In 1856, Rep. Thomas H. Kean, Jr.’s great-great-grandfather, Col. John Kean, was one of the founders of the New Jersey Republican Party.
An insider’s insider, Kean was. He was the great-great-nephew of William Livingston, the first governor of New Jersey, and the grandson of John Kean, a member of the Continental Congress. When he was the governor’s chief adviser in the 1840s, Governor William Pennington gave him the honorific title of Colonel. For the remainder of his life, he was known as Col. Kean.(George Helmy only received a Senate seat.)
He owned a bank, gas and water utility businesses, and railroads in Camden, Middlesex, Union, and Somerset counties. He was the owner of three Elizabeth River water-powered mills. He had two sons who went on to become U.S. Senators.
New Jersey supported a favored son for the Republican candidacy in the 1860 presidential contest; on the first ballot, New Jersey GOP delegates gave former U.S. Senator William Dayton 14 votes.
On the second ballot, Kean was meant to send New Jersey’s delegates to Senator William Seward of New York, but he ended up making a deal with Lincoln.
On the second ballot, he lost four New Jersey delegates to Lincoln. Lincoln received eight votes from New Jersey on the third ballot, five of which went to William Seward and only one to Dayton. On the third ballot, Lincoln received the nomination.
Lincoln took office, and the Civil War broke out five weeks later. The War Department awarded Kean a no-bid contract to produce firearm components for the Union Army.
Kean had a run-in with Simon Calderon, the Secretary of War and the great-great-grandfather of former Rep. Tom Malinowski’s stepfather, Blair Clark, during the first year of Lincoln’s presidency. At one point, Kean had to travel to Washington by train to visit Lincoln and voice his displeasure over Cameron’s tardiness in paying invoices to the Union Army. A few months later, Lincoln ended up appointing Edwin Stanton to succeed Cameron.
