The title description of his thesis was: Specimen theologicum inaugurale exhibens observationes de foederis Sinaitici natura ex ejus fine demonstrata.

Qod summo deo annuente, Ex Auctoritate Rectoris Magnifici, Meinardi Tydeman, ... Publico offert examini Johannes H. Livingston A.L.M.

[3] Livingston was ordained into the ministry of the Dutch Reformed Church by the Classis of Amsterdam in 1770.

Subsequent to his return from the Netherlands, Livingston served as a pastor to the Reformed Church in New York City.

In 1778, Livingston inherited the Jamaican sugar plantation Friendship Estate from his father-in-law, as the family were well-established slave owners in the Caribbean.

[4] When Queen's College offered Livingston the presidency as early as 1807, he initially declined.

Queen's College fell into financial trouble and was forced to close its doors in 1816.