{{Short description|American judge (1863–1924)}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Matthew John Kane | image = Mathew John Kane.jpg | alt = | caption = | birth_name = | birth_date = November 28, 1863 | birth_place = Niagara County, New York, US | death_date = {{death date and age|1924|01|02|1863|11|28}} | death_place = Oklahoma City, US | relatives = M. John Kane IV (great-grandson) | office = 2nd and 6th Chief Justice of the Oklahoma Supreme Court | term_start = 1909 | term_end = January 11, 1910 | predecessor = Robert L. Williams | successor = Jesse James Dunn | term_start1 = 1915 | term_end1 = 1917 | predecessor1 = Samuel W. Hayes | successor1 = J. F. Sharp | office2 = Justice of the Oklahoma Supreme Court | term_start2 = November 16, 1907 | term_end2 = 1923 | predecessor2 = ''Position established'' | successor2 = J.D. Lydick }}
'''Matthew John Kane''' (November 28, 1863 – January 2, 1924) was a justice of the Oklahoma Supreme Court from 1907 to 1923, serving as chief justice from 1909 to 1911. A native of New York state, he earned a law degree at Georgetown University. Joining the Land Run of 1889 in Indian Territory, he settled in Kingfisher, Oklahoma.
==Biography==
===Early life=== Matthew John Kane was born to Anthony and Mary (Dunn) Kane of Niagara County, New York on November 28, 1863. He was the eldest of seven siblings. He graduated from Georgetown University in the class of 1886 with a law degree,<ref name="GLS">{{cite book |editor1-last=Kane |editor1-first=Al Philip |title=Ye Domesday Book |date=1928 |publisher=Georgetown Law School |page=140 |url=https://repository.library.georgetown.edu/bitstream/handle/10822/559443/gt_yearbooks_1928_st.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y |format=PDF}}</ref>{{efn|Georgetown awarded Kane the Doctor of Laws degree in 1917.<ref name="GLS"/>}} Kane then went west to Wichita and to Harper, Kansas, before joining the Land Run of 1889 in Indian Territory. After the run, he settled in Kingfisher, Oklahoma, and soon became chief deputy for Patrick S. Nagle, the U.S. Marshal in Oklahoma.
===Political career in Oklahoma=== Kane became a delegate to the Oklahoma Constitutional Convention, shortly before the granting of statehood.<ref name="PolGrave">{{cite web |title=Lawyer Politicians in Oklahoma |url=http://politicalgraveyard.com/geo/OK/lawyer.html |website=Political Graveyard}}</ref> He was also a delegate to the Universal Congress of Lawyers and Jurists, in St. Louis, 1904.<ref name= "Henshaw">[https://archive.org/stream/chroniclesofokla2619okla/chroniclesofokla2619okla_djvu.txt ''Chronicles of Oklahoma'', George Allen Henshaw] Volume 26, Number 1. Spring, 1946. p. 73 Accessed March 4, 2018.</ref>
===Service on the Supreme Court=== After Oklahoma officially became a state on November 16, 1907, Kane was one of the judges elected to the first session of the Oklahoma Supreme Court. Jesse James Dunn was elected at the same time. Since both had the same seniority and would have represented the same judicial district, they agreed that Dunn should serve during the first term (1908-9) while Kane should serve during the second (1910–11). The issue was permanently resolved when Dunn resigned the seat in 1913 to move to California.
A brief summary of Justice Kane's life on the Oklahoma Supreme Court indicate that he established important precedents for the state in his arguments concerning taxation and the descent and distribution of Indian lands.<ref name="GLS"/>
==Family== Kane married Miss Kathleen Reagan (1883–1968) of St. Paul County, Kansas on June 9, 1908. They had three children: Matthew John, Jr., Kathleen and Anthony Reagan Kane. Justice Kane's great-grandson Matthew John Kane IV followed in his footsteps, being appointed to the Oklahoma Supreme Court by Governor Kevin Stitt in September 2019.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.examiner-enterprise.com/news/20191030/osage-county-thanks-kane-for-service|title=Osage County thanks Kane for service|first=Robert|last=Smith|website=Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise}}</ref>
==Matthew John Kane award== The Knights of Columbus in Oklahoma presents its Matthew John Kane public service award to individuals who have performed significant service to the Catholic Church and Oklahoma. Its namesake was the first Roman Catholic to become a justice on the Oklahoma Supreme Court.{{efn|Oklahoma recipients include Gov. Mary Fallin, Frank Lucas, Don Nickles, Frank Keating, David Walters and Dan Webber, educators Burns Hargis and James Halligan, national commentator Deal Hudson and Kansas U.S. Sen. (now Gov.) Sam Brownback.<ref>{{cite web |last1=McGuigan |first1=Patrick B. |title=A night for patriots: Knights honor past archbishop, family advocate and military hero|url=http://city-sentinel.com/2013/03/a-night-for-patriots-knights-honor-past-archbishop-family-advocate-and-military-hero/ |website=The City Sentinel |date=March 6, 2013}}</ref>}}
==Electoral history== {{Election box begin | title=1907 Oklahoma Supreme Court District 3 election<ref name="1907-1912 Results">{{cite web |title=1907-1912 Results |url=https://oklahoma.gov/content/dam/ok/en/elections/election-results/results-prior-to-1980/1907-1912-results.pdf |website=oklahoma.gov |publisher=Oklahoma State Election Board |access-date=23 September 2023}}</ref>}} {{Election box winning candidate with party link| |party = Democratic Party (United States) |candidate = Matthew John Kane |votes = 132,433 |percentage = 57.0 |change = ''New'' }} {{Election box candidate with party link| |party = Republican Party (United States) |candidate = John H. Cotterall |votes = 99,655 |percentage = 42.9 |change = ''New'' }} {{Election box gain with party link| |winner = Democratic Party (United States) |swing = N/A }} {{Election box end}}
==Notes== {{notelist}}
==References== {{reflist}}
{{s-start}} {{s-off}} {{succession box |title=Justice, Oklahoma Supreme Court |before=Newly created seat |after=Charles W. Mason |years=1909–1924}} {{s-end}}
{{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kane, Matthew John}} Category:Justices of the Oklahoma Supreme Court Category:1863 births Category:1924 deaths Category:People from Kingfisher, Oklahoma Category:Lawyers from Oklahoma City Category:People from Niagara County, New York Category:Georgetown University alumni Category:19th-century American lawyers Category:People from Oklahoma Territory Category:Members of the Oklahoma Constitutional Convention