He was a member of the New York State Assembly representing Albany Co., in 1833, 1835 and 1837, and was Speaker in 1837, serving alongside Charles Humphrey. At the conclusion of the session where he was Speaker and which was his last public office, the House presented their thanks to Livingston "for the able, dignified and impartial manner in which he has presided over its deliberations." In response, Livingston replied:
The flattering compliment which you have awarded to my efforts to subserve the public interests, by unanimously declaring that my conduct as your presiding officer merits approbation, is the reward for which I have labored, and its bestowment will ever be cherished by me with grateful recollections. The time of this session has been engrossed with much business of a local nature, and with many propositions and laws of a general character, in the disposition of which, questions of great public concernment, were involved. That we have had an active agency in maturing and passing many laws of a local character, which the wants of the community demanded, cannot be denied. Upon questions in which the people at large have expressed an interest, the Assembly has pronounced its judgment upon most, if not all the leading topics to which their attention has been called. More of public law than is usually adopted at any session of the Legislature, will be found to have passed into enactments; whether for good or evil, will be determined by our constituents, to whose judgment, I doubt not, we are all alike willing to submit with perfect cheerfulness. As the diversified claims of our large population for legislative aid annually increase, it is a matter of congratulation that we are enabled to adjourn at an earlier period than the Legislature of last year. This is a high testimony in favor of your industry and devotion to the public business. In discharging the duties of the station to which your partiality called me, I have been much aided by your strict attention to business, and by your liberal support of the Chair. To your indulgence in overlooking the many errors into which I may have been betrayed, I feel much indebted; and I assure you that is has been my constant study, in return for favors received, to endeavor to discharge with strict impartiality the delicate and difficult duties confided to me. In a few moments we shall part, probably never again to assemble together within these walls. This thought excites painful emotions in my bosom; and my regrets at parting deepen when I cast my eyes on your familiar faces, and perceive that your kind sensibilities are in unison with mine. I trust that a protecting Providence will watch over and restore you to your friends in health; and that your further progress in life may be happy, will ever be one of the choicest wishes of my heart. Fellow-members, farewell.
John Lansing Livingston, who died unmarried in Paris, France, and was a member of the Union Club.
Edward Livingston, who was prominent in New York Society and a member of the Union Club and the Metropolitan Club and lived at 17 East 34th Street, and who married Fanny Hazeltine, of Boston.
Through his son, Edward Livingston, he was the grandfather of Clarisse Hazeltine Livingston, who made her debut in 1887, and Edward Livingston, Jr., who graduated from Harvard in 1893 and Columbia University Law School in 1896.
