Quick Facts
Biography
John Kean (1756 – May 4, 1795) 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. Following his death his wife, Susan Livingston Kean, purchased a house (Liberty Hall) which showcases the contributions of the Livingston and Kean families.
Having died from a respiratory disease that developed as a result of being held prisoner of war at sea during the Revolution, Kean died at 39 and his wife Susan Livingston Kean 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.
Research at Liberty Hall has uncovered more information than was previously known about his role in shaping the Constitution.
His great-grandson (also John Kean) would later serve as U.S. Senator for New Jersey.