Livingston, William

Livingston, William

(1723–90) legislator, governor; born in Albany, N.Y. After graduating from Yale in 1741, he chose law instead of the family business, joining the liberal New York firm of James Alexander, noted for championing freedom of the press. In a series of newspaper and magazine articles (1751–52), Livingston attacked a plan to charter King's College (New York City) under the Episcopalians, becoming a leader of the Whigs supporting the separation of church and state. His party won control of the Assembly in 1758, but lost power in 1769 when the "Sons of Liberty" demanded more radical opposition to the Stamp Act. Retreating to his country estate in New Jersey, he soon reemerged as a leader, joining a Committee of Correspondence before representing New Jersey at the First and Second Continental Congresses. In 1776, he briefly commanded the New Jersey militia. As New Jersey's first governor (Fed., 1776–90), he opposed paper currency and treated Loyalists moderately. As a delegate to the Constitutional Convention of 1787, he supported the compromises that would ease its acceptance.

The Cambridge Dictionary of American Biography, by John S. Bowman. Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1995. Reproduced with permission.