that rise across the river from the front door of the house. At that time Robert was heavily involved in land speculation in the Catskill Mountains land, and would eventually own nearly 500,000 acres. After the house was burned by the British in 1777, the family adopted the name Clermont. The house was rebuilt by his daughter-in-law, Margaret Beekman Livingston, wife of Judge Livingston, and is today a state park and listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Personal life In 1717, he married Margaret Howarden (1693–1758), at the Reformed Dutch Church in New York. His mother, Alida, did not attend. Margaret was the daughter of a wealthy English merchant in New York and granddaughter of Captain Bethlow, a Huguenot after whom Bedloe's Island is named. Bedloe's Island, in New York harbor is now known as Liberty Island and the site of the Statue of Liberty. Their only child was: Robert R. Livingston (1718–1775), who married Margaret Beekman, daughter of Henry Beekman and Janet Livingston. Margaret died in December 1758 and was interred in a burial vault constructed 200 yards north of the Livingston family home at Clermont. Livingston died on June 27, 1775 at the age of 87 and was buried with his wife in the family vault. Upon his death, the "Lower Manor" became the property of his only child, Robert R. Livingston, or Judge Livingston as he was known in Provincial New York. Descendants His grandson, Edward Livingston (1764–1836) described Robert of Clermont at eighty-four as: "... a gentleman... tall and somewhat bent, but not emaciated by age which had marked, but not disfigured, a face once remarkable for its regular beauty of features, and still beaming with the benevolence and intelligence that had always illuminated it. He marked the epoch at which he retired from the world by preserving its costume: the flowing wool powered wig, the bright brown coat, with large cuffs and square shirts, the cut velvet waistcoast, with ample flaps and the breeches scarcely covering the knee, the silk stocking, rolled over them with embroidered clocks, and shining square-toed shoes, fastened near the ankle and small embossed gold buckles. These were retained in his service, not to affect a singularity, but because he thought it ridiculous at his time of life to follow the quick succession of fashion." He always rose at five and read until breakfast. The year before his death,