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For Melvin Philip Livingston, the Fourth of July means much more than fireworks and backyard barbecues.
His name is on the Declaration of Independence.
Livingston is a direct descendent of Philip Livingston, one of New York’s four signers of the historic proclamation of self-government dated July 4, 1776, after a meeting of the Continental Congress.
Livingston, 78, will spend the nation’s 235th birthday in Philadelphia, at Independence Hall, where he and other descendents will mark the occasion by tapping the Liberty Bell.
As the New York governor of the Society of Descendants of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence, Livingston is part of one of the most exclusive clubs in America. It’s a job he takes seriously. His license plate reads: DSDI 1776.
“We always have our annual meeting in Independence Hall up on the second floor in the long room, which is pretty much reserved for only folks like us,” Livingston said.
Folks like him include descendants of such luminaries as John Hancock, Samuel Adams and Thomas Jefferson, who penned the famous words, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.”
Membership, unlike life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness’ is not an unalienable right. It’s a right of birth.
Livingston, a retired IBM engineer who helped design computers for Apollo missions, didn’t think much of his family’s place in history until he was in his 50s.
That’s when he started doing research on his family.
“My aunt used to tell me that we were descendants, but I didn’t pay that much attention ’til I started getting interested in genealogy,” Livingston said.
Livingston said there are about 1,100 members, but only 250 are active. He said he is focusing on teaching the next generation about its rich history.