Alida Livingston ( Schuyler; 1656–1727) was a

New Netherlands New Netherland () was a colony of the Dutch Republic located on the East Coast of what is now the United States. The claimed territories extended from the Delmarva Peninsula to Cape Cod. Settlements were established in what became the states ...

-born businesswoman in Dutch Colonial America who exerted a considerable influence in the life of the colony. She was married first to Nicholas van Rensselaer, son of Kiliaen van Rensselaer, a founding director of the

Dutch West India Company The Dutch West India Company () was a Dutch chartered company that was founded in 1621 and went defunct in 1792. Among its founders were Reynier Pauw, Willem Usselincx (1567–1647), and Jessé de Forest (1576–1624). On 3 June 1621, it was gra ...

and first

patroon In the United States, a patroon (; from Dutch '' patroon'' ) was a landholder with manorial rights to large tracts of land in the 17th-century Dutch colony of New Netherland on the east coast of North America. Through the Charter of Free ...

Rensselaerswyck Rensselaerswyck was a Dutch colonial patroonship and later an English manor owned by the van Rensselaer family located in the present-day Capital District of New York in the United States. The estate was originally deeded by the Dutch West In ...

, then to her late husband's secretary,

Robert Livingston the Elder Robert Livingston the Elder (13 December 1654 – 1728) was a Scottish-born merchant and government official in the Province of New York. He was granted a patent to 160,000 acres (650 km2/ 250 sq mi) of land along the Hudson River, becomin ...

, the first Lord of

Livingston Manor Livingston Manor was a tract of land in the Province of New York granted to Robert Livingston the Elder during the reign of George I of Great Britain. Located between the Hudson River and the Massachusetts border, the Livingston Manor was locate ...

Early life

Alida Schuyler was born in Beverwyck (Albany), in the New Netherlands (New York) as the daughter of the wealthy fur trader

Philip Pieterse Schuyler Colonel Philip Pieterse Schuyler or Philip Pieterse (1628 – 9 May 1683) was a Dutch-born landowner in New Netherlands and progenitor of the senior line of the American Schuyler family. Early life Philip Pieterse Schuyler was born in Amsterda ...

(1628-1683) and Margaretha van Slichtenhorst (1628-1711), of German ancestry. Schuyler, George W. ''Colonial New York: Philip Schuyler and His Family'', Vol. 1, Charles Scribner's Sons, 1885
/ref> She was one of ten children born to her parents, including

Pieter Schuyler Pieter Schuyler (17 September 1657 – 19 February 1724) was the first mayor of Albany, New York. A long-serving member of the executive council of the Province of New York, he acted as governor of the Province of New York on three occasions ...

(1657–1724), Arent Schuyler (1662–1730) and Gertruj Schuyler (b. 1654), who was married to

Stephanus van Cortlandt Stephanus van Cortlandt (May 7, 1643 – November 25, 1700) was the first native-born mayor of New York City, a position which he held from 1677 to 1678 and from 1686 to 1688. He was the patroon of Van Cortlandt Manor and was on the governor ...

(1643–1700).Roper, Louis H. and Van Ruymbeke, Bertrand. ''Constructing Early Modern Empires: Proprietary Ventures in the Atlantic World, 1500-1750'', Brill, 2007
/ref>

Career

Alida Schuyler was a major businesswoman particularly during her second marriage, to

: she acted as his business partner and political and economical adviser, and together they divided the responsibility of the business and exerted a considerable economic and political influence in the Colony. In 1686, the couple managed to acquire city privileges for Albany. She also participated in a long term lawsuit about the inheritance of her first spouse against his relatives. From 1686, she resided at

. She retired from business for health reasons in 1716.

Personal life

In 1675, she married Nicholas van Rensselaer (1636–1678), the fourth son of Kiliaen van Rensselaer. Kiliaen was a

Dutch Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands ** Dutch people as an ethnic group () ** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship () ** Dutch language () * In specific terms, i ...

diamond Diamond is a Allotropes of carbon, solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. Diamond is tasteless, odourless, strong, brittle solid, colourless in pure form, a poor conductor of e ...

and

pearl A pearl is a hard, glistening object produced within the soft tissue (specifically the mantle (mollusc), mantle) of a living Exoskeleton, shelled mollusk or another animal, such as fossil conulariids. Just like the shell of a mollusk, a pear ...

merchant from

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

, and one of the founders and directors of the

; instrumental in the establishment of

New Netherland New Netherland () was a colony of the Dutch Republic located on the East Coast of what is now the United States. The claimed territories extended from the Delmarva Peninsula to Cape Cod. Settlements were established in what became the states ...

, in 1630 he became the first

. Nicholas, a minister, died shortly after their marriage in 1678.Bielinski, Stefan. "Nicholas Van Rensselaer", New York State Museum
/ref> In 1679, she married her late husband's secretary,

(1654-1728), the first Lord of

. Livingston amassed one of the largest fortunes in 17th-century New York. They had nine children together: * Rebecca Livingston (1680-1747), who married John Buchanan (1676-1749) * Margaret Livingston (1681–1758), who married Samuel Vetch (1668–1732), the Royal Governor of Nova ScotiaPlank, p. 44 * Joanna Philipina Livingston (1683–1689), who died young *

Philip Livingston Philip Livingston (January 15, 1716 – June 12, 1778) was an American Founding Father, merchant, politician, and slave trader from New York City. He represented New York at the October 1774 First Continental Congress, where he favored imposi ...

(1686–1749), the second Lord of the Manor who married Catherine Van Brugh * Robert Livingston (1688–1775), who married Margaret Howarden (1693–1758) and was the owner of the Clermont Estate * Hubertus "Gilbert" Livingston (b. 1690), who married Cornelia Beekman, granddaughter 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 on May ...

, Mayor of New York, and niece of Gerardus Beekman * William Livingston (1692–1692), who died young * Joanna Livingston (b. 1694) * Catherine Livingston (1698–1699), who died young

Descendants

She was the grandmother of

and

William Livingston William Livingston (November 30, 1723July 25, 1790) was an American politician and lawyer who served as the first governor of New Jersey (1776–1790) during the American Revolutionary War. As a New Jersey representative in the Continental Congr ...

. Her granddaughter, Catherine Livingston, married Abraham De Peyster, a

loyalist Loyalism, in the United Kingdom, its overseas territories and its former colonies, refers to the allegiance to the British crown or the United Kingdom. In North America, the most common usage of the term refers to loyalty to the British Cr ...

Officer with the King's American Regiment who served at Battle of King's Mountain. Through her son, Gilbert Livingston, she was the grandmother of Margaret Livingston (1738–1818), who married Peter Stuyvesant (1727–1805), a great-grandson of the

Peter Stuyvesant Peter Stuyvesant ( – August 1672)Mooney, James E. "Stuyvesant, Peter" in p.1256 was a Dutch colonial administrator who served as the Directors of New Netherland, director-general of New Netherland from 1647 to 1664, when the colony was pro ...

who commanded the

colony on Manhattan island, and Joanna Livingston (1722–1808), who married

Pierre Van Cortlandt Pierre Van Cortlandt (January 10, 1721 – May 1, 1814) was an American politician who served as the first lieutenant governor of New York. He was first elected to the New York Assembly in March 1768 and served in that body as the representative ...

(1721–1814), the first

Lieutenant Governor A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a "second-in-comm ...

of the

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

.''Van Cortlandt, Pierre (1721-1814)''
at The Political Graveyard Many Americans are descended from the Livingston family, including

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...

, the entire

Fish A fish (: fish or fishes) is an aquatic animal, aquatic, Anamniotes, anamniotic, gill-bearing vertebrate animal with swimming fish fin, fins and craniate, a hard skull, but lacking limb (anatomy), limbs with digit (anatomy), digits. Fish can ...

and Kean families, First Lady

Eleanor Roosevelt Anna Eleanor Roosevelt ( ; October 11, 1884November 7, 1962) was an American political figure, diplomat, and activist. She was the longest-serving First Lady of the United States, first lady of the United States, during her husband Franklin D ...

, First Lady of New York Anna Morton, actors

Montgomery Clift Edward Montgomery Clift (October 17, 1920 – July 23, 1966) was an American actor. A four-time Academy Award nominee, he was known for his portrayal of "moody, sensitive young men", according to ''The New York Times''. He is best remembered f ...

and

Michael Douglas Michael Kirk Douglas (born September 25, 1944) is an American actor and film producer. He has received numerous accolades, including two Academy Awards, five Golden Globe Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, the Cecil B. DeMille Award, and the ...

, actress

Jane Wyatt Jane Waddington Wyatt ( ; August 12, 1910 – October 20, 2006) was an American actress. She starred in a number of Hollywood films, such as Frank Capra's '' Lost Horizon'', but is likely best known for her role as homemaker and mother Margaret ...

, medical resident Asad Rizvi, poet

Robert Lowell Robert Traill Spence Lowell IV (; March 1, 1917 – September 12, 1977) was an American poet. He was born into a Boston Brahmin family that could trace its origins back to the ''Mayflower''. His family, past and present, were important subjects ...

, cinematographer

Floyd Crosby Floyd Delafield Crosby, ASC (December 12, 1899September 30, 1985) was an American cinematographer. He won the Academy Award for Best Cinematography in 1931 for '' Tabu: A Story of the South Seas'', his debut film, before going on to shoot over ...

and his son

David Crosby David Van Cortlandt Crosby (August 14, 1941 – January 18, 2023) was an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He first found fame as a member of the Byrds, with whom he helped pioneer the genres of folk rock and psychedelic music, psych ...

, author

Wolcott Gibbs Wolcott Gibbs (March 15, 1902 – August 16, 1958) was an American editor, humorist, theatre critic, playwright and writer of short stories, who worked for ''The New Yorker'' magazine from 1927 until his death. He is notable for his 1936 parody ...

, and almost the entire

Astor family The Astor family achieved prominence in business sector, business, Socialite, society, and politics in the United States and the United Kingdom during the 19th and 20th centuries. With Germans, German roots, some of their ancestry goes back to th ...

References

Notes

Sources

* Kees Kuiken, Schuyler, Alida, in: Digitaal Vrouwenlexicon van Nederland. URL: http://resources.huygens.knaw.nl/vrouwenlexicon/lemmata/data/Schuyler 3/01/2014 * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Schuyler, Alida 1656 births 1727 deaths 17th-century American businesspeople 17th-century American businesswomen 18th-century American businesspeople Livingston family People from New Netherland Merchants from colonial New York 17th-century American merchants Schuyler family Van Rensselaer family 18th-century American businesswomen