Philip Livingston, born on January 15, 1716, in Albany, New York, hailed from the wealthy and influential Livingston family. Philip spent his youth in opulent manor houses and townhomes before attending Yale College in the 1730s. After graduating, Philip settled in New York City and soon became one of the town’s most successful merchants. By the 1750s, Livingston entered public life, serving as an alderman and then elected representative within the British colonial government.  

By the 1760s, British taxes designed to increase government revenue began to become unpopular with many American colonists. Livingston began to speak out publicly against these attempts at levying taxes on colonists without representation in Parliament. While resisting violent acts of protest, he attended the Stamp Act Congress of 1765. 

Defeated for reelection in the colonial assembly by fierce British loyalists, Livingston was free to devote more of his time to the Patriot cause. In 1774, he was selected by members of his community to join the New York delegation in the First Continental Congress. Livingston was largely skeptical of American independence, his concerns of unprecedented levels of disorder often outweighing his desire to see British authority limited. He was not alone. The New York Assembly, under pressure to seek reconciliation, delayed in conveying their instructions to their delegates to the Continental Congress. When permission was finally received from New York, Livingston joined the rest of his colleagues and signed the Declaration of Independence one month late—on August 2, 1776.  

Philip Livingston died of an illness two years later, at the age of 62. He left behind his wife, eight children, and a legacy of measured but steadfast patriotism.