not before enjoyed, (Robertson's History app.) William, the gi-eat-grandson of the last mentioned James, and fourth Lord Livingston, married Agnes, daughter of Sjr Patrick Hepburn, of Waughtenn, or Patrick Lord Hales, (perhaps the same individual is meant by these appellations,) and from him the Livingstons of this country are descended.

through his son Robert, who was slain at the battle of Pinkiefield. Alexander, his eldest son, sx;cceeded to the title, and it is his ■daughter who was one of the "four Maries" that accompanied the Scottish Queen to the French Court. ( Vide Chalmers' History and Mrs. Jameson's Celebrated Female Sov's.)

" Last night the Queen had four Maries, To-night she'll hae but three, There was Mary Seaton, and Mary Beaton And Mary Livingstone, and me."

In the person of Alexander, the seventh Lord, the barony was exchanged for an Earldom, he being in 1600 created by James VI, Earl of Linlithgow. The title in full ran thus : "Earl of Linlithgow, Lord Livingstone, of Almont, hereditary keeper of the King's Castle at Linlithgow, hereditary Bailiff of the Bailiewick, there belonging to the Crown, hereditary Sheriff of the County of Stirling, and hereditary Governor of Blackness."

The second son of the first Earl of Linlithgow was created Earl of Callendar, which title finally fell into the former, in the person of its last possessor. The Earldom of Linlithgow remained in the family for more than a century, and was transmitted through five descendants. They distinguished themselves by their grateful attachment to the house of Stuart, from whom they had derived their honors ; they shared their dangers durmg the civil wars, and were rewarded with offices of dignity and consequence, when the times permitted it. They appear to have been generally in the possession of some considerable civil or military post, and the name repeatedly occurs on the list of privy council.

The head of the family was in arms with Dundee, in 1688-9, and the devotion of Anne, the daughter of the last Earl, to the same cause, resembles in its romantic details the events of an earlier date. She is said to have brought over her husband, the unfortunate Earl of Kilmarnock, to support the interests of the Pretender, and to have gained the battle of Falkirk, in 1746, for her party, by using the influence of her wit and beauty to detain

Ilawlcy at Callcndar House until too late to take the command of his troops. In the year 1715, James, last Earl of Linlithgow, and Callendar, who in 1713 was chosen one of the peers of the United Kingdom, true to his hereditary faith, joined the Earl of Mar. On the failure of that nobleman's enterprise, his title and estates w^ere forfeited, together with their attendant rights and privileges. Tliis Earldom has not, like many of the Scottish peerages, been restored. The present heir declines, it is said, the barren and expensive honor.

We now return to William, the fom-th Lord Livingstone. His son Robert, who fell at the battle of Pinkiefield in 1547 is, as has been stated, the reputed ancestor of the family in America. Here occurs one of those tantalizing difficulties of so common occurrence in tracing pedigrees. By one statement this Robert is made the grandfather, and by another the great-grandfather of John Livingston, the parent of the first emigrant of the name, to America. Be this important -question settled as it may, and it seems probable that the second supposition is nearer the truth — the individuals intervening between Robert and John appear to have been ministers of the Church of Scotland, and to have left no more conspicuous memorial of the exercise of their sacred functions, than may be found in their parish records. With John Livingston however the case is diirerent. He appears to have possessed both power of intellect, and vigor of resolution, and his name ranks high in the annals of the Scottish Church. I Avill here introduce a very curious letter written by a son of John Livingston of Ancram. This letter was found by the late General Henry Livingston, among some old papers belonging to the family at Ancram, Columbia County, N. Y., and is printed from a copy made in 1811 :

Edinburgh, 13 December, 1698.

"Dk.vr Buotiier :

I have yours of the 20th of September last, from New York ; it

came to hand with the printed narrative of the five Indian Nations

then treating with the Earl of Belloraont, your Governor, under

GLERMONT, OR LIVINGSTON MANOR. 15

cover of Mr. Hacksham the 28th of November, for which I am much obliged to you. It was in my last, I sent to Mr. Hacksham an attestation under the hand and seal of our Magistrate, of your being a native of this country, but had no account from him what use he had made of it. I did then write him yt I pui'posed to procure your coat of arms, and the Lyon Hercuels warrant, and your birth brief, and desyred to know, if he had effects of yours, yt I might draw for about 7 or 8 1. that I found it would cost ; but had no answer, so have forborne it hitherto, but have prepared it so- far that I find you are the son of Mr. John, whose father was Mr. Alexander ; and Mr. Alexander, his father was Robert, who was killed at Pinkiefield in 1547, and was brother german to Alexander Lord Livingston ; their father was William the fourth Lord Livingston, and the eighth of the house of Callendar ; he Avas married to Hepburn daughter of Sir Patrick Hepburn of

Waughtenn ; So that your propper coat to be given you is this enclosed which is thus emblazoned viz. quarterly 1st and 4th Argent, three gilliflowers Gules, slipped propper within a double tressure umber florevest, the name of Livingston 2d quartered first and last Gules, a chifron Argent, a role between two lyons counter rampant of the field, 2d and 3d Argent three martletts Gules, the name of Hepburn of Waughtenn, 3d quarter Sable a bend between six billets, or the name of Callendar ; yom* liveries is green faced up wh whytt and red, green and whytt passments. I would cause cutt you a seal with this coat-of-arms, having one James Clark, a very honest man, who is graver to our mint-house here, and the most dexterous in that art, but could not get a steel block to cut upon. There is gi'eat alterations among us. My sister Jeanet dyed in August 1696; our brother-in-law Mr* Russell came home in August 1697, and was very sicklie; he dyed in November after without leaving any testament of his will, so that his only son James, is left as low as any of his daughters ; two of them were married in his own tyme, but neither with his nor my sister's good liking; but they refused to submit, and accordingly were but meanly provided; the three sisters jX were yet unmarried di4 choose James Dimlip and me Cm-ators, but have not taken our counsell upon their marriages, their great tochers have made them a prey. He left towards ten thousand pounds Stirling but in such confusion yt there will be little credit by it. We shall writt more at length. This I send wh some letters from my brother direct to Mr. Hacksham. My entire love to your second self and your dear children, and to nephew Robert, tell him to writt to me.

I am your loving and most affectionate brother,

WILL. LIVINGSTON.

I have written to a friend in Linlithgow and to David Jameson, and spoke in full to send attestations of what you desyre, over to the people you direct, and expres thereof to yourself."

CLERMONT, OR LIVINGSTON MANOR. IT

Chapter II. The Livixgstoxs In Scotland And America, Continued

On the beautiful river, Hudson, opposite the lofty Kaatskills, and in the midst of scenery unsur^jassed by any in Europe, even upon the Rliine, was situated a fine estate belonging to Robert Livingston, the grandfather of the late Chancellor Livingston. He was the youngest son of Robert, the first Lord of the Manor, (which contained about one hundi'ed and sixty thousand acres,) and a grandson of John Livingston, a celebrated preacher in the Scottish Church.

This John Livingston, or Mess John, as he was called in the ballads of these days, was gi'eat-grandson to the Robert that we read of in the previous Chapter, who was killed in the battle of Pinkiefield in 1547, son of the Earl of Linlithgow. Mess John was appointed a Commissioner, with others commissioned by Parliament, to negotiate ^v^th Charles II, for the terms of his restoration to power.

The story has been often told, and now the same old story will be told again, of this young minister preaching to a large congregation in the open aii\ He lost his notes, and from an overlooking hill he beheld the multitude awaiting his coming to address them ; his heart sank within him, and he dropped upon his knees in prayer for guidance ; his prayers were answered, (as the stoiy or tradition runs) : "Have I ever been a ban-ea wilderness to thee," 3

He got up, walked to the appointed spot where the multitude awaited him, and preached with so much force that three hundred of his hearers were converted at the time by his eloquence.

He was afterwards persecuted on account of nonconformity, and many of his hearers and himself took passage for America. They were nearly shipwrecked, and he set apart three days for fisting and prayer, and resolved if the storm did not abate within that given time they would return to Scotland. The time having expired and the storm not abating, they put about the vessel and sailed for the home they had left. He was afterwards exiled to Rotterdam, where his son learned the Dutch language.

His son Robert was born on December 13th, 1634, at Ancram, in Teviotdale, Roxburghshire, Scotland. He was ambitious, shrewd, acquisitive, sturdy and bold. His whole career was a persistent illustration of the motto upon the scroll of his ancestors' coat of arms, ''Si je Puis." He emigrated to America in 1674, and married about 1683, Alida, widow of the Reverend, sometimes called Patroon, Nicholas Van Rensselaer, and daughter of Philip Pieterre Schuyler. We find him in 1676, in responsible employment at Albany, under the Colonial administration, and in 1686, estabhshed by Governor Dongan in possession of the territorial manor of Livingston, on the Hudson, acquired by purchase of the Indians, which large tracts were all incorporated into Livingston Manor.

Albany was then a Dutch Village of the old Knickerbockers. I will here give a curious old letter of Robert Livingston's, at Albany, to the authorities of the city of Albany :

By ye Mayor, Aldermen mid Commonalty of ye city of Albany, and ye Jiistlce of ye county aforesaid:

Whereas, The selling and giving of strong drhiks to ye Indians, at this present juncture, is founde by experience extreme dangerous insomuch, yt diverse inhabitants at Schinnechtady, and elsewhere, have made then- complaint, that there is no living if ye Jndiau be not kept from diinke, we do therefore hereby Strikly

Prohibit nnd forbid, in ye name of King William & Queen Mary, yt no Inhabitants of ye city and county of Albany, doe sell or give any Kum, Brandy, Strong Liquer or Beer, to any Indian, or Indians, upon any pretence whatsoever, upon ye Penalty of Two months imj^risonment, without Baile or mainj^rise, and moreover a fine of five pounds toties quoties, ye proofs hereof to be made, as is inserted in ye Proclamation, Prohibiting ye selling of strong drink, dated ye 21st day of May, 1689, which is by proof, or Purgation, by oath, always provided, yt it shall, and may be in ye Power, of ye Mayor, Aldermen, and Commonalty of ye sd city, if they see cause to give any small quantity of rum to any Sachems who come here about public bussiness, any prohibition above sd in any manner notwithstanding, — given att ye City Hall of Albany ye 12th day of September, 1689. pord

"ROBERT LIVINGSTON."

That the Mayor and Commonalty of Albany assisted Robert Livingston in his Avork, will be seen from the following order also found in (Dawson's Historical Magazine.)

At a 3feeting of ye 3Iayor, Aldermen, and Commonalty, of ye city of Albany, and ye 3filitary Officers of ye same ye 2dt/i day of Ju7ie, 1689 .•

"Whereas, complaint is made to us, ye Mayor, Aldermen, and Commonalty, assisted with ye Military Oflicers of ye citty of Albany, yt ye Collector is Denyed ye liberty, to gage ye rum, yt is brought up from N. York, according to ye law and former practice of this Province, Pretending that there is no authority for ye same. The said Mayor, Aldermen, and Commonalty, and Military Ofiicers, are unanimously resolved to maintain ye sd Excises, in ye self same vigour and Power, as formerly, for ye use of their Majsts now itpon ye Throne, to be accomptable to such governor, or ofiicers, as their Majts shall be Pleased to send to Rule over us. We, ye Mayor, Aldermen, Commonalty, and Military Ofiicers, have therefore Thought fit unanimously to order and require ye high Sherifi" and Constables of this city, to be aiding and assisting to Robt. Livingston, Col., in carrying ye sd Rum to be gaged, and all ye casks to viewed, yt is now come out of ye sloop of Peter Bogardus, which is suspected to be Rum, instead of Molasses, and to enter into ye houses & cellers of any Inhabitants of this city, where any of said casks are Lodged, and if any person shall Resist you by force, that you then take special notice Avho they are that resist, that the may be called to acct. for their contempt in Due time, in doing where — this shall be yr sufficient Warrant. Given under our hands and scales in Albany, ye 29th day of June, 1689.

"PR. SCHUYLER, "JOHN WENDELL."

In the autumn of 1694, Robert Livingston, thinking it necessary to go to England, to advance his interests at his former home in the old country, before leaving, resigned the office which he held at Albany, and then sailed on his destination. If we may credit the family tradition, his voyage was disastrous ; he was shipwrecked on the coast of Portugal, and compelled to cross Spain and France by land. This anecdote is in some measure corroborated by the change in the Li\'ingston coat-of-arms, which have, so far back as they can be traced in this country, borne for crest, a demi-savage ; and, it is said, that the alteration was made by him, in commemoration of this event. A ship in distress, in lieu of the original demi-savage, still borne by the fiunily in Scotland, and again replaced by the present members of the fimiily in this country. In allusion to this incident, it is said that he changed the motto also, adopting, instead of that of the Scottish family, "Sije Puis," the motto "Spero Meliora."

Governor William Livingston, of New Jersey, writes thus to Col. Livingston, in Holland, June 10th, 1785 :

"My Grandfither (Robert,) on the occasion of his being cast away on the coast of Portugal, altered the crest and motto of the family arms, the former into a Ship in an adverse Avind, the latter into Spero Meliora. These have since been retained by all the

:ioj9 family except myself, who not being able, Avitliout ingratitude to Providence, to wish for more than I had, changed the former into a Ship under full sail, and the latter into Aut Mors Vita decora."

The patent of the Manor and Lordship of Livingston, granted to Robert, bears date the 22d of July, 1685, and comjDrised from one hundred and twenty thousand, to one htmdred and sixty thousand aci-es on the Hudson River. In the year 1715 the grant of the Livingston Manor was confirmed by the royal authority, and the additional privileges of electing a representative to the general assembly of the colony, and two constables, were conferred upon the tenants. The advantage in effect resulted to their Lord ; and this Manor until the revolution, belonged strictly to that pernicious class of institutions, close boroughs, which gave way with instantly before the equal influences of Rejjublicanism ; but which from the more congenial soil of England, half a century has hardly extirpated.

Of the Manors created in the Province 'of New York, the principal of which were those of Rensselaer, Livingston, Cortlandt, Philipsburg and Beekman, that of Livingston was, with the exception of the first, the largest, though not comparatively the richest or most valuable. I have noted the number of acres it originally comprised. It commenced about five miles south of the city of Hudson, (or where it now is,) extending twelve miles on the Hudson River, and. from that River easterly to the State line between Ncav York and Massachusetts, and widening, as it receded from the river, so as to embrace not far from twenty miles on the boundary of the latter colony. Five or six thousand acres were taken from it as a settlement for the Palatines, who came out with Gov. Hunter in 1710, and was called Germantown, and so called to this day. This purchase was made by the Crown, for the sum of two hundred pounds sterling, which if it may be considered as an average, though as the result of a government transaction it Avas probably a high one, gives the whole Manor a value of between twenty-five and thirty thousand dollars. This is to be looked upon however as a nominal estimate, for even a generation after this, the dower of the widow of Philip, the second proprietor in this extensive estate, is said to have been but £90 currency per annum, or about $280. Governor Livingston, speaking of it in a letter to the son of the last proprietor, dated November 10th, 1755, says :