The university sits on the former estate of William Gibbons (1794–1852), a southern gentleman who owned the New York–New Jersey steamboat business that became famous from the Thomas "Gibbons v. Ogden" case, and who pieced together a estate in Madison, New Jersey in 1832. He named his holdings "The Forest," which gives Drew its nickname of the "University in the Forest". The following year, Gibbons commissioned the design and construction of a Greek revival antebellum-style residence that was completed in 1836. In 1867, financier and railroad tycoon Daniel Drew (1797–1879) purchased Gibbons' estate from his descendants for $140,000. Drew, a devout Methodist, donated the estate to the church to establish a Methodist theological seminary. The estate's mansion would be renamed "Mead Hall" in honor of Drew's wife, Roxanna Mead.