Cornelia Schuyler Livingston

Cornelia Schuyler was born in July 1746. She was the first child born to the marriage of Pieter P. and Geertruy Schuyler. she grew up on Schuyler properties in Albany and at the Flats. However, her father died in 1753 and her mother re-married in 1760. She was left a substntial bequest in the will of her grandmother.

In March 1767, she married the somewhat older merchant Walter Livingston following his return from several years in Europe. The ceremony took place in New Brunswick, New Jersey. Her husband was the grandson of Albany stalwart Philip Livingston. By 1786, eleven children had been christened at regional (but not in Albany) churches. However, in 1776, "Cornelia Livingston" witnessed two baptisms at the Albany Dutch church but not with Walter Livingston Her youngest daughter married steamboat pioneer Robert Fulton.

Cornelia raised her family on Livingston Manor while Walter Livingston served family business interests in New York. Beginning in 1775, he served the American cause in the Commissary Department and afterwards in the New York State Legislature and the Continental Congress. In 1777, he received a New York State appointment as a judge for Albany County. In 1785, he was appointed Commissioner of the United States Treasury. During those years, these Livingstons mostly lived in the West Ward of New York where her large household of nineteen members in 1790 was served by ten slaves.

Following financial disasters during the early 1790s, these Livingstons retreated to Hudson Valley mansion called "Teviotdale" which Walter Livingston had built before the war and where he died in May 1797. Teviotdale is said to have passed to their daughter at that time.

We seek information on his widow's life following Livingston's death.

Cornelia Schuyler Livingston is said to have passed on in 1822. Representative-turned-lobbyist "Bob" Livingston is her modern day descendant.

Sources: The life of Cornelia Schuyler Livingston is CAP biography number 1255. This sketch is derived chiefly from family and community-based resources.