Kane was born on July 2, 1846, in
New York City.
John Innes Kane, and
Woodbury 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'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.) 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. 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 to the United States, he studied law at
Albany Law School. ==Career==