S. Nicholson Kane

Samuel Nicholson Kane (July 2, 1846 – November 15, 1906) was an American soldier and sailor prominent in New York Society during the Gilded Age who served as the Commodore of New York Yacht Club.[1]

S. Nicholson Kane
Born
Samuel Nicholson Kane

(1846-07-02)July 2, 1846
New York City, New York, U.S.
DiedNovember 15, 1906(1906-11-15) (aged 60)
Manassas, Virginia, U.S.
Alma materUnited States Naval Academy
Cambridge University
Albany Law School
Parent(s)DeLancey Kane
Louisa Dorothea Langdon
RelativesAstor family

Early life

Kane was born on July 2, 1846, in New York City.[1] He was one of eight children born to Oliver DeLancey Kane (1816–1874) and Louisa Dorothea (née Langdon) Kane (1821–1894). His brothers were Walter Langdon Kane, DeLancey Astor Kane,[2] John Innes Kane, Woodbury Kane.[3] His sisters were Louisa Langdon Kane,[4] Emily Astor Kane (who married Augustus Jay and was the mother of Peter Augustus Jay), and Sybil Kent Kane.[5][6]

Kane's maternal grandparents were Walter Langdon and Dorothea (née Astor) Langdon of the Astor family. Dorothea's father was John Jacob Astor. He was a second cousin of Lt. Col. John Jacob Astor IV.[2] His paternal lineage descended from John O'Kane who emigrated to the country in 1752 from County Londonderry and Antrim, Ireland. During the American Revolutionary War, O'Kane (who dropped the "'O" once in America[7]) was living at Sharyvogne, his estate in Dutchess County, which was confiscated after the War due to his Loyalist times. His eldest son, John Jr., stayed and became one of the most prominent merchants in New York.[2]

The family lived at "Beach Cliffe", designed by Detlef Lienau, which was one of the earliest Newport cottages "to attain a sort of Beaux-Arts purity."[8][lower-alpha 1] After prep school in New York, Kane attended and graduated from the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland, in June 1866. After his service in the Navy, he entered Cambridge University in England where he graduated in 1873. After returning the United States, he studied law at Albany Law School.[1]

Career

After the Naval Academy, Kane was assigned the grade of ensign and began working on the staff of Admiral David Farragut.[1] He resigned from the U.S. Navy in 1868.[1] After the Navy, he attended university in England then returned to the United States for law school, and was admitted to the bar. Even though he was admitted, due to his "ample means", he did not practice his profession.[1]

In 1874, he became a member of the New York Yacht Club, where he served as Commodore and an officer for many years.[9] During the beginning of the Spanish–American War, he volunteered as an Ensign and in ten days, was promoted to Senior Lieutenant, serving on the staff of Admiral Charles Dwight Sigsbee, serving until the end of the war. Kane was honorably discharged on November 15, 1898.[1]

Society life

In 1892, Kane, along with two of his brothers and their wives, were included in Ward McAllister's "Four Hundred", purported to be an index of New York's best families, published in The New York Times.[10][11] Conveniently, 400 was the number of people that could fit into Mrs. Astor's ballroom.[12][13]

He was a member of the Union Club, Metropolitan Club, the Knickerbocker Club, the New York Yacht Club,[14] and the American Geographical Society.[15]

Personal life

Kane lived at the Kane family mansion at 23 West 47th Street in Manhattan.[1] In 1889, he was described as:[6]

"He is an enthusiastic yachtsman, and is an excellent whip. He has traveled much, is a discriminating collector of books, and is exceptionally well-like, being very affable and a raconteur of unusual eloquence."[6]

Kane, who suffered from cirrhosis hepatitis, died of intestinal hemorrhages in a sleeping car in Manassas, Virginia, about thirty miles from Washington, D.C., on November 15, 1906.[1] He had been in Hot Springs for three weeks seeking treatment.[1] He was buried at Island Cemetery in Newport, Rhode Island.[16]

Notes
  1. "Beach Cliffe", built in 1852, was located on Bath Road at Rhode Island Avenue in Newport. It was torn down in 1939.[8]

References
  1. "S. NICHOLSON KANE DIES IN A SLEEPING CAR; Very Ill, He Was Returning to New York from Hot Springs. HIS BODY IN WASHINGTON Ex-Commodore of New York Yacht Club Was a Naval Volunteer Officer During the War with Spain". The New York Times. 16 November 1906. Retrieved 2 March 2018.
  2. "COL. DE LANCEY KANE DIES OF PNEUMONIA; Noted Horseman and Astor's Great-Grandson Initiated Coaching in America. LONG A SOCIAL LEADER Graduate of West Point Who Inherited $10,000,000 Served in the Cavalry in Our Army". The New York Times. 5 April 1915. Retrieved 2 March 2018.
  3. "Capt Woodbury Kane dies of sudden heart attack" (PDF). The New York Times. 6 December 1905. p. 11. Retrieved 13 June 2009.
  4. "LOUISE L. KANE DIES AFTER BRIEF ILLNESS; Granddaughter of the First John Jacob Astor Was a Benefactor of Artists. DID QUIET PHILANTHROPY Gave Much Time to Welfare Work, Aiding Bellevue Particularly -Family Socially Prominent". The New York Times. 2 June 1927. Retrieved 2 March 2018.
  5. "MRS. AUGUSTUS JAY DIES IN 79TH YEAR; Widow of Diplomat Whose Ancestor, John Jay, Was First Chief Justice of U. S. LONG A SOCIETY LEADER Descended From Gov. Langdon of New Hampshire, Revolutionary Soldier, and John Jacob Astor". The New York Times. 15 December 1932. Retrieved 2 March 2018.
  6. The Successful American, Vol 1, Part 1. Press Biographical Company. 1899. p. 156. Retrieved 2 March 2018.
  7. "DELANCEY ISELIN KANE; Great-Grandson of the First John Jacob Astor Dies, 62". The New York Times. 1 August 1940. Retrieved 2 March 2018.
  8. Yarnall, James L. (2005). Newport Through Its Architecture: A History of Styles from Postmedieval to Postmodern. UPNE. p. 123. ISBN 9781584654919. Retrieved 2 March 2018.
  9. New York Yacht Club. New York Yacht Club. 1910. p. 277. Retrieved 2 March 2018.
  10. McAllister, Ward (16 February 1892). "THE ONLY FOUR HUNDRED | WARD M'ALLISTER GIVES OUT THE OFFICIAL LIST. HERE ARE THE NAMES, DON'T YOU KNOW, ON THE AUTHORITY OF THEIR GREAT LEADER, YOU UNDER- STAND, AND THEREFORE GENUINE, YOU SEE" (PDF). The New York Times. Retrieved 26 March 2017.
  11. Patterson, Jerry E. (2000). The First Four Hundred: Mrs. Astor's New York in the Gilded Age. Random House. p. 218. ISBN 9780847822089. Retrieved 2 March 2018.
  12. Keister, Lisa A. (2005). Getting Rich: America's New Rich and How They Got That Way. Cambridge University Press. p. 36. ISBN 9780521536677. Retrieved 20 October 2017.
  13. Birmingham, Stephen (2015). Life at the Dakota: New York's Most Unusual Address. Open Road Media. p. 18. ISBN 9781504026314. Retrieved 2 March 2018.
  14. Club Men of New York: Full Membership of the Leading Clubs, Societies, College Alumni Associations, Etc., of Greater New York. Occupations, Business and Home Address. Historical Sketches of All Prominent New York Organizations. Principal Clubs, with Addresses, in the One Hundred Largest Cities of the United States. Republic Press. 1893. p. 262. Retrieved 2 March 2018.
  15. Bulletin of the American Geographical Society. American Geographical Society of New York. 1906. p. 784. Retrieved 2 March 2018.
  16. "S.N. KANE'S FUNERAL.; Ex-Commodore of New York Yacht Club to be Buried at Newport". The New York Times. November 20, 1906. Retrieved 2 March 2018.
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