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. 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. ("Beach Cliffe", built in 1852, was located on Bath Road at Rhode Island Avenue in Newport.) It was torn down in 1939. 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. 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 Knickerbocker Club, the New York Yacht Club, and the American Geographical Society.

Personal life Kane lived at the Kane family mansion at 23 West 47th Street in Manhattan. He had been in Hot Springs for three weeks seeking treatment.