Under the will of his father, he received about thirteen thousand acres of the original memorial grnt, which became the estate of Clermont. He was sent to Scotland on attaining the age of eleven, and was educated there at a Latin school in Leith, and later on he was a day scholar for a time at the High School in Edinburgh. He is said to have gone to London for the completion of his education and studied law there at the Temple. Upon reaching the age of twenty-five, he returned to America and opened a law office in Albany. He abandoned the profession, however, to enter mercantile life. Upon the death of his father, he came into possession of the lower portion of Livingston Manor and bestowed upon it the name of Clermont. He built a large stone house on the estate, which, according to Mr. T.S. Clarkson, "he afterwards in his old age gave to his son, Judge Robert R. Livingston, in whose family he lived beloved unto his death, which took place in the spring of 1775, just after the eventful battle of Lexington."

He is thus described, at the age of eighty-four, by his grandson, Edward Livingston: "Never was a man better entitled by his manners, his morals and his education to the appellation of a gentleman. His figure was 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."

Died June 27, 1775.