American Patriot, Politician, Entrepreneur. He made a mark in the forming of the United States, serving in various positions especially in the areas of finance and foreign and judicial affairs. Born the son of colonial Supreme Court of Judicature Justice Robert Livingston, his family was one of the wealthiest land owners in New York. After receiving an education at home, he entered at age 15 King's College, which is today Columbia University. After graduation, he studied law in New Jersey and was admitted to the New York bar in 1773. He started his law practice in partnership with John Jay, who would become the governor of New York. Later, he would have a practice in New York City. In 1773, his political career started as the city's Recorder. He advanced to state level, becoming a member of the second, third and fourth Provincial Congresses of New York from 1775 to 1777, serving in the Continental Congress, where he was one of the five drafters of the Declaration of Independence, yet missed the signing due to duties elsewhere. A cousin represented him in the signing. This was not an easy decision to make. If the colonies had lost their fight for independence from England, he would have lost everything including his life. Participating in the fourth New York Provincial Congress which became the Convention of the Representatives of the State of New York on July 10, 1776, he was a member of the committee that drafted the New York Constitution of 1777. When the government of New York State was established, he became chancellor. On April 30, 1789, he administered the oath of office to George Washington, the First President of the United States. In 1798 he was a candidate for the office of Governor of New York, but lost the election to his former law partner, John Jay. He was appointed by President Jefferson's minister to France serving on the court of Napoleon in 1801, and he and James Monroe negotiated the Louisiana Purchase. While in Paris, he met Robert Fulton in 1802 and after his retirement from a public life, supported the inventor's construction of the first successful steamboat, "The Clermont," named for Livingston's estate. The steamboat was called "Fulton's Folly" by critics. They formed a partnership for steamboat service on the Hudson River and he sailed aboard the "Clermont" on its maiden run from New York City to Albany. He used the steamboat to move his cargo as well as to carry passengers. By 1807 he held a steamboat monopoly in New York waters, suing others who became competitors. As an inventor, he held several patents. His last years were spent experimenting with new agricultural techniques and raising sheep at the family estate at Clermont located on the shore of the Hudson River. Robert Livingston's health declined in the summer of 1812 after he suffered a series of strokes, dying early in the next year. After a funeral service at St Paul Episcopal Church in nearby Tivoli, he was interred in the burial ground located to the rear of the structure. He married and had two daughters, who both married Livingston cousins. In his honor, New York State contributed to the Hall of Statutes in the United States Capitol a bronze statue of Livingston holding the Louisiana purchase deed. A dual cast was commissioned for the New York Capitol, and it now stands in the courtroom of the New York Court of Appeals in Albany. According to the estate administration's statement in May of 2022, the family's crypt was removed from his original burial site at Clermont Manor Cemetery in the 1870s and moved to St. Paul Episcopal Church in Tivoli. All the remains in the crypt were relocated. On the website of St. Paul Episcopal Church, Livingston is buried in the churchyard cemetery. Livingston has a bronze relief on black marble within the church.