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 In United States history, the Gilded Age was an era extending roughly from 1877 to 1900, which was sandwiched between the Reconstruction era and the Progressive Era. It was a time of rapid economic growth, especially in the Northern and Wes ...

. He was called the "father of coaching in the United States."

Early life

Kane was born on August 28, 1844, in

Newport, Rhode Island Newport is an American seaside city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County, Rhode Island. It is located in Narragansett Bay, approximately southeast of Providence, south of Fall River, Massachusetts, south of Boston, and northeast of New Yor ...

. 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, S. Nicholson Kane. His sisters were Louisa Langdon Kane, Emily Astor Kane (who married Augustus Jay and was the mother of Peter Augustus Jay), and Sybil Kent Kane. Kane was a grandson of Walter Langdon and Dorothea (née Astor) Langdon of the

Astor family The Astor family achieved prominence in business, society, and politics in the United States and the United Kingdom during the 19th and 20th centuries. With ancestral roots in the Italian Alps region of Italy by way of Germany, the Astors settled ...

and a great-grandson of

John Jacob Astor John Jacob Astor (born Johann Jakob Astor; July 17, 1763 – March 29, 1848) was a German-American businessman, merchant, real estate mogul, and investor who made his fortune mainly in a fur trade monopoly, by History of opium in China, smuggl ...

. He was a cousin of Colonel

John Jacob Astor IV John Jacob Astor IV (July 13, 1864 – April 15, 1912) was an American business magnate, real estate developer, investor, writer, lieutenant colonel in the Spanish–American War, and a prominent member of the Astor family. He died in the sink ...

. 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 The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

, O'Kane (who dropped the "'O" once in America) 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. The family lived fashionably in lower Broadway. Their summer cottage, Beach Cliffe, designed by

Detlef Lienau Detlef Lienau (17 February 1818 – 29 August 1887) was a German architect born in Holstein. He is credited with having introduced the French style to American building construction, notably the mansard roof and all its decorative flourishes. Trai ...

, was one of the earliest Newport houses "to attain a sort of Beaux-Arts purity." Kane graduated from the

United States Military Academy The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known metonymically as West Point or simply as Army, is a United States service academy in West Point, New York. It was originally established as a fort, since it sits on strategic high groun ...

West Point, New York West Point is the oldest continuously occupied military post in the United States. Located on the Hudson River in New York, West Point was identified by General George Washington as the most important strategic position in America during the Ame ...

, in 1868. Following his service in the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...

, he studied at

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge or Oxford. ...

, in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

and in 1873, graduated from

Columbia Law School Columbia Law School (Columbia Law or CLS) is the law school of Columbia University, a private Ivy League university in New York City. Columbia Law is widely regarded as one of the most prestigious law schools in the world and has always ranked i ...

Career

Kane, who inherited $10,000,000 from his mother's family, was a

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often ...

in the First Cavalry, U.S.A. from 1868 to 1870, when he retired as a

colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge o ...

, a title by which he was known for most of his life. In 1876, Kane founded, with Col. William Jay, The Coaching Club of New York devoted to the coaching of horses which he picked up after his time spent in England. His stagecoach, "Tally-ho" was the first private stagecoach for pleasure riding in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

Society life

In 1892, both Kane and his wife Eleanora were included in

Ward McAllister Samuel Ward McAllister (December 28, 1827 – January 31, 1895) was a popular arbiter of social taste in the Gilded Age of late 19th-century America. He was widely accepted as the authority as to which families could be classified as the cream o ...

's "

Four Hundred 400 (four hundred) is the natural number following 399 and preceding 401. Mathematical properties 400 is the square of 20. 400 is the sum of the powers of 7 from 0 to 3, thus making it a repdigit in base 7 (1111). A circle is divided into ...

", purported to be an index of New York's best families, published in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

''. Conveniently, 400 was the number of people that could fit into Mrs. Astor's ballroom. He was a member of the Union Club,

Metropolitan Club The Metropolitan Club of New York is a private social club on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded as a gentlemen's club in 1891 for men only, but it was one of the first major clubs in New York to admit women, t ...

, the

Knickerbocker Club The Knickerbocker Club (known informally as The Knick) is a gentlemen's club in New York City that was founded in 1871. It is considered to be the most exclusive club in the United States and one of the most aristocratic gentlemen's clubs in th ...

, Country Club, the Coaching Club, the

New York Yacht Club The New York Yacht Club (NYYC) is a private social club and yacht club based in New York City and Newport, Rhode Island. It was founded in 1844 by nine prominent sportsmen. The members have contributed to the sport of yachting and yacht design. ...

and the

Larchmont Yacht Club Larchmont Yacht Club is a private, members-only yacht club situated on Larchmont Harbor in the Village of Larchmont, in Westchester County, New York. History The club was founded in June 1880 by Frank L. Anthony, Fred W. Flint, William C. ...

s. His wife's father built them a county estate, known as "The Paddocks" in

Davenport Neck Davenport Neck is a peninsula in New Rochelle, New York, extending southwesterly from the mainland into Long Island Sound, and running parallel to the main shore. It divides the city's waterfront into two, with New Rochelle Harbor to the south an ...

New Rochelle New Rochelle (; older french: La Nouvelle-Rochelle) is a city in Westchester County, New York, United States, in the southeastern portion of the state. In 2020, the city had a population of 79,726, making it the seventh-largest in the state o ...

. The estate had a panoramic view of the Long Island Sound and

Fort Slocum Fort Slocum, New York was a US military post which occupied Davids Island in the western end of Long Island Sound in the city of New Rochelle, New York from 1867 to 1965. The fort was named for Major General Henry W. Slocum, a Union corps comma ...

Personal life

In 1872, Kane was married to Eleanora Iselin (1849–1938), the daughter of

Adrian Georg Iselin Adrian Georg Iselin (January 17, 1818 – March 28, 1905) was a New York financier who invested in and developed real estate, railroads, and mining operations. For many years during his early business career he was engaged in importing with his ...

, 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 in Newport for $100,000 where he became a permanent resident. Together, they were the parents of one child: * DeLancey Iselin Kane (1877–1940), who was painted by Thomas Wilmer Dewing in 1887. Kane died of

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severi ...

on April 4, 1915, at the Kane estate in

in New Rochelle, New York.

References

;Notes ;Sources

External links

*
Painting of DeLancey Iselin Kane dressed in a sailor suite
by Thomas Wilmer Dewing in 1887 at the

Museum of the City of New York A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make thes ...

Painting of Eleanora Iselin Kane (Mrs. DeLancey Astor Kane)
by Thomas Wilmer Dewing in 1888 at the

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kane, DeLancey Astor 1844 births 1915 deaths DeLancey Astor Kane United States Military Academy alumni Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Columbia Law School alumni Military personnel from New Rochelle, New York People included in New York Society's Four Hundred Iselin family Kane family United States Army officers People from Newport, Rhode Island