Edward Livingston (May 28, 1764May 23, 1836) was an American jurist and statesman. He was an influential figure in the drafting of the
Louisiana Civil Code of 1825, a civil code based largely on the
Napoleonic Code. Livingston represented both
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* ...
and then Louisiana in Congress and served as the
U.S. Secretary of State
The United States secretary of state is a member of the executive branch of the federal government of the United States and the head of the U.S. Department of State. The office holder is one of the highest ranking members of the president's C ...
from 1831 to 1833 and Minister to France from 1833 to 1835 under President
Andrew Jackson
Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) was an American lawyer, planter, general, and statesman who served as the seventh president of the United States from 1829 to 1837. Before being elected to the presidency, he gained fame as ...
.
Early life
Edward Livingston was born in
Clermont,
Columbia County, New York. He was the youngest son of Judge
Robert Livingston and Margaret (
née
A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...
Beekman) Livingston, and was a member of the prestigious
Livingston family. His father was a member of the
New York Provincial Assembly and a
Judge of the New York Supreme Court of Judicature, and his mother was heir to immense tracts of land in
Dutchess and
Ulster counties. Among his many siblings were
Chancellor of New York The New York Court of Chancery was the highest court in the State of New York from 1701 to 1847.
History
The New York Court of Chancery was established during the British colonial administration on August 28, 1701, with the colonial governor actin ...
Robert R. Livingston; Janet Livingston, who married Gen.
Richard Montgomery
Richard Montgomery (2 December 1738 – 31 December 1775) was an Irish soldier who first served in the British Army. He later became a major general in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War, and he is most famous for l ...
;
Margaret Livingston, who married
New York Secretary of State Thomas Tillotson;
Henry Beekman Livingston;
Catharine Livingston, who married
Freeborn Garrettson;
merchant John R. Livingston;
Gertrude Livingston, who married Gov.
Morgan Lewis; Joanna Livingston, who married
Peter R. Livingston
Peter Robert Livingston (October 3, 1766 – January 19, 1847 Rhinebeck, New York) was an American politician who served as Acting Lieutenant Governor of New York from February to October 1828.
Early life
Peter Robert Livingston was born on Oct ...
, acting
Lieutenant Governor of New York; and Alida Livingston, who married
John Armstrong, Jr.
John Armstrong Jr. (November 25, 1758April 1, 1843) was an American soldier, diplomat and statesman who was a delegate to the Continental Congress, U.S. Senator from New York, and United States Secretary of War under President James Madison. A m ...
, a
U.S. Senator
The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States.
The composition and power ...
,
U.S. Secretary of War
The secretary of war was a member of the U.S. president's Cabinet, beginning with George Washington's administration. A similar position, called either "Secretary at War" or "Secretary of War", had been appointed to serve the Congress of t ...
, and
U.S. Minister to France who was the son of Gen.
John Armstrong, Sr.
His maternal grandparents were
Henry Beekman
Henry Beekman (January 4, 1687 – January 3, 1775) was a prominent colonial American politician and landowner.
Early life
Beekman was born in Kingston, New York. the son of Judge Hendrick "Henry" Beekman (1652–1716) and his wife, Johanna (né ...
, a descendant of
Wilhelmus Beekman
Wilhelmus Hendricksen Beekman (April 28, 1623 – September 21, 1707) — also known as William Beekman and Willem Beekman (or Beeckman) — was a Dutch immigrant to America who came to New Amsterdam (now New York City) from the Netherlands in the ...
, and Janet (née Livingston) Beekman, a Livingston cousin. Their children included:
His father was the only child of
Robert Livingston, known as "Robert of
Clermont" (himself a son of
Robert Livingston the Elder, the first Lord of
Livingston Manor, and
Alida (née Schuyler) Van Rensselaer Livingston) and Margaret (née Howarden) Livingston.
He graduated from
Princeton University in 1781.
Career
Livingston was admitted to the bar in 1785, and began to practice law in
New York City along with
James Kent,
Aaron Burr
Aaron Burr Jr. (February 6, 1756 – September 14, 1836) was an American politician and lawyer who served as the third vice president of the United States from 1801 to 1805. Burr's legacy is defined by his famous personal conflict with Alexan ...
and
Alexander Hamilton
Alexander Hamilton (January 11, 1755 or 1757July 12, 1804) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first United States secretary of the treasury from 1789 to 1795.
Born out of wedlock in Charlest ...
, rapidly rising to distinction.
From 1795 to 1801, Livingston was a
Democratic-Republican
The Democratic-Republican Party, known at the time as the Republican Party and also referred to as the Jeffersonian Republican Party among other names, was an American political party founded by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison in the early ...
U.S. Representative
The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...
in the
United States Congress from the state of New York, where he was one of the leaders of the opposition to
Jay's Treaty
The Treaty of Amity, Commerce, and Navigation, Between His Britannic Majesty and the United States of America, commonly known as the Jay Treaty, and also as Jay's Treaty, was a 1794 treaty between the United States and Great Britain that averted ...
, and introduced the resolution calling upon
President
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
*President (education), a leader of a college or university
*President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Automobiles
* Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...
George Washington
George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of th ...
to furnish Congress with the details of the negotiations of the peace treaty with the
Kingdom of Great Britain, which the President refused to share. At the close of Washington's administration, he voted with
Andrew Jackson
Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) was an American lawyer, planter, general, and statesman who served as the seventh president of the United States from 1829 to 1837. Before being elected to the presidency, he gained fame as ...
and other radicals against the address to the president.
Livingston was a prominent opponent of the
Alien and Sedition Laws
The Alien and Sedition Acts were a set of four laws enacted in 1798 that applied restrictions to immigration and speech in the United States. The Naturalization Act increased the requirements to seek citizenship, the Alien Friends Act allowed th ...
, introduced legislation on behalf of American seamen, and in 1800 attacked the president for permitting the extradition to the British government of Jonathan Robbins, who had committed murder on an English frigate and then escaped to
South Carolina and falsely claimed to be an American citizen. In the debate on this question Livingston was opposed by
John Marshall
John Marshall (September 24, 1755July 6, 1835) was an American politician and lawyer who served as the fourth Chief Justice of the United States from 1801 until his death in 1835. He remains the longest-serving chief justice and fourth-longes ...
, the
Chief Justice of the United States.
In 1801, Livingston was appointed
United States Attorney for the district of New York, and while retaining that position was in the same year appointed
Mayor of New York City. When, in the summer of 1803, the city was visited with
yellow fever, Livingston displayed courage and energy in his endeavors to prevent the spread of the disease and relieve distress. He suffered a violent attack of fever, during which the people gave many proofs of their attachment to him.
Upon his recovery he found his private affairs in some confusion, and he was at the same time deeply indebted to the government for public funds which had been lost through the mismanagement or dishonesty of a confidential clerk, and for which he was responsible as US attorney. He at once surrendered all his property, resigned his two offices in 1803, and moved early in 1804 to
New Orleans in what would shortly become the
Territory of Orleans (1804–1812). His older brother, Robert R. Livingston, had negotiated the
Louisiana Purchase, in 1803. Edward Livingston soon built a large
law practice
In its most general sense, the practice of law involves giving legal advice to clients, drafting legal documents for clients, and representing clients in legal negotiations and court proceedings such as lawsuits, and is applied to the professi ...
in New Orleans, and in 1826 he repaid the
Federal government in full, including the interest, which by that time amounted to more than the original principal.
Louisiana
Almost immediately upon his arrival in Louisiana, where the legal system had previously been based on
Roman
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
* Rome, the capital city of Italy
* Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lett ...
, French, and Spanish law, and where
trial by jury and other particularities of
English common law were now first introduced, he was appointed by the legislature to prepare a provisional code of judicial procedure, which (in the form of an act passed in April 1805) was continued in force from 1805 to 1825.
In 1807, after conducting a successful suit on behalf of a client's title to a part of the batture or alluvial land near New Orleans, Livingston attempted to improve part of this land (which he had received as his fee) in the Batture Ste. Marie. Great popular excitement was aroused against him; his workmen were mobbed; and territorial Governor
William C. C. Claiborne, when appealed to for protection, referred the question to the Federal government.
It has been alleged that Livingston's case was damaged by then-President
Thomas Jefferson, who believed that Livingston had favored Aaron Burr in the
Presidential election of 1800, and that he had afterwards been a party to Burr's schemes. Jefferson made it impossible for Livingston to secure his
property title, since by asserting the claim that such battures were the property of the Federal government, Livingston's title obtained from the Territorial Court was invalid. In response, Livingston filed a civil
lawsuit against Jefferson in 1810. After the case was dismissed on December 5, 1811 by Chief Justice John Marshall due to lack of jurisdiction, Jefferson, nonetheless, in 1812 published a pamphlet originally intended "for the use of counsel" in the case against Livingston, to which Livingston published a reply.
Louisiana became a
U.S. state
In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sov ...
just one and a half months before the
U.S. Congress declared war upon
Great Britain. During the
War of 1812, Edward Livingston was active in rousing the ethnically-mixed population of New Orleans to resistance against the threat of British invasion. He used his influence to secure amnesty for
Jean Lafitte and his followers when they offered to
help defend the city, and in 1814–15 acted as adviser and one of several
aides-de-camp to Major General Andrew Jackson, who was his personal friend.
Livingston Code
In 1821, by appointment of the
Louisiana State Legislature
The Louisiana State Legislature (french: Législature d'État de Louisiane) is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is a bicameral body, comprising the lower house, the Louisiana House of Representatives with 105 represe ...
, of which he had become a member of the
Louisiana House of Representatives in the preceding year, Livingston began the preparation of a new
code
In communications and information processing, code is a system of rules to convert information—such as a letter, word, sound, image, or gesture—into another form, sometimes shortened or secret, for communication through a communication ...
of criminal law and procedure, afterwards known in
Europe and America as the "Livingston Code." It was prepared in both
French and
English, as was required by the necessities of practice in Louisiana, and actually consisted of four sections: crimes and punishments, procedure, evidence in criminal cases, and reform and prison discipline. Though substantially completed in 1824, when it was accidentally burned, and again in 1826, the criminal code was not printed in its entirety until 1833. It was never adopted by the state.
The Livingston Code was at once reprinted in England,
France, and
Germany, attracting wide praise by its remarkable simplicity and vigor, and especially by reason of its philanthropic provisions in the code of reform and prison discipline, which noticeably influenced the penal legislation of various countries. In referring to this code,
Sir Henry Maine spoke of Livingston as "the first legal genius of modern times." The spirit of Livingston's code was remedial rather than vindictive; it provided for the abolition of
capital punishment
Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...
and the making of penitentiary labor not a punishment forced on the prisoner, but a matter of his choice and a reward for good behavior, bringing with it better accommodations. His Code of Reform and Prison Discipline was adopted by the government of the short-lived
Federal Republic of Central America under liberal president
Francisco Morazán
José Francisco Morazán Quesada (; born October 3, 1792 – September 15, 1842) was a Central American politician who served as president of the Federal Republic of Central America from 1830 to 1839. Before he was president of Central America h ...
.
Livingston was the leading member of a commission appointed to prepare a new
civil code
A civil code is a codification of private law relating to property, family, and obligations.
A jurisdiction that has a civil code generally also has a code of civil procedure. In some jurisdictions with a civil code, a number of the core are ...
for Louisiana, which for the most part the legislature adopted in 1825; and the most important chapters of which, including all those on
contracts, were prepared by Edward Livingston alone. Livingston became again a U.S. Representative, this time as the first person to serve
Louisiana's 1st congressional district
Louisiana's 1st congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The district comprises land from the northern shore of Lake Pontchartrain south to the Mississippi River delta. It covers most of New Orleans' subu ...
. The preliminary work for the preparation of a new civil code was completed by
James Brown and
Louis Moreau-Lislet, who in 1808 reported a ''Digest of the Civil Laws now in force in the Territory of Orleans with Alterations and Amendments adapted to the present Form of Government''.
Later career
Livingston served as a
U.S. Representative
The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...
from Louisiana from 1823 to 1829, a
U.S. Senator
The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States.
The composition and power ...
from 1829 to 1831, and for two years (1831–1833)
United States Secretary of State under President Jackson. In this last position he was one of Jackson's most trusted advisers. Livingston prepared a number of state papers for President Jackson, the most important being the famous anti-nullification proclamation of December 10, 1832.
From 1833 to 1835, Livingston was minister plenipotentiary to France, charged with procuring the fulfillment by the French government of the treaty negotiated by W. C. Rives in 1831, by which France had bound herself to pay an indemnity of twenty-five millions of francs for French spoliations of American shipping chiefly under the
Berlin and
Milan decrees, and the United States in turn agreed to pay to France 1,500,000 francs in satisfaction of French claims. Livingston's negotiations were conducted with excellent judgment, but the French Chamber of Deputies refused to make an appropriation to pay the first installment due under the treaty in 1833, relations between the two governments became strained, and Livingston was finally instructed to close the legation and return to America.
Personal life
Livingston was married twice. His first wife, Mary McEvers, whom he wed on April 10, 1788, later died of
scarlet fever
Scarlet fever, also known as Scarlatina, is an infectious disease caused by ''Streptococcus pyogenes'' a Group A streptococcus (GAS). The infection is a type of Group A streptococcal infection (Group A strep). It most commonly affects childr ...
.
She was the daughter of Charles McEvers and Mary (née Bache) McEvers and her sister, Eliza McEvers, was the second wife of Edwards older brother, the merchant John R. Livingston.
Before her death on March 13, 1801, they were the parents of three children:
* Charles Edward Livingston (born 1790)
* Julia Livingston (1794–1814)
* Lewis Livingston (1798–1822)
In June 1805, he married Madame Marie Louise Magdaleine Valentine "Louise" (née d'Avezac) de Castera Moreau de Lassy (1785–1860), a widow who was then only 19 years of age, and a refugee in New Orleans from the
Haitian Revolution
The Haitian Revolution (french: révolution haïtienne ; ht, revolisyon ayisyen) was a successful insurrection by self-liberated slaves against French colonial rule in Saint-Domingue, now the sovereign state of Haiti. The revolt began on 2 ...
.
She was the daughter of a wealthy landowner and the sister of
Auguste Davezac, a politician and diplomat who served twice as
U.S. Minister to the Netherlands. She was a woman of extraordinary beauty and intellect: "the lady name is short, but she is said to be majestic in her person and elegant in manners with a long purse". She is said to have greatly influenced her husband's public career. Together, Louise and Edward were the parents of two children, only one of whom lived to adulthood:
* Coralie Livingston (1806–1873), who married
Thomas Pennant Barton (1803–1869), the son of noted physician
Benjamin Smith Barton
Benjamin Smith Barton (February 10, 1766 – December 19, 1815) was an American botanist, naturalist, and physician. He was one of the first professors of natural history in the United States and built the largest collection of botanical specimen ...
, in April 1833.
Livingston died on May 23, 1836, 5 days before his 72nd birthday at
Montgomery Place in
Red Hook, New York
Red Hook is a town in Dutchess County, New York, United States. The population was 9,953 at the time of the 2020 census, down from 11,319 in 2010. The name is supposedly derived from the red foliage on trees on a small strip of land on the Huds ...
, an estate left him by his sister, to which he had removed in 1831.
Legacy and honors
The town of
Livingston, Guatemala
Livingston is a town, with a population of 17,923 (2018 census), in Izabal Department, eastern Guatemala, at the mouth of the Río Dulce at the Gulf of Honduras. The town serves as the municipal seat of the municipality of the same name. It was Gu ...
, is named after Edward Livingston, in commemoration of the Livingston Code.
Edward Livingston is the namesake of counties in
Illinois,
Michigan, and
Missouri, and
a parish in Louisiana with its seat of
Livingston. Also named for him is
a town in
Tennessee, a town in
Livingston, Alabama, a Sumter County, Alabama, and by extension, the town of
Livingston, Texas
Livingston is a town in and the county seat of Polk County, Texas. With a population of 5,640 at the 2020 census, it is the largest city in Polk County. It is located about 46 miles south of Lufkin and was originally settled in 1835 as ...
,
Lake Livingston in Texas, and the Livingston Dam.
Edward Livingston High School (formerly a middle school) in
New Orleans was named for him.
Fort Livingston, a 19th-century coastal fortification, was named after Edward Livingston, along with today's Fort Livingston State Commemorative Area in south Louisiana.
Livingston was elected a member of the
American Philosophical Society
The American Philosophical Society (APS), founded in 1743 in Philadelphia, is a scholarly organization that promotes knowledge in the sciences and humanities through research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and communit ...
in 1825 and the
American Antiquarian Society
The American Antiquarian Society (AAS), located in Worcester, Massachusetts, is both a learned society and a national research library of pre-twentieth-century American history and culture. Founded in 1812, it is the oldest historical society i ...
American Antiquarian Society Members Directory
/ref> in 1833.
References
*
Further reading
Hatcher, William B., ''Edward Livingston: Jeffersonian Republican and Jacksonian Democrat'', Louisiana State University Press (1940).
Hunt, Charles Havens, ''Life of Edward Livingston'', Appleton & Co. (1863).
External links
Office of the Historian profile
at U.S. Department of State
Edward Livingston Letters
a
The Historic New Orleans Collection
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Livingston, Edward
1764 births
1836 deaths
People from Columbia County, New York
People of the Province of New York
Edward
Schuyler family
United States Secretaries of State
Jackson administration cabinet members
Democratic-Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from New York (state)
Democratic-Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Louisiana
Jacksonian members of the United States House of Representatives from Louisiana
New York (state) Jacksonians
Jacksonian United States senators from Louisiana
Ambassadors of the United States to France
19th-century American diplomats
Members of the Louisiana House of Representatives
Mayors of New York City
United States Attorneys for the District of New York
Livingston County, Illinois
Livingston County, Michigan
Livingston County, Missouri
Livingston Parish, Louisiana
Members of the American Antiquarian Society
People from New Orleans
Princeton University alumni
American people of the War of 1812
Beekman family