Representative Henry Walter Livingston

Henry Walter Livingston (June 12, 1768 – December 22, 1810) was a United States Representative from the state of New York and a member of the Federalist Party. He was born in Livingston, New York, to Continental Congressman Walter Livingston and Cornelia Schuyler. He was baptized on June 12, 1768, and was probably born the same day. He came from two of New York’s most prominent colonial and early national families. His paternal grandfather was Robert Livingston, the 3rd Lord of Livingston Manor, while his mother was a granddaughter of Pieter Schuyler, the first Mayor of Albany. Among his siblings, his sister Gertrude Livingston married William Cutting and became the mother of Francis Brockholst Cutting, later a U.S. Representative from New York’s 8th congressional district, and his youngest sister, Harriet Livingston, married the inventor and engineer Robert Fulton.

Livingston received a formal education commensurate with his family’s standing. He graduated from Yale College in 1786, at a notably young age, and then pursued legal studies. After reading law, he was admitted to the bar and commenced the practice of law in New York City. His early legal training and connections placed him in close professional association with leading figures of the early Republic.

From October 2, 1787, to September 11, 1789, Livingston served as a clerk in the office of Alexander Hamilton. On April 29, 1790, Hamilton issued a “certificate of clerkship” for him, attesting that “he is of good moral Character,” a document that underscored both Livingston’s professional competence and personal reputation. From 1792 to 1794, he was private secretary to Gouverneur Morris during Morris’s tenure as Minister of the United States to France, giving Livingston direct exposure to international diplomacy and the turbulent political climate of revolutionary France. After returning to New York, Livingston continued his legal and judicial career and became a judge of the Court of Common Pleas of Columbia County, further consolidating his position in the legal and civic life of the state.

Livingston also entered state politics. He was a member of the New York State Assembly in 1802, participating in legislative deliberations at a time when New York was emerging as a central force in national affairs. He returned to the Assembly again in 1810, underscoring his continued influence and engagement in state government. His legislative work at the state level helped prepare him for service in the national legislature.

As a member of the Federalist Party representing New York, Livingston contributed to the legislative process during two terms in the United States House of Representatives. He was elected as a Federalist to the Eighth and Ninth Congresses and served from March 4, 1803, to March 3, 1807. His service in Congress occurred during a significant period in American history, marked by the presidency of Thomas Jefferson, debates over foreign policy amid the Napoleonic Wars, and the evolving balance between federal and state authority. During these years, Livingston participated in the democratic process and represented the interests of his New York constituents within the broader Federalist program of strong national institutions and commercial development.

In 1796, Livingston married Mary Masters Allen (1776–1855), a member of a prominent Pennsylvania family. She was the daughter of James Allen (1742–1778), granddaughter of William Allen (1704–1780), Chief Justice of Pennsylvania, and great-granddaughter of Andrew Hamilton (c. 1676–1741), Speaker of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. Their marriage linked the Livingston and Allen families, uniting influential New York and Pennsylvania lineages. They were the parents of several children: Henry Walter Livingston (1798–1848), who married Caroline de Grasse de Pau (1806–1871), daughter of French shipping magnate and slaver Francis De Pau and Silvie de Grasse, daughter of a French count, in 1823; Walter Livingston (1799–1872), who married Mary Livingston Greenleaf (1802–1886), daughter of James Greenleaf, in 1828; James Allen Livingston (1801–1825), who died unmarried in Rouen, France; Mary Livingston (1803–1880), who married James Thomson Jr. (d. 1847) in 1825; Elizabeth Livingston (1807–1860), who married William Denning Henderson (1803–1852) in 1828; Cornelia Livingston (1808–1884), who married Carroll Livingston (1805–1867), son of Henry Brockholst Livingston, in 1828; and Anne Greenleaf Livingston (1809–1887), who married Anson Livingston (1807–1873), another son of Henry Brockholst Livingston, in 1829. Through these marriages, the family remained closely interwoven with other branches of the Livingston and allied families.

Henry Walter Livingston died at his home in Livingston, New York, on December 22, 1810. His residence, known as “The Hill,” remained associated with the family and was later recognized for its historical significance; it was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1971. Henry W. Livingston and his wife were entombed in a vault at the Henry W. Livingston House. In 1904, the vault was broken into, apparently by grave robbers, and the remains were scattered. Efforts to recover them and to identify the perpetrators were unsuccessful, leaving a troubling epilogue to the life of a figure who had been closely connected to the political and social elite of the early United States.