William Livingston House
Encyclopedia
The Liberty Hall Museum in Union
, New Jersey
, United States
, is an American historic site. Built in 1772 as a fourteen-room Georgian-style house, Liberty Hall stands today a fifty-room Victorian Italianate mansion. Liberty Hall has been home to many historical figures and was the home of William Livingston
, the first Governor of New Jersey
, who served from 1776 to 1790; United States Supreme Court Justice Henry Brockholst Livingston
; the Kean political dynasty, including Susan Livingston Kean, widow of Continental Congress
delegate John Kean
, United States Senator
and Congressman
John Kean
, and Captain John Kean, son of United States Senator Hamilton Fish Kean
; and, in its first year of occupancy, future Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton
. Liberty Hall has had visitors of such stature as George Washington
, Martha Washington
, Lewis Morris
, Lafayette
, Elias Boudinot
, and John Jay
, the latter of whom was married there.
The Liberty Hall Museum is located on the Liberty Hall Campus of Kean University
in Union, New Jersey between the campus' Main Campus in Union and East Campus in Hillside, New Jersey
.
, resided with Livingston. The house was built on a 120 acre property purchased by Livingston in 1760 in then-Elizabethtown
, close to New York, New York
where Livingston worked. The Livingston family moved into Liberty Hall full-time in 1773. The gardens and orchards first planted by Governor Livingston are still evident on the museum grounds today.
Guests at Liberty Hall included George Washington
, Martha Washington
, Lewis Morris
, Lafayette
, and Elias Boudinot
and the house was the sight of the marriage of one of Livingston's daughters to John Jay
, the first Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court.
During the American Revolutionary War
, in which Livingston fought, the house was damaged by both the American and British armies. After the war Livingston returned to the house and lived there until his 1790 death. Following the deaths of Governor Livingston and his wife, Susannah French Livingston, their son Henry Brockholst Livingston
, a future United States Supreme Court Justice, inherited the home. In 1798 the home was purchased by George Belasise, Lord Bolingbroke and wife Isabella, who continued the Livingstons' tradition of enhancing the agriculture and grounds of Liberty Hall.
in South Carolina
, was the first cashier of the Bank of the United States and had been held prisoner during the American Revolution (a consequential respiratory disease lead to his death at age thirty-nine). Susan Livingston changed the name of Liberty Hall to Ursino, the name of her Polish second husband Count Julian Niemcewicz's Polish estate (Niemcewicz had returned to Poland after Napolean's successful campaigns, having initially been exiled due to his role in unsuccessfully fighting for independence from the Russians.)
Colonel Peter Kean, the only son of Susan and John Kean, and his wife Sarah Sabina Morris, granddaughter of Lewis Morris
, the first royal governor of New Jersey inherited Liberty Hall, followed by their son Colonel John Kean II. John Kean II lived at Liberty Hall for 60 years and made the most significant changes to the house and property, expanding the house to its current structure as a 50-room Victorian Italianate structure for the main reason of accommodating his large family, and introduced modern amenities such as running water, gravity hot-air heating, and gas lighting. The house passed to the oldest son of John and Lucinetta Halsted Kean, John, a two-term Congressman and Senator from New Jersey who continued to live and host affairs at Liberty Hall when home.
Captain John Kean, son of United States Senator Hamilton Fish Kean
and Katharine Winthrop Kean and nephew of Senator John Kean inherited the house upon his uncle's death and resided there with his wife, Mary Alice Barney after 1932. Mary Alice Kean motivated the restoration of Liberty Hall and other historic homes and was a researcher of Kean family history. Mary Alice Kean was the final resident of Liberty Hall before it became Liberty Hall Museum.
In 1789 a second story was added to the west wing. In 1870 a third story was superimposed on the west wing and central section, and the second and third stories on the east wing. The rooms and tower at the northwest corner and the rooms at the northeast corner were also constructed at that time, as well as a gabled roof with bracketed eaves over the entire building.
Except for the additional levels, the south, or front, elevation retains its original appearance. Open-string steps, whose balusters are plain, lead to the pedimented front porch. A fanlight surmounts the paneled door. Shutters are paneled on the first floor and louvered on the second. Third-story windows lack any such adornment. The cornice of the porch, as well as its triangular pediment, are dentiled.
The floor plan and interior trim of the 18th-century portion of the mansion remain essentially intact within the larger present structure. The elaborate mantels date from the 19th century. While a number of rooms and their furnishings have been restored to their original condition, others have been added to meet the changing needs of different generations of the Kean family, and modifications have been made to add modern heating and plumbing systems.
and is a National Historic Landmark. The building is part of Kean University
and is located on the Liberty Hall Campus at Kean. Liberty Hall houses collections of furniture, clothing, manuscripts, books, portraits, pictures, and other historical artifacts, including a signed letter from George Washington
, a pre-census
. population count, and an invitation to Abraham Lincoln
's inaugural.
Union Township, Union County, New Jersey
Union is a Township in Union County, New Jersey, United States. In the 18th century, the area that is now Union was then called Connecticut Farms...
, New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, is an American historic site. Built in 1772 as a fourteen-room Georgian-style house, Liberty Hall stands today a fifty-room Victorian Italianate mansion. Liberty Hall has been home to many historical figures and was the home of William Livingston
William Livingston
William Livingston served as the Governor of New Jersey during the American Revolutionary War and was a signer of the United States Constitution.-Early life:...
, the first Governor of New Jersey
Governor of New Jersey
The Office of the Governor of New Jersey is the executive branch for the U.S. state of New Jersey. The office of Governor is an elected position, for which elected officials serve four year terms. While individual politicians may serve as many terms as they can be elected to, Governors cannot be...
, who served from 1776 to 1790; United States Supreme Court Justice Henry Brockholst Livingston
Henry Brockholst Livingston
Henry Brockholst Livingston was an American Revolutionary War officer, a justice of the Supreme Court of New York and eventually an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States....
; the Kean political dynasty, including Susan Livingston Kean, widow of Continental Congress
Continental Congress
The Continental Congress was a convention of delegates called together from the Thirteen Colonies that became the governing body of the United States during the American Revolution....
delegate John Kean
John Kean (South Carolina)
John Kean was an American merchant from Charleston, South Carolina. He was a delegate for South Carolina in the Continental Congress from 1785 to 1787 and advocated ratification of the United States Constitution at South Carolina's ratifying convention...
, United States Senator
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
and Congressman
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
John Kean
John Kean (New Jersey)
John Kean was an American lawyer, banker and Republican Party politician from Elizabeth, New Jersey. He represented New Jersey in the U.S. Senate from 1899 to 1911 and served two separate terms in the United States House of Representatives, from 1883 to 1885, and from 1887 to 1889...
, and Captain John Kean, son of United States Senator Hamilton Fish Kean
Hamilton Fish Kean
Hamilton Fish Kean was a U.S. senator from New Jersey.Kean was the son of Lucy and John Kean. He was related to several prominent American politicians including his great-grandfather John Kean , his brother John Kean , and his son Robert Kean...
; and, in its first year of occupancy, future Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton
Alexander Hamilton
Alexander Hamilton was a Founding Father, soldier, economist, political philosopher, one of America's first constitutional lawyers and the first United States Secretary of the Treasury...
. Liberty Hall has had visitors of such stature as George Washington
George Washington
George Washington was the dominant military and political leader of the new United States of America from 1775 to 1799. He led the American victory over Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army from 1775 to 1783, and presided over the writing of...
, Martha Washington
Martha Washington
Martha Dandridge Custis Washington was the wife of George Washington, the first president of the United States. Although the title was not coined until after her death, Martha Washington is considered to be the first First Lady of the United States...
, Lewis Morris
Lewis Morris
Lewis Morris was an American landowner and developer from Morrisania, New York. He signed the U.S. Declaration of Independence as a delegate to the Continental Congress for New York....
, Lafayette
Lafayette
-People:* General Gilbert du Motier, marquis de Lafayette , French general and American Revolutionary War general* Adrienne de La Fayette , wife of marquis de Lafayette* Georges Washington de La Fayette , son of marquis de Lafayette...
, Elias Boudinot
Elias Boudinot
Elias Boudinot was a lawyer and statesman from Elizabeth, New Jersey who was a delegate to the Continental Congress and a U.S. Congressman for New Jersey...
, and John Jay
John Jay
John Jay was an American politician, statesman, revolutionary, diplomat, a Founding Father of the United States, and the first Chief Justice of the United States ....
, the latter of whom was married there.
The Liberty Hall Museum is located on the Liberty Hall Campus of Kean University
Kean University
Kean University is a coeducational, public research university located in Union and Hillside, New Jersey, United States. Kean University serves its students in the liberal arts, the sciences, and the professions with a dedication to intellectual and cultural growth and is best known for its...
in Union, New Jersey between the campus' Main Campus in Union and East Campus in Hillside, New Jersey
Hillside, New Jersey
Hillside is a township in Union County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the township population was 21,404.Hillside was incorporated as a township on April 3, 1913, from portions of Union Township, based on the results of a referendum held on April 29, 1913.The town...
.
The Livingstons
The Liberty Hall Museum was built as a Georgian-style house in 1772 by William Livingston, a lawyer who would go on to become a member of the First and Second Continental Congress, founding father, a signatory of the Constitution, and the first Governor of the State of New Jersey. During the first year of occupancy Alexander Hamilton, later the first Secretary of the TreasuryUnited States Secretary of the Treasury
The Secretary of the Treasury of the United States is the head of the United States Department of the Treasury, which is concerned with financial and monetary matters, and, until 2003, also with some issues of national security and defense. This position in the Federal Government of the United...
, resided with Livingston. The house was built on a 120 acre property purchased by Livingston in 1760 in then-Elizabethtown
Elizabeth, New Jersey
Elizabeth is a city in Union County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city had a total population of 124,969, retaining its ranking as New Jersey's fourth largest city with an increase of 4,401 residents from its 2000 Census population of 120,568...
, close to New York, New York
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
where Livingston worked. The Livingston family moved into Liberty Hall full-time in 1773. The gardens and orchards first planted by Governor Livingston are still evident on the museum grounds today.
Guests at Liberty Hall included George Washington
George Washington
George Washington was the dominant military and political leader of the new United States of America from 1775 to 1799. He led the American victory over Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army from 1775 to 1783, and presided over the writing of...
, Martha Washington
Martha Washington
Martha Dandridge Custis Washington was the wife of George Washington, the first president of the United States. Although the title was not coined until after her death, Martha Washington is considered to be the first First Lady of the United States...
, Lewis Morris
Lewis Morris
Lewis Morris was an American landowner and developer from Morrisania, New York. He signed the U.S. Declaration of Independence as a delegate to the Continental Congress for New York....
, Lafayette
Lafayette
-People:* General Gilbert du Motier, marquis de Lafayette , French general and American Revolutionary War general* Adrienne de La Fayette , wife of marquis de Lafayette* Georges Washington de La Fayette , son of marquis de Lafayette...
, and Elias Boudinot
Elias Boudinot
Elias Boudinot was a lawyer and statesman from Elizabeth, New Jersey who was a delegate to the Continental Congress and a U.S. Congressman for New Jersey...
and the house was the sight of the marriage of one of Livingston's daughters to John Jay
John Jay
John Jay was an American politician, statesman, revolutionary, diplomat, a Founding Father of the United States, and the first Chief Justice of the United States ....
, the first Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court.
During the American Revolutionary War
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...
, in which Livingston fought, the house was damaged by both the American and British armies. After the war Livingston returned to the house and lived there until his 1790 death. Following the deaths of Governor Livingston and his wife, Susannah French Livingston, their son Henry Brockholst Livingston
Henry Brockholst Livingston
Henry Brockholst Livingston was an American Revolutionary War officer, a justice of the Supreme Court of New York and eventually an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States....
, a future United States Supreme Court Justice, inherited the home. In 1798 the home was purchased by George Belasise, Lord Bolingbroke and wife Isabella, who continued the Livingstons' tradition of enhancing the agriculture and grounds of Liberty Hall.
The Keans
In 1811 Liberty Hall was purchased by Peter Kean in trust for his mother Susan Livingston Kean Niemcewicz, a niece of William and Susannah Livingston (women could not own property in their own name in the United States until the second half of the nineteenth century). Susan’s first husband, John Kean of South Carolina, had been a delegate to the Continental Congress who supported ratification of the United States ConstitutionUnited States Constitution
The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It is the framework for the organization of the United States government and for the relationship of the federal government with the states, citizens, and all people within the United States.The first three...
in South Carolina
South Carolina
South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...
, was the first cashier of the Bank of the United States and had been held prisoner during the American Revolution (a consequential respiratory disease lead to his death at age thirty-nine). Susan Livingston changed the name of Liberty Hall to Ursino, the name of her Polish second husband Count Julian Niemcewicz's Polish estate (Niemcewicz had returned to Poland after Napolean's successful campaigns, having initially been exiled due to his role in unsuccessfully fighting for independence from the Russians.)
Colonel Peter Kean, the only son of Susan and John Kean, and his wife Sarah Sabina Morris, granddaughter of Lewis Morris
Lewis Morris
Lewis Morris was an American landowner and developer from Morrisania, New York. He signed the U.S. Declaration of Independence as a delegate to the Continental Congress for New York....
, the first royal governor of New Jersey inherited Liberty Hall, followed by their son Colonel John Kean II. John Kean II lived at Liberty Hall for 60 years and made the most significant changes to the house and property, expanding the house to its current structure as a 50-room Victorian Italianate structure for the main reason of accommodating his large family, and introduced modern amenities such as running water, gravity hot-air heating, and gas lighting. The house passed to the oldest son of John and Lucinetta Halsted Kean, John, a two-term Congressman and Senator from New Jersey who continued to live and host affairs at Liberty Hall when home.
Captain John Kean, son of United States Senator Hamilton Fish Kean
Hamilton Fish Kean
Hamilton Fish Kean was a U.S. senator from New Jersey.Kean was the son of Lucy and John Kean. He was related to several prominent American politicians including his great-grandfather John Kean , his brother John Kean , and his son Robert Kean...
and Katharine Winthrop Kean and nephew of Senator John Kean inherited the house upon his uncle's death and resided there with his wife, Mary Alice Barney after 1932. Mary Alice Kean motivated the restoration of Liberty Hall and other historic homes and was a researcher of Kean family history. Mary Alice Kean was the final resident of Liberty Hall before it became Liberty Hall Museum.
The Structure
The building, in three sections, was built of frame over an elevated stone basement. The original two-story central portion had a modified gambrel roof and two interior chimneys and was flanked by one-story wings, built on the main axis, with polyangular ends, hipped roofs, and end chimneys. Exterior walls were flushboarded. Quoins marked the corners of the central section, and flat, key-blocked cornices topped the first-story windows.In 1789 a second story was added to the west wing. In 1870 a third story was superimposed on the west wing and central section, and the second and third stories on the east wing. The rooms and tower at the northwest corner and the rooms at the northeast corner were also constructed at that time, as well as a gabled roof with bracketed eaves over the entire building.
Except for the additional levels, the south, or front, elevation retains its original appearance. Open-string steps, whose balusters are plain, lead to the pedimented front porch. A fanlight surmounts the paneled door. Shutters are paneled on the first floor and louvered on the second. Third-story windows lack any such adornment. The cornice of the porch, as well as its triangular pediment, are dentiled.
The floor plan and interior trim of the 18th-century portion of the mansion remain essentially intact within the larger present structure. The elaborate mantels date from the 19th century. While a number of rooms and their furnishings have been restored to their original condition, others have been added to meet the changing needs of different generations of the Kean family, and modifications have been made to add modern heating and plumbing systems.
National Landmark
In 1949 Mary Alice Kean began to transform the house into a museum and in 1974 Mrs. Kean restored the name "Liberty Hall" to the house. The museum is listed on the National Register of Historic PlacesNational Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
and is a National Historic Landmark. The building is part of Kean University
Kean University
Kean University is a coeducational, public research university located in Union and Hillside, New Jersey, United States. Kean University serves its students in the liberal arts, the sciences, and the professions with a dedication to intellectual and cultural growth and is best known for its...
and is located on the Liberty Hall Campus at Kean. Liberty Hall houses collections of furniture, clothing, manuscripts, books, portraits, pictures, and other historical artifacts, including a signed letter from George Washington
George Washington
George Washington was the dominant military and political leader of the new United States of America from 1775 to 1799. He led the American victory over Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army from 1775 to 1783, and presided over the writing of...
, a pre-census
United States Census
The United States Census is a decennial census mandated by the United States Constitution. The population is enumerated every 10 years and the results are used to allocate Congressional seats , electoral votes, and government program funding. The United States Census Bureau The United States Census...
. population count, and an invitation to Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and...
's inaugural.