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Catharina
Van Brugh Livingston
 Catharina Van Brugh was born in 1689 the only child of Manhattan trader Pieter Van Brugh and Sara Cuyler. Within a few years, Catharina's parents followed the Cuylers to Albany where they too found success in fur trade-related business.
'Catharina
grew up in the new city of Albany where her father
was appointed mayor in 1699. As the only heir of
wealthy and advantaged parents, in September 1708
nineteen-year-old Catharina was married to Philip
Livingston - eldest son of the most important personage
in the entire region. Three months later, the first
of her twelve children was baptized in the Albany
Dutch church. A year or two younger than most Albany
brides, her family was larger than most with the
last child born in 1733 when Catharina was forty-three-years-old.
These
Livingstons moved into the landmark Livingston home
on the Elm Tree Corner. For several decades Catharina
and Philip were Albany mainstays with their numerous
offspring growing up and succeeding to places of
prominence throughout the colonies. As Philip's public
and personal business took him more to New York and
to the Manor, Catharina managed the Albany home and
its business. Their forty-year marriage ended when
Philip Livingston died in New York City in February
1749.
Catharina
inherited substantial property. She filled the years
that followed with family and friends from Albany
to New York. She died suddenly on February 20, 1756
while visiting in New York City. She was in her sixty-seventh
year and was mourned by her children as the "best of mothers." Other
family members called her "a good woman" and noted
for her "sweetness of temper and good sense."
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Notes: The life of Catharina Van Brugh Livingston is CAP
biography number 8628. This profile is derived chiefly
from community-based resources and Livingston family
materials including Milton M. Klein, The American
Whig: William Livingston of New York (New York, 1993),
and Ruth Piwonka, A Portrait of Livingston Manor,
1686-1850 (Clermont, NY, 1986), 33.
Portrait
by John Wollaston, painted in 1752. For many years,
it was thought to be of Catharina's mother-in-law,
Alida Schuyler Van Rensselaer Livingston. In a
private collection. Copied from Piwonka, Portrait
of Livingston Manor, 33.
Children
born to Catharina Van Brugh and Philip Livingston:
12/25/1708
- Robert baptized
10/30/1710
- Pieter baptized
4/20/1712 - Pieter baptized
4/11/1714 - Johannes baptized
1/16/1717 - Philip baptized
4/5/1719 - Hendrick baptized
5/7/1721 - Sara baptized
12/8/1723 - William baptized
11/7/1725 - Sara baptized
8/18/1728 - Alida baptized
11/5/1730 - Pieter baptized
4/15/1733 - Catharina baptized
By Stefan Bielinski, Colonial Albany Social History Project [http://www.nysm.nysed.gov/albany]
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