John Livsey Kean (December 4, 1852 - November 4, 1914) was an American lawyer and banker from Elizabeth, New Jersey. He represented New Jersey in the U.S. Senate from 1899 to 1911. A member of the Kean family of politicans, his great-grandfather John Kean) had been a delegate to the Continental Congress for South Carolina, his brother was US Senator Hamilton Fish Kean, his nephew was US Representative Robert Winthrop Kean and his grand-nephew was Governor Thomas Kean. Born at "Ursino" near Elizabeth, New Jersey; studied in private schools and attended Yale College; graduated from the Columbia Law School, New York City, in 1875; admitted to the New Jersey bar in 1877, but did not engage in extensive practice; engaged in banking and interested in manufacturing; elected as a Republican to the Forty-eighth United States Congress (March 4, 1883-March 3, 1885); unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1884; elected to the Fiftieth United States Congress (March 4, 1887-March 3, 1889); unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1888; unsuccessful Republican candidate for Governor of New Jersey in 1892; member of the committee to revise the judiciary system of New Jersey; elected to the United States Senate in 1899; reelected in 1905, and served from March 4, 1899, to March 3, 1911; chairman, Committee on the Geological Survey (Fifty-seventh United States Congress), Committee to Audit and Control the Contingent Expenses (Fifty-eighth United States Congress through Sixty-first United States Congress); engaged in banking in Elizabeth, N.J.; died in Ursino, N.J.; interment in Evergreen Cemetery, Elizabeth, N.J.
This article incorporates facts obtained from the public domain Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
Preceded by: James Smith, Jr. U.S. Senator (Class 1) from New Jersey 1899-1911 Succeeded by: James E. Martine
