Harriet Livingston Fulton

Harriet Livingston Fulton (1783–1826) was a painter known for portrait miniatures. Biography Harriet Livingston was born on December 12, 1783, in the family home in Clermont, New York to Cornelia Schuyler and Walter Livingston. Cornelia and Walter's great-grandparents, Alida Schuyler and Pieter Schuyler respectively, had been siblings – making Harriet's parents cousins. The Livingstons belonged to a well-established family whose direct ancestry included important early American figures like Robert Livingston the Elder, Philip Pieterse Schuyler, and Rip Van Dam. Walter Livingston, Harriet's father, organized the construction of Teviotdale House in Clermont, New York, in 1774 after purchasing 28,000 acres of land from his father. He designed the home himself, creating one of the first American homes oriented specifically for the best view and sunlight. As the house was being constructed, Walter was serving on the Committee of Sixty to boycott British goods in the American colonies. He became the first speaker of the New York State Assembly in 1777 and served as a member of the Continental Congress in 1784, soon after Harriet's birth. In 1790, when Harriet was six years old, George and Martha Washington visited Teviotdale for tea, and Martha stayed overnight in one of the home's three bedrooms. Harriet studied art and music from a young age, becoming an accomplished painter and harpist by her early 20s.