Son of Susannah French and William Livingston, the first governor of the state of New Jersey, Henry Brockholst Livingston (1757-1823) attended the College of New Jersey at Princeton, graduating in 1774. An advocate of the patriot cause, he served as an officer in the Continental Army. In 1779, he accompanied John Jay, his brother-in-law, on a mission to Spain. His long-lasting hostility toward Jay dated from this time. In the gubernatorial race of 1792, Livingston actively supported George Clinton, the successful candidate, against Jay. Livingston, who served several terms in the New York Assembly, was a member of the Democratic Society of New York, and in 1795 organized opposition to the Jay Treaty. Along with Aaron Burr, Livingston is one of those credited with organizing the Republican victory in New York in the spring of 1800, which gave the state’s electoral votes to the Jeffersonians. He was admitted to the bar in New York City in 1783. In 1802, Governor Clinton appointed him to the New York Supreme Court. In 1805, he declined the nomination as U.S. judge for the district of New York. The next year, TJ named him to the U.S. Supreme Court in place of William Paterson. As a cultural leader in New York, Livingston served as a trustee and treasurer of Columbia College, as one of the founders and a vice president of the New-York Historical Society, and as a promoter of public education. In December 1800, TJ noted a characterization of Livingston as “very able, but ill-tempered, selfish, unpopular” (ANB description begins John A. Garraty and Mark C. Carnes, eds., American National Biography, New York and Oxford, 1999, 24 vols. description ends ; Richard A. Harrison, Princetonians, 1769-1775: A Biographical Dictionary [Princeton, 1980], 312, 397-406; Carl E. Prince and others, eds., The Papers of William Livingston, 5 vols. [Trenton and New Brunswick, N.J., 1979–88], 1:3, 396; New York American Citizen and General Advertiser, 26 Apr., 5 May 1800; Hudson, N.Y., Bee, 4 June 1805; New York Evening Post, 11 June 1805; William Keteltas to TJ, 16 Feb. 1805; Vol. 28:430-1; Vol. 31:494-5; Vol. 32:348).

In 1798, william cutting married Gertrude Livingston, Brockholst Livingston’s second cousin (Madison, Papers description begins William T. Hutchinson, Robert A. Rutland, J. C. A. Stagg, and others, eds., The Papers of James Madison, Chicago and Charlottesville, 1962- , 37 vols.: Sec. of State Ser., 1986- , 10 vols.; Pres. Ser., 1984- , 8 vols.; Ret. Ser., 2009- , 2 vols. description ends , Pres. Ser., 2:116).