John Kean (South Carolina politician)
{{Short description|American merchant and politician (1756–1795)}}
{{infobox officeholder
| name = John Kean
| image = John Kean (NYPL b12349141-421766) (cropped).jpg
| caption = Etching of John Kean by Max Rosenthal
| title = Member of the Continental Congress
| term_start = 1785
| term_end = 1787
| birth_date = {{birth year|1756}}
| birth_place = Charleston, Province of South Carolina
| death_date = {{death date and age|1795|5|4|1756||}}
| death_place = Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
| resting_place = St. John’s Churchyard
| occupation = Merchant, politician, cashier of the Bank of the United States
| education =
| parents =
| spouse = {{marriage|Susan Livingston|1789}}
| children = Peter Philip James Kean
| relations =
}}
John Kean (1756 – May 4, 1795) was an American merchant, banker and member of the Continental Congress from South Carolina who was the first in a long line of American politicians.
Kean was the deputy paymaster of the South Carolina Militia during the American Revolutionary War. He was taken prisoner during the war and was detained at sea for several months, becoming ill with a respiratory ailment. After being set free, Kean became a member of a commission that audited accounts of the Revolutionary Army. Kean also served as a delegate for South Carolina in the Continental Congress from 1785 to 1787. When George Washington became president of the United States, he appointed Kean cashier of the Bank of the United States. Kean served in that capacity until his death.
Two of Kean's descendants have served in the U.S. Senate, one has served as governor of New Jersey, and three have served in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Early life
Kean was born in Charleston, South Carolina in 1756.{{cite web|title=KEAN, John - Biographical Information|url=https://bioguide.congress.gov/search/bio/K000027|website=bioguide.congress.gov|publisher=Biographical Directory of the United States Congress|accessdate=2024-07-16}} He was raised in Beaufort County, South Carolina by his mother, Jane Grove and stepfather, Captain Samuel Grove, a wealthy and successful merchant.{{cite book|last1=Rowland|first1=Lawrence Sanders|last2=Moore|first2=Alexander|last3=Rogers|first3=George C.|title=The History of Beaufort County, South Carolina: 1514-1861|date=1996|publisher=University of South Carolina Press|isbn=9781570030901|page=264|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WjdhnfG0tYcC&pg=PA264|accessdate=3 April 2018|language=en}}{{cite book|last1=Laurens|first1=Henry|title=The Papers of Henry Laurens: Jan. 5, 1776-Nov. 1, 1777|date=1988|publisher=University of South Carolina Press|isbn=9780872495166|page=79|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lO_ZhGdBhzEC&pg=PA79|accessdate=3 April 2018|language=en}}
Career
Kean apprenticed with his stepfather's business partner, Peter Lavien, learning business and bookkeeping. By the time of the American Revolutionary War, Kean was a prominent merchant in his home state of South Carolina.
During the War, he served as deputy paymaster of the South Carolina Militia under paymaster Daniel de Saussure. Kean was taken prisoner during the Siege of Charleston in 1780 by General Sir Henry Clinton. Along with de Saussure's son, Henry William de Saussure, Kean was detained as a prisoner of war at sea for several months and developed a respiratory disease. Upon his release, Kean was appointed a member of the commission to audit accounts of the Revolutionary Army by General Washington.
Kean also served as a delegate for South Carolina in the Continental Congress from 1785 to 1787.{{cite book|last1=Journals of the Continental Congress.title=Apr. 1, 1782, to Nov. 1, 1788, inclusive; also, the Journal of the Committee of the States, from the 1st Friday in June, to the 1st Friday in August, 1784, with an Appendix|date=1823|publisher=Way and Gideon|page=772|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JhdOAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA772|accessdate=3 April 2018|language=en|title=Apr. 1, 1782, to Nov. 1, 1788, inclusive; also, the Journal of the Committee of the States, from the 1st Friday in June, to the 1st Friday in August, 1784, with an Appendix}} Kean advocated ratification of the United States Constitution at South Carolina's ratifying convention.{{cite web|url=http://www.kean.edu/keanews/2011/02/11.html |title=Kean University : Kean News |accessdate=2011-03-16 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110719221431/http://www.kean.edu/keanews/2011/02/11.html |archivedate=2011-07-19 }} Kean compiled "actual enumerations" of the population of the 13 states for consideration at the Constitutional Convention in 1787, a precursor to the U.S. Census.{{Cite news |last=Roberts |first=Sam |date=May 19, 2010 |title=Early Census Is Found in a New Jersey University's Files |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |location=New York City, New York |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/19/nyregion/19kean.html |access-date=June 6, 2022 |issn=0362-4331}}
After General Washington became the first President of the United States, he appointed Kean cashier of the Bank of the United States in Philadelphia which he served at until his death.
Personal life
File:Coat of Arms of John Kean.svg
In 1789, Kean was married to Susan Livingston (1759–1853) of the prominent northern Livingston family.{{cite book|last1=Stahr|first1=Walter|title=John Jay: Founding Father|date=2012|publisher=Diversion Books|isbn=9781938120510|page=268|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=a9Jm_RDtq3cC&pg=PT268|accessdate=3 April 2018|language=en}} Susan was the daughter of Peter Van Brugh Livingston, the New York State Treasurer,{{cite book|last1=Livingston|first1=Edwin Brockholst|title=The Livingstons of Livingston Manor: Being the History of That Branch of the Scottish House of Callendar Which Settled in the English Province of New York during the Reign of King Charles II; and also including an Account of Robert Livingston of Albany, "The Nephew," a Settler in the same Province, and his principal Desecendants|date=1910|publisher=The Knickerbocker Press|isbn=9785872064213|page=228|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=698IAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA228|accessdate=3 April 2018|language=en}} and Mary (née Alexander) Livingston.{{cite book|last1=Cutter|first1=William Richard|title=American Biography: A New Cyclopedia|date=1919|publisher=Pub. under the direction of the American Historical Society|pages=56–57|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gxEwAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA56|accessdate=3 April 2018|language=en}} She was also the granddaughter of Philip Livingston, the 2nd Lord of Livingston Manor, and the niece of New Jersey's governor William Livingston, a signer of the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution.{{cite book|last1=Felzenberg|first1=Alvin S.|title=Governor Tom Kean: From the New Jersey Statehouse to the 9-11 Commission|date=2006|publisher=Rutgers University Press|isbn=9780813537993|url=https://archive.org/details/governortomkeanf00felz|url-access=registration|page=[https://archive.org/details/governortomkeanf00felz/page/264 264]|accessdate=3 April 2018|language=en}} Together, they were the parents of one child:{{cite book|last1=Lowndes|first1=Arthur|title=Archives of the General Convention III|date=1912|publisher=Episcopal Church General Convention Commission on Archives|location=New York|page=345|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Eug_AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA345|accessdate=3 April 2018|language=en}}
- Peter Philip James Kean (1788–1828),{{cite book|last1=Aitken|first1=William Benford|title=Distinguished Families in America, Descended from Wilhelmus Beekman and Jan Thomasse Van Dyke|date=1912|publisher=Knickerbocker Press|page=145|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cZ0xAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA145|accessdate=3 April 2018|language=en}} who married Sarah Sabina Morris (1788–1878), a granddaughter of Lewis Morris.{{cite book|last1=Ferry, Esq.|first1=Frank J.|title=Nucky: The Real Story of the Atlantic City Boardwalk Boss|date=2012|publisher=BookBaby|isbn=9781483548814|page=95|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bY9XDQAAQBAJ&pg=PT95|accessdate=3 April 2018|language=en}}
Kean died at age 39 on May 4, 1795, in Philadelphia from the respiratory disease he developed during the Revolution. He was interred in St. John’s Churchyard in Philadelphia.
Following his death his widow purchased a large estate known and home built by her governor uncle, known as Liberty Hall,{{cite news|last1=Gerstenzang|first1=N. M.|title=The Kean Estate Mirrors Family's|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1974/06/09/archives/the-kean-estate-mirrors-familys-political-history.html|accessdate=3 April 2018|work=The New York Times|date=9 June 1974}} which showcases the contributions of the Livingston and Kean families.{{cite web|title=History - Liberty Hall Museum|url=https://www.kean.edu/libertyhall/history.html|website=www.kean.edu|accessdate=3 April 2018|language=en-gb}} In 1800, his widow remarried to Count Julian Niemcewicz, a Polish nobleman who fled Poland after fighting unsuccessfully for Polish independence from Russia but returned in the wake of Napoleon's successful campaigns.{{cite book|last1=Greene|first1=Richard Henry|last2=Stiles|first2=Henry Reed|last3=Dwight|first3=Melatiah Everett|last4=Morrison|first4=George Austin|last5=Mott|first5=Hopper Striker|last6=Totten|first6=John Reynolds|last7=Pitman|first7=Harold Minot|last8=Ditmas|first8=Charles Andrew|last9=Forest|first9=Louis Effingham De|last10=Maynard|first10=Arthur S.|last11=Mann|first11=Conklin|title=The New York Genealogical and Biographical Record|date=1880|publisher=New York Genealogical and Biographical Society|page=75|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=05gyAQAAMAAJ&pg=RA1-PA75|accessdate=3 April 2018|language=en}}
=Descendants=
Through his grandson, Col. John Kean,{{cite web|title=KEAN, John - Biographical Information|url=https://bioguide.congress.gov/search/bio/K000028|website=bioguide.congress.gov|publisher=Biographical Directory of the United States Congress|accessdate=2024-07-16}} Kean was posthumously a great-grandfather of John Kean and Hamilton Fish Kean, who both served as U.S. Senators for New Jersey. His great-great-grandson was US Representative Robert Winthrop Kean, his great-great-great-grandson is New Jersey Governor Thomas Kean, and his great-great-great-great-grandson is US Representative Thomas Kean Jr.{{Cite news |last=Wildstein |first=David |date=2022-11-11 |title=Scion of one of New Jersey's oldest political families becomes first Kean to win House seat in 66 years |url=https://newjerseyglobe.com/congress/scion-of-one-of-new-jerseys-oldest-political-families-becomes-first-kean-to-win-house-seat-in-66-years/ |access-date=2024-07-16 |work=New Jersey Globe |language=en-US}}
References
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External links
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Category:Continental Congressmen from South Carolina