John K. Kane


John Kintzing Kane was the 21st Attorney General of Pennsylvania and a United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

Education and career

Born on May 16, 1795, in Albany, New York, Kane graduated from Yale University in 1814 and read law in 1817. He entered private practice in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania from 1817 to 1824. He was a member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives from 1824 to 1825. He was an attorney and board member of the Chesapeake & Delaware Canal Company starting in 1825. He was city solicitor for Philadelphia from 1828 to 1830, and in 1832. He was a United States Commissioner to settle claims with France from 1832 to 1836. He resumed private practice in Philadelphia from 1836 to 1845. He was the 21st Attorney General of Pennsylvania from 1845 to 1846.

Federal judicial service

Kane was nominated by President James K. Polk on June 11, 1846, to a seat on the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania vacated by Judge Archibald Randall. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on June 17, 1846, and received his commission the same day. His service terminated on February 21, 1858, due to his death in Philadelphia. He is interred in the family mausoleum at Laurel Hill Cemetery in Philadelphia, Section P, Lot 100.

Family

Kane was the son of Elisha Kane and Alida, daughter of Brigadier General Robert Van Rensselaer and Cornelia Rutsen. When his mother Alida died in 1799, Elisha married Elizabeth Kintzing, and it was she who raised John and his siblings. In 1819, Kane was married to Jane Duval Leiper, the daughter of Thomas Leiper. Together, they had seven children, including one that died in infancy. Two sons became well known as adults: