Robert Cambridge Livingston (1742-1790)

Robert "Cambridge" Livingston, of Hudson, Columbia County, New York

He was given the sobriquet "Cambridge" to distinguish him from other Robert Livingstons and because he had been educated at Cambridge University in England. His elder brother, Walter, built Teviotdale on the land he received from their father. Robert received Great Lot No. 2. Robert's role in the American Revolution makes it unclear which side he favored: In 1775, he returned to England under the premise of "ill health" but it is suspected that in fact it was either to protect his business interests or to spy on behalf of the Americans. In 1778, he returned to America on a British ship but was discovered with compromising documents and taken prisoner. When he was released, his loyalties were again questioned, this time by the Americans, most likely due to his wife's family's Loyalist leanings. He had five children.
Contributed by Mark Meredith on 05/12/2019 and last updated on 07/12/2019.
Columbia Rising: Civil Life on the Upper Hudson from the Revolution to the Age of Jackson (2013) by John L. Brooke