Arlene and I enjoyed a visit to Union, NJ, and the home of the first Governor, William Livingston. A subsequent line of historical figures lived here, including a signer of the Declaration, and senators and governors, all descendants, amazingly. Including Governor Keane. Starting as a fourteen-room Georgian-style house, built in 1772, Liberty Hall stands today as a fifty-room VictorianItalianate mansion.
It sits on the grounds of Keane University, and we learned the family and the University are pronounced "Kane", rather than phoenetically.
We were fortunate enough to be the only ones on tour at that hour, and led by a knowledgeable and enthusiastic docent, who gave us a wonderful tour, and a lot of information about the era as well as the home, and answered all of our questions. It was like a personal conversation. Pretty neat. Because the home has always been in the family, he said nothing has ever been thrown away , and they are still finding amazing things from the 1700's in boxes in the attic. And they really did save everything.....receipts, and ledgers, which give great documentation to the articles in the house.....all original. A real treasure.
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