Elisha Kent Kane (February 3, 1820 – February 16, 1857) was a United States Navy medical officer and
Arctic
The Arctic ( or ) is a polar region located at the northernmost part of Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean, adjacent seas, and parts of Canada (Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut), Danish Realm (Greenland), Finland, Iceland, N ...
explorer. He served as assistant surgeon during
Caleb Cushing
Caleb Cushing (January 17, 1800 – January 2, 1879) was an American Democratic politician and diplomat who served as a Congressman from Massachusetts and Attorney General under President Franklin Pierce. He was an eager proponent of territor ...
's journey to China to negotiate the
Treaty of Wangxia and in the
Africa Squadron
The Africa Squadron was a unit of the United States Navy that operated from 1819 to 1861 in the Blockade of Africa to suppress the slave trade along the coast of West Africa. However, the term was often ascribed generally to anti-slavery oper ...
. He was assigned as a special envoy to the
United States Army
The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...
during the
Mexican–American War
The Mexican–American War, also known in the United States as the Mexican War and in Mexico as the (''United States intervention in Mexico''), was an armed conflict between the United States and Mexico from 1846 to 1848. It followed the 1 ...
and as a surveyor in the
U.S. Coast Survey
The United States Coast and Geodetic Survey (abbreviated USC&GS), known from 1807 to 1836 as the Survey of the Coast and from 1836 until 1878 as the United States Coast Survey, was the first scientific agency of the United States Government. It ...
.
He was senior medical officer in the
First Grinnell expedition to rescue or discover the fate of the explorer Sir
John Franklin
Sir John Franklin (16 April 1786 – 11 June 1847) was a British Royal Navy officer and Arctic explorer. After serving in wars against Napoleonic France and the United States, he led two expeditions into the Canadian Arctic and through t ...
. He was credited with the discovery of an encampment and gravesite from
Franklin's lost expedition
Franklin's lost expedition was a failed British voyage of Arctic exploration led by Captain (Royal Navy), Captain Sir John Franklin that departed England in 1845 aboard two ships, and , and was assigned to traverse the last unnavigated sect ...
on
Beechey Island
Beechey Island ( iu, Iluvialuit, script=Latn) is an island located in the Arctic Archipelago of Nunavut, Canada, in Wellington Channel. It is separated from the southwest corner of Devon Island by Barrow Strait. Other features include Wellington C ...
. He led the
Second Grinnell expedition to the Arctic which was unsuccessful in discovering the fate of Franklin's expedition. His explorations of the Arctic went further North than any other expeditions at the time and led to the eventual path to the
North Pole
The North Pole, also known as the Geographic North Pole or Terrestrial North Pole, is the point in the Northern Hemisphere where the Earth's rotation, Earth's axis of rotation meets its surface. It is called the True North Pole to distingu ...
taken by subsequent explorers.
He spoke frequently to large audiences about his Arctic expeditions. He published two books chronicling his explorations; ''The United States Grinnell Expedition in Search of Sir John Franklin: A Personal Narrative'' in 1856 and ''Arctic explorations: The Second Grinnell Expedition in Search of Sir John Franklin, 1853,'54, '55'' in 1857. Two United States Navy ships, a lunar crater and a waterway in the Arctic were named in his honor.
Early life and education
Kane was born in
Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...
on February 3, 1820. He was the first son of
John Kintzing Kane, a U.S. district judge, and Jane Duval Leiper.
His maternal grandfather was
Thomas Leiper
Thomas Leiper (15 December 1745 – 6 July 1825) was a Scottish American businessman, banker and politician who owned a successful tobacco exportation business as well as several mills and stone quarries. He served as a lieutenant in the Philad ...
,
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 ...
patriot and a founder of the
Philadelphia City Troop. His brother was attorney, diplomat,
abolitionist
Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the movement to end slavery. In Western Europe and the Americas, abolitionism was a historic movement that sought to end the Atlantic slave trade and liberate the enslaved people.
The British ...
, and
Civil War
A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country).
The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...
general,
Thomas L. Kane.
In 1837, Kane entered the University of Virginia in Charlottesville to study civil engineering. He worked closely with geology Professor
William Barton Rogers
William Barton Rogers (December 7, 1804 – May 30, 1882) was an American geologist, physicist, and educator at the College of William & Mary from 1828 to 1835 and at the University of Virginia from 1835 to 1853. In 1861, Rogers founded the M ...
and participated in several outings into the Blue Ridge Mountains to map geological formations.
[ However, health concerns due to rheumatic fever forced him to withdraw from school and return home. His illness progressed to ]endocarditis
Endocarditis is an inflammation of the inner layer of the heart, the endocardium. It usually involves the heart valves. Other structures that may be involved include the interventricular septum, the chordae tendineae, the mural endocardium, or the ...
and the family feared he would die. After recovering, concerned that the physical demands of civil engineering would be too much for his health, he turned to the study of medicine. On October 19, 1840, he became a resident physician at Blockley Almshouse while also studying at the University of Pennsylvania. In the Spring of 1841, he became Senior Resident Physician at Blockley. He was the author of a publication in the American Journal of the Medical Sciences
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America"
** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America
** American ancestry, pe ...
on original research on urinary markers of pregnancy.[ Kane graduated from the ]University of Pennsylvania Medical School
The Perelman School of Medicine, commonly known as Penn Med, is the medical school of the University of Pennsylvania, a private research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1765, the Perelman School of Medicine is the oldest medi ...
in 1842.[
]
Career
On September 14, 1843, he became an assistant surgeon in the Navy. The post allowed him to travel the world including to Bombay, Ceylon, Macao, Madeira and Rio de Janeiro. He served in the China Commercial Treaty mission on the ''USS Brandywine
USS ''Brandywine'' (formerly named ''Susquehanna'') was a wooden-hulled, three-masted frigate of the United States Navy bearing 44 guns which had the initial task of conveying the Marquis de Lafayette back to France. She was later recommissione ...
'' under Caleb Cushing
Caleb Cushing (January 17, 1800 – January 2, 1879) was an American Democratic politician and diplomat who served as a Congressman from Massachusetts and Attorney General under President Franklin Pierce. He was an eager proponent of territor ...
. While Cushing negotiated the Treaty of Wangxia with the Chinese, Kane and the crew of the USS Brandywine explored the island of Luzon
Luzon (; ) is the largest and most populous island in the Philippines. Located in the northern portion of the Philippines archipelago, it is the economic and political center of the nation, being home to the country's capital city, Manila, as ...
in the Philippines
The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no),
* bik, Republika kan Filipinas
* ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas
* cbk, República de Filipinas
* hil, Republ ...
. He descended into the Taal Volcano to obtain water samples, was almost overcome by the toxic fumes[ and angered the locals who considered the volcano sacred.][ He served in the ]Africa Squadron
The Africa Squadron was a unit of the United States Navy that operated from 1819 to 1861 in the Blockade of Africa to suppress the slave trade along the coast of West Africa. However, the term was often ascribed generally to anti-slavery oper ...
and in February 1847 contracted "coast fever" (most likely a strain of malaria
Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects humans and other animals. Malaria causes symptoms that typically include fever, tiredness, vomiting, and headaches. In severe cases, it can cause jaundice, seizures, coma, or death. S ...
)[ and returned to the United States to recover.
In the Fall of 1847, he petitioned Secretary of State, James Buchanan, to be assigned as a special envoy to deliver a message to General ]Winfield Scott
Winfield Scott (June 13, 1786May 29, 1866) was an American military commander and political candidate. He served as a general in the United States Army from 1814 to 1861, taking part in the War of 1812, the Mexican–American War, the early s ...
in Mexico City. Scott had taken Mexico City during the Mexican–American War
The Mexican–American War, also known in the United States as the Mexican War and in Mexico as the (''United States intervention in Mexico''), was an armed conflict between the United States and Mexico from 1846 to 1848. It followed the 1 ...
but had stopped communicating with the White House. Buchanan and President James Polk
James is a common English language surname and given name:
*James (name), the typically masculine first name James
* James (surname), various people with the last name James
James or James City may also refer to:
People
* King James (disambiguat ...
feared that Scott was exceeding his authority and negotiating with the Mexicans. Kane was deployed to deliver a message to Scott reiterating the previous order to discontinue negotiations. Kane was deployed and received official orders from the Navy with a cover story that he was being sent to Mexico City to report on military hospitals and medical conditions.[ While approaching Mexico City, Kane's entourage was attacked at ]Nopalucan
Nopalucan Municipality is a municipality in Puebla in south-eastern Mexico
Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United St ...
on January 6, 1848. During the battle, Mexican General Antonio Gaona and his son were both wounded. Kane treated a severed artery in the son's chest and saved his life. Kane also refused to allow the Mexican prisoners to be killed in retaliation for the attack and delivered them to U.S. forces in Mexico City. Kane returned to the U.S. in February 1849 and was honored by the city of Philadelphia with the presentation of a ceremonial sword.
Kane was assigned to the U.S. Coast Survey
The United States Coast and Geodetic Survey (abbreviated USC&GS), known from 1807 to 1836 as the Survey of the Coast and from 1836 until 1878 as the United States Coast Survey, was the first scientific agency of the United States Government. It ...
under Alexander Dallas Bache and had responsibility for the survey of the southeast coast of the United States.[
]
Kane was appointed senior medical officer of the Grinnell Arctic expedition of 1850–1851 under the command of Edwin de Haven
Edwin Jesse DeHaven (May 7, 1816May 1, 1865) was a United States Navy officer and explorer of the first half of the 19th century who was best known for his command of the First Grinnell expedition in 1850, which was directed to ascertain what had ...
, which searched unsuccessfully for Sir John Franklin's lost expedition. Kane was present along with Edwin de Haven and William Penny
Captain William Penny (1809–1892) was a Scottish shipmaster, whaler and Arctic explorer. He undertook the first maritime search for the ships of Sir John Franklin. In 1840, Penny established the first whaling station in the Cumberland Sound a ...
at the discovery of an encampment and three graves from the Franklin expedition on Beechey Island
Beechey Island ( iu, Iluvialuit, script=Latn) is an island located in the Arctic Archipelago of Nunavut, Canada, in Wellington Channel. It is separated from the southwest corner of Devon Island by Barrow Strait. Other features include Wellington C ...
.[
From 1851 to 1853, Kane spoke multiple times to audiences hundreds in size on his Arctic explorations and was well regarded due to his oratorical skills.][ His eloquence and frequency in speaking may be why he was credited with the discovery of the three graves. He began to write the book ''The U.S. Grinnell expedition in search of Sir John Franklin''. He convinced Grinnell and several scientific organizations to fund a second expedition to continue to explore the Arctic and search for Franklin.][
Kane organized and headed the Second Grinnell expedition on the '' USS Advance'' which sailed from New York on May 31, 1853. The expedition stopped in Fiskenaesset, Greenland to pick up the Inuit hunter, ]Hans Hendrik
Hans Hendrik ( kl, Suersaq, i=no; 2 June 1832 – 11 August 1889) was a Kalaallit interpreter, Arctic explorer, and the first Inuk to publish an account of his travels. He was born in the southern settlement of Fiskenæsset.
Expeditions ...
and at Upernavik, Greenland to pick up the sled driver and interpreter Johan Carl Christian Petersen
Johan Carl Christian Petersen (28 June 1813 – 24 June 1880) was a Danish seaman and interpreter who participated in several expeditions in Northern Canada and Greenland in search of the missing British explorer John Franklin.
Early life
Pet ...
[ and wintered in Rensselaer Bay. Though suffering from ]scurvy
Scurvy is a disease resulting from a lack of vitamin C (ascorbic acid). Early symptoms of deficiency include weakness, feeling tired and sore arms and legs. Without treatment, decreased red blood cells, gum disease, changes to hair, and bleeding ...
, and at times near death, he pushed on and charted the coasts of Smith Sound and the Kane Basin, penetrating farther north than any other explorer had done up to that time. At Cape Constitution he discovered the ice-free Kennedy Channel
Kennedy Channel ( da, Kennedykanalen; french: Passage Kennedy; ) is an Arctic sea passage between Greenland and Canada's most northerly island, Ellesmere Island.
It was named by Elisha Kane around 1854 during his second Arctic voyage in search ...
between Ellesmere Island and Greenland
Greenland ( kl, Kalaallit Nunaat, ; da, Grønland, ) is an island country in North America that is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is located between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Greenland i ...
, later followed by Isaac Israel Hayes
Isaac Israel Hayes (March 5, 1832 – December 17, 1881) was an American Arctic explorer, physician, and politician, who was appointed as the commanding officer at Satterlee General Hospital during the American Civil War, and was then elected, a ...
, Charles Francis Hall
Charles Francis Hall ( – November 8, 1871) was an American Arctic explorer, best known for his collection of Inuit testimony regarding the 1845 Franklin Expedition and the suspicious circumstances surrounding his death while leading th ...
, Adolphus Greely
Adolphus Washington Greely (March 27, 1844 – October 20, 1935) was a United States Army officer and polar explorer. He attained the rank of major general and was a recipient of the Medal of Honor.
A native of Newburyport, Massachusetts an ...
, and Robert E. Peary
Robert Edwin Peary Sr. (; May 6, 1856 – February 20, 1920) was an American explorer and officer in the United States Navy who made several expeditions to the Arctic in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He is best known for, in Apri ...
in turn as they drove toward the North Pole
The North Pole, also known as the Geographic North Pole or Terrestrial North Pole, is the point in the Northern Hemisphere where the Earth's rotation, Earth's axis of rotation meets its surface. It is called the True North Pole to distingu ...
.
Kane finally abandoned the icebound brig on May 20, 1855, and made an 83-day march to Upernavik
Upernavik (Kalaallisut: "Springtime Place") is a small town in the Avannaata municipality in northwestern Greenland, located on a small island of the same name. With 1,092 inhabitants as of 2020, it is the twelfth-largest town in Greenland. It c ...
on the west coast of Greenland. The party, carrying the invalids, lost only one man. Kane and his men were saved by a sailing ship. Kane returned to New York on October 11, 1855, and the following year published his two-volume ''Arctic Explorations''.[ Despite the unsuccessful expedition, he was welcomed home as a hero. He received hundreds of speaking invitations and stage producer James Wallack planned to turn the expedition into a play. Although in poor health, Kane completed his second book ''Arctic explorations, the second Grinnell expedition in search of Sir John Franklin''.][ Kane used his celebrity and charisma to promote the idea of an open and temperate polar sea, which he claimed to have seen, and helped to link exploration of the High Arctic with nationalism and nation-building, adding a northern frontier for the United States to conquer in the pursuit of scientific progress.]
Personal life
In 1852, Kane met the Fox sisters
The Fox sisters were three sisters from Rochester, New York who played an important role in the creation of Spiritualism: Leah (April 8, 1813 – November 1, 1890), Margaretta (also called Maggie), (October 7, 1833 – March 8, 1893) and Catheri ...
, famous for their spirit rapping séances, and he became enamored with the middle sister, Margaret. Kane was convinced that the sisters were frauds, and sought to reform Margaret and paid for her education. She would later claim that they were secretly married in 1856 – she changed her name to Margaret Fox Kane – and engaged the family in lawsuits over his will. After Kane's death, Margaret converted to the Roman Catholic faith, but would eventually return to spiritualism.
Death and legacy
After visiting England to fulfill his promise to deliver his report personally to Lady Jane Franklin
Jane, Lady Franklin (née Griffin; 4 December 1791 – 18 July 1875) was the second wife of the English explorer Sir John Franklin. During her husband's period as Lieutenant-Governor of Van Diemen's Land, she became known for her philanthropic ...
, he sailed to Havana
Havana (; Spanish: ''La Habana'' ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of the La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center. in a vain attempt to recover his health, after being advised to do so by his doctor. He died there on February 16, 1857.[ His body was escorted to by the governor of Cuba][ and carried by steamboat and a funeral train to ]Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...
. His funeral was the largest in American history until it was surpassed by that of Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...
.[ After lying in state at ]Independence Hall
Independence Hall is a historic civic building in Philadelphia, where both the United States Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution were debated and adopted by America's Founding Fathers. The structure forms the centerpi ...
, he was transported to Philadelphia's Laurel Hill Cemetery
Laurel Hill Cemetery is a historic rural cemetery in the East Falls neighborhood of Philadelphia. Founded in 1836, it was the second major rural cemetery in the United States after Mount Auburn Cemetery in Boston, Massachusetts.
The cemetery is ...
where he was placed in the hillside family vault.
Kane received medals from Congress, the Royal Geographical Society, and the Société de géographie
The Société de Géographie (; ), is the world's oldest geographical society. It was founded in 1821 as the first Geographic Society. Since 1878, its headquarters have been at 184 Boulevard Saint-Germain, Paris. The entrance is marked by two gig ...
. The Geographical Society of Philadelphia
The Geographical Society of Philadelphia was founded by Angelo Heilprin in 1891 "to promote the discovery and appreciation of the many wonders of our world." Through grants, it has supported major explorations. It also sponsors educational program ...
created the Elisha Kent Kane Medal in his honor. In 1851, Kane was elected as a member of the American Philosophical Society
The American Philosophical Society (APS), founded in 1743 in Philadelphia, is a scholarly organization that promotes knowledge in the sciences and humanities through research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and communit ...
. He was also elected to the American Antiquarian Society
The American Antiquarian Society (AAS), located in Worcester, Massachusetts, is both a learned society and a national research library of pre-twentieth-century American history and culture. Founded in 1812, it is the oldest historical society i ...
in 1855.
The Anoatok historic manor at Kane, Pennsylvania
Kane is a borough in McKean County in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania, east by southeast of Erie. It was founded in 1864 by Civil War General Thomas L. Kane of the famous Bucktail Regiment at an elevated site 2210 feet (674 m) above sea level. ...
, was named to honor Kane's Arctic expeditions. The destroyer was named for him, as was a later oceanographic research ship, the . A lunar crater, Kane, was also named for him. In 1986, the U.S. Postal Service
The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or Postal Service, is an independent agency of the executive branch of the United States federal government responsible for providing postal service in the U. ...
issued a 22 cent postage stamp in his honor, depicting his route to the Arctic. The waterway between Greenland and the northernmost Canadian islands, previously named Peabody Bay, was renamed Kane Basin in his honor.[ ]Cape Kane
Cape Kane ( da, Kap Kane) is a headland in North Greenland. Administratively it belongs to the Northeast Greenland National Park.
Cape Kane was named after Arctic explorer Elisha Kent Kane (1820 – 1857) at the time that it was the nearest land ...
in Peary Land
Peary Land is a peninsula in northern Greenland, extending into the Arctic Ocean. It reaches from Victoria Fjord in the west to Independence Fjord in the south and southeast, and to the Arctic Ocean in the north, with Cape Morris Jesup, the nort ...
was named in his honor at the time that it was the nearest land to the North Pole that had been put on the map.
In popular culture
In 2010, a young adult book, ''Tombstone Tea'', by Joanne Dahme takes place in Laurel Hill Cemetery and Kane is one of the characters in the book.
Bibliography
*
The United States Grinnell Expedition in Search of Sir John Franklin: A Personal Narrative
'; Philadelphia: Childs & Peterson, 1856
*
Arctic explorations: The Second Grinnell Expedition in Search of Sir John Franklin, 1853,'54, '55, Volume 1
'; Philadelphia: Childs & Peterson, 1857
References
Citations
Sources
*
*
Further reading
*Andrews, E.W.,
Memoir and Eulogy of Dr. Elisha Kent Kane
' (New York: Dexter & Brother, 1857)
* The Royal Navy in Polar Exploration from Franklin to Scott, E C Coleman 2006 (Tempus Publishing)
* Corner, George W., ''Doctor Kane of the Arctic Seas'' (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1972)
* Edinger, Ray. ''Love and Ice: The Tragic Obsessions of Dr. Elisha Kent Kane, Arctic Explorer'' (Savannah: Frederic C. Beil, Publisher. 2015).
* Early Wesley Fornell,
The Unhappy Medium: Spiritualism and the Life of Margaret Fox
' (Austin, University of Texas Press, 1964)
* Fox, Margaret,
Love Life of Dr. Kane
' (New York, 1866)
* Greely, A.W., ''American Explorers and Travelers'' (New York, 1894)
* Mirsky, Jeanette. ''Elisha Kent Kane and the Seafaring Frontier'' (Boston: Little, Brown, and Company, 1954)
* Sawin, Mark. ''Raising Kane: Elisha Kent Kane and the Culture of Fame in Antebellum America.'' Philadelphia: The American Philosophical Society Press, 2009.
*
* David Chapin, ''Exploring Other Worlds'' (University of Massachusetts Press, 2004).
External links
*
*
*
*
*
The Papers of James Laws
at Dartmouth College Library
The Papers of Margaret Elder Dow
at Dartmouth College Library
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kane, Elisha Kent
1820 births
1857 deaths
19th-century American male writers
19th-century American physicians
19th-century explorers
American military personnel of the Mexican–American War
American polar explorers
Burials at Laurel Hill Cemetery (Philadelphia)
Explorers of the Arctic
Explorers of Canada
Franklin's lost expedition
Members of the American Antiquarian Society
Members of the American Philosophical Society
Military personnel from Philadelphia
Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania alumni
United States Coast Survey personnel
United States Navy Medical Corps officers