DeLancey Astor Kane

DeLancey Astor Kane (August 28, 1844 – April 4, 1915) was an American soldier and horseman who was prominent in New York Society during the Gilded Age.[1] He was called the "father of coaching in the United States."[2]

DeLancey Astor Kane
Born(1844-08-28)28 August 1844
Newport, Rhode Island, U.S.
Died4 April 1915(1915-04-04) (aged 70)
New Rochelle, New York, U.S.
Alma materUnited States Military Academy
Trinity College, Cambridge
Columbia Law School
Spouse(s)
​
(m. 1872)​
Parent(s)Oliver DeLancey Kane
Louisa Dorothea Langdon
FamilyKane, Astor

Early life

Kane was born on August 28, 1844, in Newport, Rhode Island. He was the second of eight children born to Oliver DeLancey Kane (1816–1874) and Louisa Dorothea (née Langdon) Kane (1821–1894). His brothers were Walter Langdon, John Innes Kane, Woodbury Kane,[3] S. Nicholson Kane. 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 was a grandson of Walter Langdon and Dorothea (née Astor) Langdon of the Astor family and a great-grandson of John Jacob Astor. He was a cousin of Colonel John Jacob Astor IV.[1] 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 ties. His eldest son, John Jr., stayed and became one of the most prominent merchants in New York.[1]

The family lived fashionably in lower Broadway. Their summer cottage, Beach Cliffe, designed by Detlef Lienau, was one the earliest Newport houses "to attain a sort of Beaux-Arts purity."[8][lower-alpha 1] Kane graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, in 1868. Following his service in the U.S. Army, he studied at Trinity College, Cambridge, in England and in 1873, graduated from Columbia Law School.[1]

Career

Kane, who inherited $10,000,000 from his mother's family,[9] was a lieutenant in the First Cavalry, U.S.A. from 1868 to 1870, when he retired as a colonel, a title by which he was known for most of his life.[1]

In 1876, Kane founded, with Col. William Jay,[10] The Coaching Club of New York devoted to the coaching of horses which he picked up after his time spent in England.[11][12] His stagecoach, "Tally-ho" was the first private stagecoach for pleasure riding in the United States.[11]

Society life
Kane's country estate, "The Paddocks" in New Rochelle, NY

In 1892, both Kane and his wife Eleanora 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.[13][14] Conveniently, 400 was the number of people that could fit into Mrs. Astor's ballroom.[15][16]

He was a member of the Union Club, Metropolitan Club, the Knickerbocker Club, Country Club, the Coaching Club, the New York Yacht Club and the Larchmont Yacht Clubs.[17]

His wife's father built them a county estate, known as "The Paddocks" in Davenport Neck, New Rochelle. The estate had a panoramic view of the Long Island Sound and Fort Slocum.[18]

Personal life

In 1872, Kane was married to Eleanora Iselin (1849–1938),[19] the daughter of Adrian Georg Iselin, a prominent New York merchant and banker. Eleanora was also the sister of Adrian Jr., Columbus and Charles Iselin. In 1901, Kane and his wife purchased the former home of Arthur Astor Carey[lower-alpha 2] in Newport for $100,000 where he became a permanent resident.[20] Together, they were the parents of one child:[1]

Kane died of pneumonia on April 4, 1915, at the Kane estate in Davenport Neck in New Rochelle, New York.[1][lower-alpha 3]

References
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]
  2. Arthur Astor Carey (1857–1923), was also a member of the Astor family through his mother, Mary Alida Astor (1826–1881), the daughter of William Backhouse Astor Sr.
  3. The Paddocks later became the Colony Club and was torn down in the 1980s to become the current Surf Club.[18]
Sources
  1. "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" (PDF). The New York Times. 5 April 1915. Retrieved 2 March 2018.
  2. Harness. Trade News Publishing Company. 1915. p. 2. 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" (PDF). 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" (PDF). 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" (PDF). The New York Times. 1 August 1940.
  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. American Millionaires: The Tribune's List of Persons Reputed to Worth a Million Or More. Lines of Business in which the Fortunes Were Made. Tribune Association. 1892. p. 71. Retrieved 2 March 2018.
  10. Montgomery, Maureen E. (2016). Displaying Women: Spectacles of Leisure in Edith Wharton's New York. Routledge. p. 110. ISBN 9781134952793. Retrieved 2 March 2018.
  11. Wheeling, Ken (1 October 2009). "The Tally-Ho: a Road Coach". The Carriage Journal. Carriage Assoc. of America. 47 (4). Retrieved 2 March 2018.
  12. Thorn, John (2016). Base Ball: A Journal of the Early Game. McFarland. p. 29. ISBN 9781476621395. Retrieved 2 March 2018.
  13. 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.
  14. 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.
  15. 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.
  16. Birmingham, Stephen (2015). Life at the Dakota: New York's Most Unusual Address. Open Road Media. p. 18. ISBN 9781504026314. Retrieved 2 March 2018.
  17. 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.
  18. Davis, Barbara (2012). New Rochelle. Arcadia Publishing. p. 9. ISBN 9780738592831. Retrieved 2 March 2018.
  19. "MRS. DELANCEY A. KANE; Member of Old New York Family Dies in Westchester at 89" (PDF). The New York Times. 23 October 1938. Retrieved 2 March 2018.
  20. "Col. Kane to Live in Newport" (PDF). The New York Times. January 2, 1901. Retrieved 2 March 2018.
  21. Gallati, Barbara Dayer; Forum, Bucerius Kunst (2008). High Society: American Portraits of the Gilded Age. Hirmer. pp. 83, 84, 86. Retrieved 2 March 2018.
  22. Merrill, Linda; Whistler, James McNeill (2003). After Whistler: The Artist and His Influence on American Painting. Yale University Press. p. 174. ISBN 0300101252. Retrieved 2 March 2018.
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