Sybil Kent Kane

Sybil Kent Kane (1856 – February 15, 1946) was an American socialite who was prominent in New York Society during the Gilded Age.[1]

Sybil Kent Kane
Born1856
Newport, Rhode Island, U.S.
DiedFebruary 15, 1946(1946-02-15) (aged 89–90)
Long Island City, New York, U.S.
Burial placeIsland Cemetery
RelativesAstor family

Early life

Kane was born at the family home on August 28, 1844, in Newport, Rhode Island. She was the second youngest of eight children born to Oliver DeLancey Kane and Louisa Dorothea (née Langdon). Kane's brothers were Walter Langdon Kane,[2] John Innes Kane,[3] DeLancey Astor Kane,[1] S. Nicholson Kane, and Woodbury Kane.[4] Her sisters were the artist Louisa Langdon Kane,[5] and Emily Astor Kane (who married Augustus Jay and was the mother of Peter Augustus Jay).[6][7]

She was a granddaughter of Walter Langdon and Dorothea (née Astor) of the Astor family and a great-granddaughter of John Jacob Astor. Kane was also a cousin of Lt. Col. John Jacob Astor IV.[1] Her 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[8]) was living at Sharyvogne, his estate in Dutchess County, which was confiscated after the War due to his Loyalist times.[9] His eldest son, John Jr., stayed and became one of the most prominent merchants in New York.[1]

In New York, the family lived at 23 West 47th Street. In Newport, 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."[10][lower-alpha 1]

Society life

In 1892, Kane, as the youngest unmarried daughter of her parents, and two of her brothers (Nicholson, DeLancey, and his wife Eleanora Iselin) 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.[11][12] Conveniently, 400 was the number of people that could fit into Mrs. Astor's ballroom.[13][14]

Personal life

Kane, who never married and had no children, lived a relatively modest life at her home in Little Neck on Long Island. She inherited from her parents and siblings, several of whom also died unmarried, upon their deaths.[15] Kane died at her home on Long Island on February 15, 1946, and was the last surviving member of her immediate family.[16] Her funeral services were held at the Chapel of the Comforter at 10 Horatio Street in New York City and she was buried alongside her family at the Island Cemetery in Newport.[17]

Notes
  1. "Beach Cliffe", built in 1852, was located on Bath Road at Rhode Island Avenue in Newport. It was torn down in 1939.[10]

References
  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. April 5, 1915. Retrieved March 2, 2018.
  2. "Walter L. Kane" (PDF). The New York Times. September 20, 1896. Retrieved October 11, 2018.
  3. "JOHN INNES KANE DEAD AT 60. Member of Old New York Family Was Interested In Exploration" (PDF). The New York Times. February 2, 1913. Retrieved October 11, 2018.
  4. "Capt Woodbury Kane dies of sudden heart attack" (PDF). The New York Times. December 6, 1905. p. 11. Retrieved June 13, 2009.
  5. "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. June 2, 1927. Retrieved March 2, 2018.
  6. "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. December 15, 1932. Retrieved March 2, 2018.
  7. The Successful American, Vol 1, Part 1. Press Biographical Company. 1899. p. 156. Retrieved March 2, 2018.
  8. "DELANCEY ISELIN KANE; Great-Grandson of the First John Jacob Astor Dies, 62" (PDF). The New York Times. August 1, 1940.
  9. Reynolds, Cuyler (1914). Genealogical and Family History of Southern New York and the Hudson River Valley: A Record of the Achievements of Her People in the Making of a Commonwealth and the Building of a Nation. Lewis Historical Publishing Company. p. 1152. Retrieved October 11, 2018.
  10. Yarnall, James L. (2005). Newport Through Its Architecture: A History of Styles from Postmedieval to Postmodern. UPNE. p. 123. ISBN 9781584654919. Retrieved March 2, 2018.
  11. McAllister, Ward (February 16, 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 March 26, 2017.
  12. Patterson, Jerry E. (2000). The First Four Hundred: Mrs. Astor's New York in the Gilded Age. Random House. p. 218. ISBN 9780847822089. Retrieved March 2, 2018.
  13. Keister, Lisa A. (2005). Getting Rich: America's New Rich and How They Got That Way. Cambridge University Press. p. 36. ISBN 9780521536677. Retrieved October 20, 2017.
  14. Birmingham, Stephen (2015). Life at the Dakota: New York's Most Unusual Address. Open Road Media. p. 18. ISBN 9781504026314. Retrieved March 2, 2018.
  15. "KANE ESTATE $407,476. John Jacob Astor's Grandson Also Had Income from Trust Funds" (PDF). The New York Times. August 26, 1913. Retrieved October 11, 2018.
  16. "SYBIL KENT KANE INTERMENT HELD HERE | 90-Year-Old Summer Colonist Died at Her Home on Long Island". Newport Mercury. February 22, 1946. p. 3. Retrieved October 11, 2018.
  17. "KANE--Sybil Kent" (PDF). The New York Times. February 17, 1946. Retrieved October 11, 2018.
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