Livingston Papers, 1670-1797. 2 boxes (0.5 linear feet).
ArMs 1974.018
Robert Livingston, known as “the Founder,” was born in Scotland, but spent many years in Holland, where he acquired the Dutch language and customs. In 1673, he moved to Albany, New York, and was shortly appointed town clerk and secretary of the board of commissioners for Indian Affairs. In 1686, he received a patent for land that encompassed the present counties of Columbia and Dutchess. In 1709 he represented the district of Albany in the Assembly and in 1718 was elected speaker. He retired in 1725. He functioned as secretary of Indian Affairs from the 1670s on, officially from 1696 to 1710, at which time he relinquished this post to Robert Livingston, Jr. (1663-1725), son of Robert Livingston’s uncle James and known as “the Nephew.”
The Livingston collection contains legal documents and correspondence related to Robert Livingston (1654-1728) of Albany, his heirs, and their estate, Livingston Manor. It also contains propositions, minutes, examinations, accounts, journals, and correspondence - a selection of transactions between the Commissioners of Indian Affairs at Albany and the Native American peoples of the Hudson Valley and central New York, 1679-1723.