Description:

Livingston Robert



Livingston, Chancellor, Supports Candidate for Sergeant at Arms

 

ROBERT R. LIVINGSTON, Autograph Letter Signed, to Unknown, March 2, 1798, New York, NY.  1 p., 7.75" x 8.5". Fold with small tear on fold; attached to paper frame.

 

Complete Transcript

                                                                        New York, 2d March 1798

Dear sir

            The bearer Mr David Crone has applied to me for the place of sergeant at arms to the Court of Chancery now vacant, as far as I have been able to learn he bears a good character & you will oblige me if you have no other candidate in view by giving him your support.

                                                                        I am D sir / with pleasure & regard

Your Most [? ?]

Rob R. Livingston

 

Historical Background

British colonial administrators first established the New York Court of Chancery in 1701, with the colonial governor acting as Chancellor. The New York State Constitution of 1777 continued the court but required an attorney to be the Chancellor. The court had jurisdiction over cases of equity in the state, and the Chancellor was the highest judicial officer in the state. The General Assembly appointed Robert R. Livingston as the first Chancellor under the new constitution in 1777, and he held that position until 1801.

 

The sergeant at arms was the enforcement or police officer of the court. He served the court’s process and implemented the court’s orders. The General Assembly abolished the position in 1802 and transferred enforcement duties to county sheriffs.

 

 

Robert Robert Livingston (“the Chancellor”) (1746-1813) was born in New York City and graduated from King’s College (Columbia University) in 1765. Admitted to the bar in 1770, he began a law practice and soon identified himself with the anti-colonial Whig Party. In June 1776, as a representative of New York at the Second Continental Congress, he was a member of the Committee of Five (along with John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, and Roger Sherman) who drafted the Declaration of Independence. From 1777 to 1801, he was Chancellor of New York, the highest judicial officer in the state. He also served as the first U.S. Secretary of Foreign Affairs under the Articles of Confederation from 1781 to 1783.  In 1801, President Thomas Jefferson appointed Livingston as U.S. minister to France, where he negotiated the Louisiana Purchase of 1803. He also met Robert Fulton, with whom he developed the first viable steamboat, which operated on the Hudson River.

 

 



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