2025.09.09 Daily Thread – American Stories: When in the Course of human events – Part 26

We move to neighboring New York to begin the next reveal of the remaining Declaration signers. So let’s open with some famous New Yorkers and NY related songs to get us warmed up. There are Goober Gump sightings in this one.

OK, went back in the time capsule for that one. In fact, I saw him in concert in Vegas a few years previous to this performance. Yes, I’m old.

Let’s go with a more current NY music entertainer, albeit a now older guy who is having his own health issues and stepping back from the limelight.

Well, now that you asked, I also saw this guy in concert in 1973; the year Piano Man came out following the Cold Spring Harbor Tour. He excitedly announced on stage that the song was going to be released in about a month along with a planned album later. The response from the thousands in the crowd after hearing the song was like thunder. As we now know, that song is timeless Americana that will be forever associated with Billy Joel.

Then there was the following New York bred music entertainer, Harry Chapin, that some may know, or barely remember, or may not know at all . Yup, saw him the same year. Hands down one of the best concerts I have ever seen. He held the crowd in his hands with his stories, humor and talent. His brother, Tom, sang the high female voice part. Tom also did a cool Saturday morning children’s TV show called Make A Wish that won an Emmy. He played six instruments in the band. In addition, Harry’s bass player was the baritone voice heard as Mr. Tanner in the song of that name. That song was based on a real person and event with the actual name, location and occupation changed to protect the described person. Years later the person learned about the song and was very happy that Harry had remembered him.

Harry’s life was cut way too short at age 38 in an auto accident on the Long Island Expressway. So, here is one in his memory…

However, as much as I enjoyed and was musically influenced by the NY entertainers above, the following expresses my personal thoughts and feelings about New York itself. That is not a slam to the many fine people who live in the state or some of its more beautiful environment. It is directed at just how far the state in general has strayed from its founding and service to America. That has led to the virtual destruction in the quality of life one should expect. I will address more of my thoughts on that issue in a future part.

Yeah, as he toured the south I saw this Philadelphia area singer songwriter, Jim Croce, who would not be recognized by many as a classically trained music student at Villanova as a young man. Yes, the concert I attended was in that same year. It was held less than two weeks before his plane went down with his bandmates traveling to a concert in Louisiana and he was lost to all of us. What the world did not know at the time was that he was choosing to give up his promising entertainment career to write short stories and movie scripts. While on this last tour he had written his wife a letter describing his decision. It arrived after his passing.

We never know as we wander through life what is in store. Time to get busy.

New York Revolutionary War Militia Involvement

The following in the link below is priceless for historians and genealogists as it was published in 1904 and archived by the State of New York’s Office of the Comptroller. It contains documents and records from the Revolutionary War period in the state that includes names of militia members in every regiment and area of service. I found it interesting, especially the fact that the Comptroller at that time documented the fact that NY provided more than double the number of military members during the Revolutionary War than credited by historians up to that point. The two figures are starkly different at 17.8 K officially versus 43.6 K with this revision. Yet, another proof that history and narratives are frequently wrongly stated. Readers should keep that in mind when trying to learn more and should not take statements of historians as gospel without first personally investigating and consulting numerous sources.

https://archive.org/details/newyorkrevolution01statrich/page/n63/mode/2up?view=theater

So why is this adjustment important? It is hardly surprising that Massachusetts earned the honor of having the most members in our military. But few might know that with this documented revision that New York would be second on the list. It gives readers an indication of the commitment of the residents in each state toward the cause of liberty during the period. You learn that NY’s involvement represented approximately 20% of the total estimated participation of 200,000 men give or take. Even with the information provided there is cause to believe there were a great deal more men involved in the conflict based upon the records of pensions granted to members who were injured in the conflict whose names do not appear in any other records, indicating the original enlistment records were lost. Such is the case with NY.

Included in the first 25 pages or so of text are descriptions of war efforts, battles, conflicts with Indian tribes who were stirred up against the colonists by the Brits/loyalists, pay, rations, service requirements, attire, weapons, training and so forth. This quote was also very interesting – “Quakers, Moravians and United Brethren were enrolled, but exempted from service upon payment of money, which varied in amount as the war progressed until, in 1780, they were obliged to pay £160 per year.”

So some could legally buy their way out of serving. I guess money was tight and patriot lives were cheap for everybody else.

Another interesting quote relates to slaves – All slaves ‘killed in the service were to be paid for. In time of invasion, any slave, not in the military service, found one mile from his master’s abode, without a certificate from his master showing his business, might be ” shot or otherwise destroyed without fear of censure, impeachment or prosecution for the same.” In 1781, it was provided that any slave who should enlist and serve ” for three years, or until discharged,” should be declared a freeman of the State.

That might burst some holier than thou bubbles.

So, even if I am not a big fan of New York today as the state has clearly lost its way for quite some time and still creates millions of slaves of a different sort, I salute the commitment to the patriot cause of its forefathers. We will now turn our attention to one such Declaration signer. As we will learn, the cause of liberty was met with challenges, violence, death and misfortune for many; which included some of our founding fathers who we celebrate and thank today.

Phillip Livingston

Phillip Livingston was born in Albany, NY in 1716. He was the fourth surviving son of Phillip and Catherine Van Gogh Livingston. His father emigrated from Scotland and mother was Dutch. His father lived in the Albany area in 1673 and later owned a large rural estate as a 2nd Lord of the Manor, some 160,000 acres located along the Hudson River about 40 miles from Albany. He received the estate for his faithful service to the Brits in political appointments such as Secretary of Indian Affairs, in his fur and other trading activities as well as in his close associations with the Dutch due to their family’s background and ability to speak both languages. This established him into the aristocracy of the region and the estate was granted him by the royal governor for his efforts. The manor later became known as Clermont and was held by seven generations of the Livingston family until the year 2000. A photo and link about them and it is below.

https://www.friendsofclermont.org/the-livingstons

Young Phillip spent his time between his father’s Albany townhouse and the estate. He went on to Yale and graduated in 1737 before returning to begin a mercantile apprenticeship under his father. He served in clerkships in the Albany government before moving to New York City to begin a career in the import business trading in the West Indies. He was very successful through the years that followed and became wealthy. He made much money providing British military provisions, slave trading, and privateering. For those who do not know what privateering is; it is a government authorized form of pirating. The privateer was authorized to violently attack shipping interests, usually foreign, to seize the cargo on behalf of the government. They would split the goods and/or profits. In 1740 he married the daughter of a British Colonel, Christina Ten Broeck. They went on to have nine children together.

Phillip gave back to the region with his finances and time. He advocated for the founding of a school that is now Columbia University, for a Professorship of Divinity at Yale, helped in the building of the first meeting house for the Methodist Society of America, and helped organize the New York Public Library. He then entered public service as a New York City alderman. He served three terms on its Provincial Assembly. He was slow to join the independence movement, but over time he saw it as the right way as the oppressive British tax acts began accumulating. He was adamantly opposed to taxation without representation as he still considered himself to be a British citizen accorded all rights of the nation. He would be elected or chosen to positions within the Provincial Assembly only to meet British opposition and removal. Eventually, in 1769, the royal governor dissolved the city’s Assembly.

In response he became a member of the Committee of 51 that chose him as one of five delegates from the state to attend the First Continental Congress in 1775. At the same time he served as President of the New York State Provincial Assembly. He signed the Olive Branch Petition to try one last time to move the King away from his push for more control and taxes in the colonies. The King refused as we know. This led to the Declaration of Independence, which Phillip approved and signed on behalf of the state.

As a person Phillip could be gruff and irritable at times in his political and business dealings. However, he was known to be very kind and loving with family and friends. He was reserved and spent a great deal of time reading. He was a deacon and elder in the Dutch Reformed Church throughout his life.

However, like many wealthy mercantilists during the era he participated heavily in the slave trade and personally owned some for a number of years. There is a report that indicated he was involved in at least 15 shipping transactions of hundreds of slaves that were brought to the NYC area for sale. As another example, in one article there was discussion of him advertising and offering a reward for the return of his property, a slave who had escaped. This bit of history and other slave trading related accounts have often been deleted or glossed over in the many historical accounts of Phillip as well as other northern founding fathers.

I must interject here as I find what has been happening with the rewriting of history to be tragic. This series has been a real eye opener for me. There is no call for this type narrative based rewriting of history that I am seeing repeatedly. In my view it means the rewriters have ulterior and probably nefarious motives to do so. In regards to the subject of slavery, what was an acceptable and legal practice during that period in time is no longer so. Just observe, recognize the truth, and move on. Chalk it up as a wrong that has been righted.

The Livingston extended family were prominently involved throughout New York state and colonial government. Phillip’s first cousin, Robert, was even appointed to Chancellor of New York State, its highest judicial office. He was a framer of the Declaration of Independence and later administered the oath of office to George Washington as President. He served as Minister to France in negotiations for the Louisiana purchase in 1803. We must note that he and the other American negotiators figuratively struck gold on that one. Some twenty Livingston kin of Phillip served as officers in the Continental military. The family was patriot to the core.

Both Colonial and British forces occupied two of his homes in the city at various times, First, Gen. Washington used one as his headquarters before the colonists lost battles around the city, at which time the Brits used it to house military members as well as his second home as a hospital. Phillip and his family fled from the fighting to their home in Kingston, NY. When this happened his slaves escaped and some were thought to have joined the British forces to later earn their freedom. The Brits eventually burned all of the town of Kingston to the ground. The family escaped again back to the safety of their native Albany area.

Phillip was chosen as a state senator while remaining a member of the Continental Congress. In fact, he served up to the actual day of his death while working in the same assembly in 1778. He died from the long term effects of dropsy (edema) at age 62. Members of the Continental Congress attended his funeral and there was an official one month mourning period. He is buried in Prospect Hill Cemetery in York, PA. The prominence and dedication of both Phillip and his cousin, Robert, are noted with several memorials in Washington, DC. With the British destruction he had lost most all of his properties and holdings while still having debts owed from his estate. The sale and repayment took nearly 25 years to resolve. His wife, Christina, remained in the Albany area surrounded and cared for by family for the rest of her life. She lived to the age of 82.

Phillip Livingston gave all he had for his country, family and friends. His family legacy was faithfully served by his efforts as well. We have great appreciation for this patriot founding father.

Please remember Wolf’s rules for our community. In general that means to be respectful to each other and to pull no shenanigans that your mom might find offensive or otherwise cause jail time. That said, free speech is honored here.

Be blessed and go make something good happen!